US Army creates new gaming office
The US Army is set to create a new computer game for training troops with by the end of 2015.
The US army, which has previously used games like America's Army as recruitment tools and pseudo-simulations, has just launched a brand new 'gaming brigade' called the Training and Doctrine Command Project Office for Gaming, according to sources. The aim of this new brigade is to develop brand new games for internal use as training programs.
In the past the Army has sought to modify existing games such as Full Spectrum Warrior, but now the focus has shifted to creating new programs.
The office has been split into two different divisions. One is set to focus on the graphics for their new simulation project, while the other is designing an easy to use level editor for commanders to use in the customisation of training scenarios.
Don't get too excited about copies being leaked to the consumer market or anything though - the projected release date right now is the far-end of 2015. Surely we'll all have been nuked by then anyway?
So, today’s assignment is thus; what role can computer games play in building real-world combat skills and how ethical is it to create simulated violence which can possibly desensitize people to the effects of their actions while, at the same time, training them in how to use and handle all manner of weapons? Thoughts in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums Replyi really don't think it desensitizes people as much as you would think. i mean i play violent video games all the time, but i definitely couldn't just go out on the street and kill some one. my morals are still intact. it would take a very extreme situation for me to even consider harming another person let alone killing them. But the surprise will be on the soldiers once they've trained with a computer then have to face down their first real opponent. I don't think they will be half as prepared as they think they would be. But then again they train on blank cut outs now.... i suppose maybe they just have it in them.
I know this isn't true for a lot of people, but personally, I couldn't do even half the things I do in games, which makes me find the 'desensitization' thing somewhat far fetched. I'd be more willing to believe that impressionable people are more struck by the content of a game, rather than the game desensitizing the user into being mentally capable of doing certain things. That doesn't read right, to even me, but I lack the time to put sufficient thought into it right this second. The only game content that'd get me 'killing' is zombies. But since they're already dead, does that even count?
to be quite honest, virtually all of the fellow members that i currently know are interested in some videogame or another, i think if they grant time at work, and off work to play these games with eachother, maybe with some sort of gun-like input device guys would have lots of fun and learn better as a team in a safe enviornment.
i tell you what, ive been playing carmeggedon, SOF, quake, doom, hexen, ect for as long as i can remember, and it would take quite a lot in order for me to harm someone, ive never been in a fight - however close it may have been. but i actually think violence in video games makes me personally realize what is actually going on.
CoD2 for example, actually playing a role in D-Day made me question the fact that it is physically possible that the event in history actually happened, and that we actually won. and that game was not even THAT violent.
its just me, but i the militarys number one priority is mission readyness. number two is the military member and his\her safety. protecting the country and the rest of the free are the number 1 priority, we sign up to risk our lives to protect the majority, so we accept that, and our safety is second. so making a pre-live scenario to get used to the live scenario, waste as little man hours (setting up a live scenario ect) as possible, and having it be enjoyable and 100% safe is a great direction to move in. as long as the keyboard does not blast over the winners head ;)
but thats just me.