Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

Video Games as Recruitment

This is old news to me, as I realized the connection between video games and military recruitment since the Atari 2600 came out and the game tank command or whatever it was called was out. Now of course we get Tom Clancey's "Splinter Cell" and other games. I believe it is the advert for "Splinter Cell" in which the tag line " Freedom comes at a cost." is displayed. My friends this is VERY true. If you had been paying attention, the Military-Entertainment-Complex basically told you point blank that covert ops are done all over the world in order to "protect" your freedom. Now most people in the US would give a big yawn to this idea. Though they were not yawning when the planes hit the Twin Towers.

Anyway, here's the link: Navy Goes Virtual As Military-Industrial Complex Tightens Its Grip

“Chris Chambers, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, a former Army major and the deputy director of development for ‘America’s Army’ admits that the game is a recruiting tool,” Turse wrote. “However, in response to criticisms that its scenarios of blood, violence, and killing are excessive, he says, ‘The game is about achieving objectives with the least loss of life’.” And Turse reported that the Navy-produced “America’s Army” is only the tip of the military’s video iceberg. Amongst other things, the Army played a significant role in development of “Full Spectrum Warrior” (FSW) — a videogame for the recently unveiled Microsoft Xbox system that will be released to the public early in 2004. The game teaches the fundamentals of Army strategy, tactics, and weaponry. Moreover he notes the Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), a $US45 million joint Army/USC venture begun in 1999, is involved in a “full spectrum” of other military projects from “Advanced Leadership Training Simulation”, a partnership between ICT and entertainment giant Paramount Pictures designed for training soldiers in crisis management and leadership skills, to ‘Think Like a Commander…,’ a collaboration between the US Army, the Hollywood filmmaking community, and USC researchers designed to ‘support leadership development for US Army soldiers’ through software applications.

Links:
http://www.cio.com.au/index.php?id=1347572129&fp=4&fpid=21