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Real-Life Equivalents of Video Game Weapons

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-give-me-a-rocket-launcher dept.

antdude writes "This GamesRadar article compares a bunch of fantastic video game weapons and their real-life equivalents: 'There are certain things we just accept in video games. An overweight pipe technician can jump five times his own height. A first aid kit will instantly heal bullet wounds and replace lost blood. And any theoretical physics model can be cleanly packaged into a lightweight, handheld weapon with a minimum of fuss. But in certain cases, that last one isn't too far off the truth. As guano loopy as most game weaponry is, some of it definitely isn't implausible. In fact, some of it exists already. Kind of.'"

31 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    i want a portal gun

  2. I'll just wait for Real-Life BFG9000 ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... till then its too boring to even bother looking at them.

    1. Re:I'll just wait for Real-Life BFG9000 ... by Ant+P. · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually it's more like "all the enemies in the direction you were facing when you fired it from the position you're standing when it hits".

      The trick there is you can fire it down a long corridor in one direction, run off the opposite way so someone gives chase, and when it hits the wall the guy behind you gets blown to bits. Similarly you can survive it completely unhurt by getting on the opposite side of whoever fired it - as long as you know which way they fired.

      Not really something you can build in real life.

  3. Crowbar by lul_wat · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's the real-life equivalent of the Crowbar from halflife? I always wanted one

    --
    Divide a cake by zero. Is it still a cake?
    1. Re:Crowbar by noidentity · · Score: 2, Informative

      What's the real-life equivalent of the Crowbar from halflife? I always wanted one

      A Wiimote maybe?

    2. Re:Crowbar by tehcyder · · Score: 2, Funny

      What's the real-life equivalent of the Crowbar from halflife?

      A crowbar.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    3. Re:Crowbar by The+Archon+V2.0 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Who uses a crowbar? Real men use chainsaws.....

      And real ninjas use chainsaw nunchucks.

    4. Re:Crowbar by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you are a geek you should have really appreciated that fulcrum puzzle. You know why? Even if that puzzle was simple, it wasn't scripted. It was all handled by the same physics engine that controls everything in the game, you just manipulated the objects. You made a virtual see-saw with virtual objects by exploiting virtual gravity, which would be a first for you if you never played Trespasser (and even though I have, I still thought it was cool).

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  4. Raccoon Suit by DavidD_CA · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm waiting for the US military to develop a Raccoon Suit (from Mario) for our solders.

    But I bet those Canadians will beat us to it.

    --
    -David
  5. Lasers by TandooriC · · Score: 4, Funny

    If they can't even make sharks with lasers how can they even hope for rail guns, tesla coils and plasma rifles?

  6. You can reload an M1 Garand mid-clip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Without having RTFA, I want to take this opportunity to point out that an M1 Garand (the semi-automatic infantry rifle of the U.S. military during World War II) can, in real life, be reloaded before the clip is empty. Many idiots who replicate the rifle in video games infer that, just because the clip automatically ejects when it is empty, it can only be ejected this way—that is, if you have one or two rounds left, you have to shoot them before you can take a chance to load a fresh clip. I don't know who got this wrong first, but it has turned into a pernicious meme that has reared its ugly head in every World War II shooter I have ever played.

    Proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrXLtkY4wOw

    Game designers, please do more research than playing some other WW2 game for a few hours. Diligent fans, this is an issue worth making patches for. Besides being just plain wrong, this is a substantial and unwarranted disadvantage for what is supposed to be "the greatest implement of battle ever devised." And that's according to General Patton, who (speaking of memes) knows a little more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it!

    1. Re:You can reload an M1 Garand mid-clip by lyinhart · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The article doesn't features game with actual weapons like Call of Duty, it instead features weapons that don't actually exist yet as they are portrayed in games. I hope someone else does a comparison with how weapons work in Modern Warfare 2 with their real-life counterparts, kind of like how Top Gear did comparisons with Gran Turismo and real life cars.

      --
      Freedom is drinking a beer in the park when you're supposed to be at work.
    2. Re:You can reload an M1 Garand mid-clip by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This list was about sci-fi/non-real weapons that in fact DO have at least a somewhat functioning real counterpart. It wasn't about real weapons that are in games. However in general, whining about real weapons not being real enough in games is silly. Games are, well, games. They aren't meant to be real. Things are done in the interest of fun. One thing you see extremely commonly is that magazines are magical. That is to say if you do a tactical reload, you keep all the ammunition that was in that mag, yet every one you insert in to the weapon is full. Of course the real world doesn't work that way, but pissing around with loading magazines is boring in a game. It is done for fun and gameplay, not for realism.

      However, I will give you your point on the M1 clip issue precisely because being able to do tactical reloads makes a game more fun. In general, I like games where you can reload your weapon as often as you like. Fire one bullet and take a guy down? Reload. The point of limited magazines/clips in a game is so that you can't just hose down enemies continuously, not to be perfectly real. So yes, it makes sense to allow you to swap out the clip in an M1 when you like.

  7. A railgun will certainly get the job done... by Genda · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Railguns are amazing things... You just have to be careful not to vaporize your projectile. It was calculated that if they could get a one ounce steel ball bearing up to a speed of 20 miles per second, it would cause a fusion reaction on impact with relatively stationery object. I was working in a large industrial machine in late the 70s, I was down in the power section of a massive ring roller. The thing occupied four stories, one above ground and three stories underground, at the very bottom floor was the power system. There were three huge copper bus bars that fed into a massive 2000 amp, 1760 volt three phase breaker switch. We were working electronic and hydraulic systems, and had the false floor pulled up, and some hydraulic mechanic dropped an 8 inch adjustable wrench across the bus bars. There was a mind numbing BOOM, accompanied by a blue green flash you could almost see through the back of your head, and when the dust and debris settled, there was a quarter inch of roasted wrench sticking out of the concrete ceiling. This place was noted for really exciting industrial accidents.

    1. Re:A railgun will certainly get the job done... by dintech · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's fascinating to hear these kinds of war story. Thanks very much.

    2. Re:A railgun will certainly get the job done... by Genda · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You know I've heard this from people before, and it always amazes me that they don't get it. All you had to do, is do a Google search on "railguns and fussion", there are plenty of articles about the experimentation using railguns as a viable means of ignition. Of course if you need a citation, see below. As for bits of space debris, hitting the atmosphere at speeds of up to 60 miles per second (see persied or leonid meteor showers), they ablate, slow down, vaporize. They absolutely do become plasma and some of the larger pieces (bolides) explode with kiloton force. Read about the early nuclear test ban problems involving accidental false positives, caused by small nuclear sized explosions coming from meteorites with sufficient mass and momentum to cause fusion explosions. That and a quick look at the fireballs created by Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter should put to rest and idea that meteors or comet can't cause a fusion reaction. The issue is simply one of velocity and momentum. A steel ball going 20 miles per second has both. Please be so good as the do the physics before making a knee-jerk assumption. Using E=1/2MV^2, I come up with a net kinetic energy of 14 million joules focused on a circular region less than an inch across. The entire collision takes place in less than a microsecond, and in that time the entire mass of the ball bearing is rendered into ionized plasma, as is a significant amount of the surface material of the target. The reason for raising incredible rare gases to hundreds of millions of degrees is to create an atomic velocity high enough to ensure that a signification number of collisions will occur in that rarefied gas to sustain a fusion reaction, fusion can occur at a much lower temperature. The incredibly hot dense soup of metal ions at the point of this impact are moving with incredible momentum, the material at the point of impact is hotter than the surface of the sun, hotter than lightening, fusion will certainly occur. Maybe not a huge amount, but some, and it will certainly make a very big mess of the target.

      H. Kolm, Electromagnetic Accelerator Concepts, DOE Impact Fusion Workshop, Los Alamos , N.M. (Jul. 10-12, 1979), Available from NTIS, Springfield, Va. pp. 206-217 (1979)

    3. Re:A railgun will certainly get the job done... by westcoast+philly · · Score: 5, Funny

      HEY!! Citing your source, complete with publication date and page numbers is not allowed! This is Slashdot, you're supposed to just spew rhetoric and car analogies.

      Please rephrase in the form of a car analogy, or state number of Libraries of Congress per second.... or it didn't happen.

    4. Re:A railgun will certainly get the job done... by Rich0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yup - at significant speeds impacts are quite impressive.

      That's why I was scratching my head at the Day the Earth Stood Still remake. In the beginning there is a ship detected flying towards earth. Somewhere in the dialog or on a display or something it was indicated that it was moving at some significant fraction of c - maybe 10-20% or something. Then they start talking about where it will land with the goal of sending in a science team to be there when it arrives. The science team is surprised that it apparently decelerated before landing so there was no big crater or anything.

      Now, if I were in a science team and I found out that an object of significant size (in this case significant means bigger than a grain of sand) was flying towards the Earth at 20% of c, the last place I'd want to be is within 1000 miles of the impact point, and for that matter within 1000 miles of the point on the Earth opposite the impact point. To be honest, I'd probably prefer just to not be on the Earth at all. However, if I did decide to be at the spot where it would "land" then I wouldn't be shocked to find out it had decelerated - the fact that I was still alive would already confirm this.

    5. Re:A railgun will certainly get the job done... by lul_wat · · Score: 4, Funny

      You know I've heard this from people before, and it always amazes me that they don't get it. All you had to do, is do a Google search on "car analogies", there are plenty of articles about the experimentation using cars as a viable means of analogy. Of course if you need a citation, get bent. As for bits of car debris, hitting the motorway at speeds of up to 60 miles per second (see youtube), they ablate, slow down, vaporize. They absolutely do become plasma and some of the larger pieces (doors) explode with kiloton force. Read about the early nuclear test ban problems involving accidental false positives, caused by small nuclear sized explosions coming from cars with sufficient mass and momentum to cause fusion explosions. That and a quick look at the fireballs created by Russian cars should put to rest and idea that cars or trucks can't cause a fusion reaction. The issue is simply one of velocity and momentum. A steel car going 20 miles per second has both. Please be so good as the do the physics before making a knee-jerk assumption. Using E=1/2MV^2, I come up with a net kinetic energy of 14 million joules focused on a circular region less than an Library of Congress across. The entire collision takes place in less than a microsecond, and in that time the entire mass of the car is rendered into ionized plasma, as is a significant amount of the surface material of the target. The reason for raising incredible rare gases to hundreds of millions of degrees is to create an atomic velocity high enough to ensure that a signification number of collisions will occur in that rarefied motoway to sustain a car analogy, analogies can occur at a much lower temperature. The incredibly hot dense soup of cars on the motorway are moving with incredible momentum, the material at the point of impact is hotter than the surface of the sun, hotter than lightening, analogies will certainly occur. Maybe not a huge amount, but some, and it will certainly make a very big mess of the slashdot.

      --
      Divide a cake by zero. Is it still a cake?
  8. Screw guns from video games by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Funny

    I want a bowel disrupter!

    --
    Monstar L
    1. Re:Screw guns from video games by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Funny

      You know, I've often thought that the coolest thing in the world would be an orgasm gun. Aim, pull trigger, and the target has an orgasm. Would be fun to use against politicians making speeches, pompous university presidents, and so on.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    2. Re:Screw guns from video games by GigaplexNZ · · Score: 4, Informative

      You mean like the Orgasmo Ray from the movie Orgasmo?

    3. Re:Screw guns from video games by sukotto · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I want a Portal device

      --
      Come play free flash games on Kongregate!
  9. I know it's old news, but... by interactive_civilian · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...those Japanese robotic/cyborg exoskeletons are AWESOME! And, they are only going to get more awesome from here on out! Mjolnir armor, here we come!

    Even without the super-soldier aspect, the super-rescue-worker aspect is mind-boggling, not to mention the super-dock-worker. Alien queens better look out!

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
  10. And The Weapons Are: by Entropy98 · · Score: 2, Informative

    1: Railgun
    2: Laser guns
    3: Plasma rifles
    4: Lightning guns
    5: Mechs
    6: Power-armour

  11. FGMP15 FTW by mjwalshe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    and the concept of a Jump Commado from traveller still the most OTT unit ever put on paper.

  12. Medipack by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One thing that share futuristic video games with not so futuristic (i.e. from WWII and other wars) are "magical" medipacks,you get them and no matter what hits you (knives, grenades, a lot of bullets,some maybe in the head) you end with full health. Of all video games "weapons", that should be the one that would make a big difference for all.

    1. Re:Medipack by Mashdar · · Score: 3, Funny

      We tested the wait-a-week-to-heal-one-hit-point model, but it did not score well with 18-24 males.

    2. Re:Medipack by NewKidInTown · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I disagree. In the original Rainbow 6 games (even leading up to the most recent ones in Vegas) the characters in your squad could take at most a glancing shot and be harmed. Their effectiveness dropped remarkably. If they got hit again, or were unlucky enough to be hit critically, they were dead. Not revived-at-the-end-of-the-mission knocked out, but dead. Your explosives expert takes a sniper shot the the head in the first mission? You better learn how to dismantle bombs, because he's gone. The characters that only got scratched during the mission took a few "weeks" to heal ,meaning they were ineffective in the following missions. It made for a more tactics-based game, instead of "I'm gonna run into that room and spray bullets at anything the moves" type game.

  13. What about Borderlands? by protodevilin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Say what you will about its Fallout-esque gameplay, Borderlands was the first FPS in a long time that constantly had me saying, "God I love this gun." A sniper rifle that fires explosive incindiary bullets? An SMG that shoots corrosive acid rounds? Grenades that teleport directly to their targets and burst into an electric lightning storm? Sign me up.

  14. What the military actually has is more impressive by Animats · · Score: 4, Informative

    The U.S. military has some weapons which are much better than many video game weapons. Video games need "balance", so players aren't given weapons that are too "powerful". DoD doesn't have that limitation.

    • The Grid Square Removal Service. When a Multiple Launch Rocket System unit is loaded up with rockets with submunitions, it fires 12 rockets, each of which carries 518 submunitions, each of which explodes into a rain of fragments. This kills anything unarmored in a 1km grid square. In the U.S. Army inventory for years. Some Iraqi army units were wiped out with those things.
    • The FireFinder radar. Shoot at a U.S. Army unit with an indirect fire weapon, and one of these will see the incoming projectiles, calculate the location of the gun, and pass that information to the U.S. Army guns, which will duly plaster the shooter. Within one minute. Standard equipment for Army and USMC artillery units. The technology dates from the 1970s, but in newer versions, it's been shrunk down to a size a HUMMV can carry.
    • The XM-25 "smart" grenade launcher. Useful when someone is shooting at you from behind cover or from a window. Just point at the side of the window, and click a button to get the range with the laser rangefinder. Then fire a round though the window. The round goes through the window, and, with its timer set automatically, explodes 1-2 meters just inside, in the right place for killing the sniper. Finally, a practical weapon that shoots around corners.
    • The Combat Engineer Vehicle, another reason the "Dune" approach to desert warfare won't work. These are tank chassis, with the armor, equipped with a bulldozer blade. They're used for removing obstacles. In the first Gulf War, they were used in Kuwait against dug-in Iraqi troops. They didn't bother shooting at them. They just bulldozed sand over their fighting holes, burying them alive.

    "If you can see it, you can hit it. If you can hit it, you can kill it." As insurgent groups have figured out, the only way to succeed against a modern military force is to have a population in which to hide, one which the US isn't willing to exterminate.