Anyone remember the movie, “The Last Starfighter” in which young Emilio Estevez totally beats this arcade game, which turns out actually to be an Alien recruiting device, so they beam him up and he gets to save the universe?
I was at a gathering of geeks on the 4th of July (a gathering which happened to include 2 ex-Marines). They were cracking jokes like, didja hear about the new modules?
Sim-bivouacing without a tent in the rain!
Sim-20 mile hike with 80lb backpack!
Sim-Standing guard with no ammunition!
[kent brockman]
A facility next door trains young people to use weapons in a regimented environment. They call it the Army, we our name for it is: The KILLBOT FACTORY!
[/kent brockman]
I thought that was Windows XP, actually.
You do know that there isn’t a draft…and not likely to be one? And if they did institute a draft, they probably aren’t looking for pasty-faced overweight 30 year old computer nerds? If you don’t believe the rumor, then why are you passing it on?
I still don’t see what the OP has against the game. He thinks the game could be viewed negatively, but won’t tell us WHY. Is it because the rest of the world will think the US looks at war as some kind of video game? I still don’t get it.
As for Army recruiters showing the fun and glamorous side of army life: What, do you expect them to explain that in all likelyhood you will end up impaled on a bamboo spear in some disease-infested jungle hell-hole? Yes they show the fun side, and they emphasize the training and the money, and downplay the dying in a ditch holding your guts in with your bare hands. And this is reprehensible because…?
This is actually one of two that the U.S. army plans to release. The other one will recreate the non-battle experience, like going through drill instruction and such.
I downloaded the game, and played it for a bit last night. It’s well done. So far, it looks like a modern version of “Medal of Honor”. Getting it free is awesome.
You complainers need to get a life. As yourself this:
Do you think the United States needs an army?
If so, do you want it to be a good one?
Do you recognize the army’s need to advertise and recruit?
If so, what’s your freaking problem? It’s like the people who protest ROTC and recruiting offices on campus. If you agree with the need for a military, then you’re being a hypocrite to criticize them for trying to improve it.
By the way, six million doesn’t even pay for a single B-52 attack. It barely pays for the air-to-air missile load on an F-14.
Incidentally, the star of The Last Starfighter was Lance Guest, not Emilio Estevez. If Emilio had done that movie, there would have been at least one scene where the drug-addicted hero bounces back from rock bottom.
The latest USMC tool is a ‘Marine-ized’ version of Operation Flashpoint.
By releasing an official game, the Army is doing a great job reaching out to some people who may not have seriously considered enlisting, given the often anti-military bent of many schools (and parents) today.
I doubt anyone will enlist simply because of this game, but if it keeps the option open in some young lad’s mind, then it was more then worth it.
That was the Army. They contracted Atari to make a customized version of Battlezone based on Bradley TOW gunnery, which they intended to stick in recreation rooms and such, as an entertaining way for gunners to keep in practice and challenge each other to do better. It was created, but never produced beyond a few prototype units, they decided they didn’t really want it. However, one of the custom components, the replica Bradley gunner’s handles, later made an appearance in one of Atari’s games that was released around that time, destined to be a classic…Star Wars.
Lots of games are currently in use, some of dubious training value. The USMC is pretty lax about it, they seem to focus most on getting the soldiers interested in the material by making it fun, and aren’t too strict on accuracy. They probably figure that going for accuracy isn’t a big deal since the medium is inherently limited anyway, so they settle for seemingly worthless solutions such as Doom and Flashpoint and try to get what they can from them.
The Navy and Army are more strict about it, going for more specialized, accurate software in what limited (but increasing) amount they use it. Make no mistake, this “America’s Army” game recently released is a PR tool, not a training aid. Its goal is to get people thinking the Army is cool and something they would want to do/can do.
The Air Force are the most strict branch when it comes to computer games as training aids, placing supreme emphasis on accuracy. They’re not so interested in being interesting and engrossing…I guess they don’t really have a problem with getting trainee’s attention. I mean, can you get any cooler than combat aircraft anyway?
Saturday Night Live made a mock ad along these lines in 1979 or so. They showed Navy enlisteds scraping rust, doing laundry, cleaning toilets, etc. “Navy. It’s not just a job, it’s $98.32 a week!”
Anyhoo, I’ve downloaded Army Operations and played a few times, and my bloodlust is being tempered by having to remember about two dozen keyboard commands, plus the fact that when you get killed, you don’t instantly respawn but have to wait around for a while.
Do you have any backing at all whatsoever on these claims, or is this Yet Another SDMB-based groundless attack on Bush?
You throw out that you “wouldn’t put it past the Bush administration” to include spyware…hey, ever hear of the backdoor-equipped “Clipper Chip”? Remember who supported that? I know that some on the SDMB like their history all nice and revisionist and everything, but come freaking on!
I await the link to the legislation denoting where people who do well in this game are moved up the “draft list”.
And I, too, can only shudder as I think of a whole cadre of Simpson’s Comic Store Guys going through basic training, with R. Lee Ermey running the whole operation…
I have to chime in with my rather great doubts that we’d see any spyware in this whatsoever. It’d be discovered quickly, thanks to our hacker community, and it’d be a great blow to everyone involved with the public, for very little gain on the government’s part.
So what the Army is really trying to tell us is that we aren’t killing others different from us, but people who are exactly the same on the inside where it really counts.
I’ve played the game and it’s really well done, albeit not even considered in “demo” status by most gamers. I can see people being upset that it cost six million. But to me, a free game that you can play over the net. Built on state of the art game engine technology (unreal warfare engine (same engine that powers Unreal Tournament 2003, Theif 3, to name a couple)), and actually is fun to play, is a good thing. And it’s being downloaded not by dozens but thousands. You can’t even get on most servers right now. It’s either this nice game, or more “Army of one” commercials with Godsmack. Which is a better “ad”? I have nothing to back it up, but I bet it all comes from the same “ad/recruiting budget”.
Another perfectly good keyboard destroyed by transnasal coffee.