October 25, 2001

5:42 PM

Army to develop video games.According to an Yahoo article, a venture funded by the US Army is developing videos games for the home market. "The U.S. Army will provide funding, but its Training & Doctrine Command bureau will also be involved in game development, ICT said. The games will allow players to control entire groups of soldiers, ICT said, with CS-12 allowing the player to take the role of a company commander and C-Force putting the player in the role of squad leader." I kinda get an "Ender's Game" sort of feel from this.
posted by Darke (16 comments total)

Could this be seen as an advertising campaign to show that the military is "cool" to today's children?
posted by Darke at 5:43 PM on October 25, 2001

I just bought "Real War" yesterday. Pretty scary in that it involves the US mobilizing against a terrorist force. Cool game though.
posted by owillis at 5:46 PM on October 25, 2001

Better not be too good at that video game, or the Army will be knocking at your door. "We're looking for a good shot..."
posted by laz-e-boy at 6:05 PM on October 25, 2001

Could this be seen as an advertising campaign to show that the military is "cool" to today's children?

Yup, toss in the spin the military puts on service, "Hey, free college money while you learn" and watch the number of CO's start appearing during times of conflict. Surprising? No. Military advertising bordering on disinformation? Yes.
posted by skallas at 6:08 PM on October 25, 2001

I was going to compare this to the Robin Williams flick Toys. Then I realized te obvious comparison between Ender's Game and Toys.
posted by jragon at 6:57 PM on October 25, 2001

what's that you say? terrorists have taken hostages in italy?

b-3-1, b-6, b-8-2, b-8-4...

"get in position and wait for my go."
posted by lotsofno at 7:43 PM on October 25, 2001

the only way to win is not to play.
posted by jcterminal at 8:01 PM on October 25, 2001

This is slightly unrelated but, in 1985 I participated in a testing program that consisted of us sitting around and playing Missile Command (playable java) and Scorched Earth type video games. Of course, these were not just consoles... they were heavy duty simulated controls and such. The games themselves were just vector based but, I could tell they were measuring reflexes and not just marking high scores. Interestingly enough, I have been waiting for something like this since then. It was a very strange experience.
posted by Dean_Paxton at 8:33 PM on October 25, 2001

two words: Last Starfighter
posted by kevspace at 8:42 PM on October 25, 2001

I thought Toys and Last Starfighter as well, but thought it would be best to make the Ender's Game reference. Just think how well the Army could do if they could harness my Quake skills. =P
posted by Darke at 9:16 PM on October 25, 2001

The defense contractor that I work for is actually looking into this. We have secured a deal with a particular game publisher where some of our technology would be emulated in their games.

Its actually kind of cool to sit in a room of computers, get a briefing, and then run a simulated mission all within a first person shooter. Much as it may beat the run of the mill desk work its not just sitting around and blowing up your friends with proximity mines and railguns. Everyone takes it very seriously and there are strict rules for each scenario.
posted by darainwa at 11:10 PM on October 25, 2001

This is one of those old is new situations. Pretty much since there were video games, the military has been using the technology.
posted by plinth at 4:02 AM on October 26, 2001

There is an article covering the general topic of the military and video games at disinfo.com....
The Military-Nintendo Complex
The piece itself is only mildly informative, but does contain links to many related articles and sites.
posted by flammableskirt at 6:09 AM on October 26, 2001

It beats the piss out of those huge map games with the cardboard pieces we used to "study" between exercises. Sure, it was fun the first few times, but games lose their fun when you are required to play them. After a few months, I was cursing the name "Avalon Hill".

Don't get me started on "Panzer Blitz"...
posted by nickonomicon at 7:38 AM on October 26, 2001

There's a Company Flow song about this very subject... It's very scary. "Ender's Game" comes to mind, as does "The Last Starfighter."
posted by djacobs at 3:38 PM on October 28, 2001

There's a Company Flow song about this very subject... It's very scary. "Ender's Game" comes to mind, as does "The Last Starfighter."
posted by djacobs at 3:39 PM on October 28, 2001