Why do US Army recruiters use games to both recruit and train soldiers? What is being trained or learned? Why is it effective, or is it?
– Video games in today’s society are so up to date that a majority of the time when I walk by a television, it is hard for me to differentiate whether a game is being played or I am actually watching a show. This is where Realism comes into play. Games are so incredibly coded that the graphics portray scenes that seem real. You can create a world that you can manipulate and play God. But are these games too real? These games are real enough for the US Army, for the fact it is how they recruit soldiers! “Inspired by the number-one online action game Counterstrike, an anti-terrorist game based on the HalfLife engine, America’s Army promises players authentic state-of-the-art military experience while training for and combating terrorism in simulated mission” ( Joline Blais, Edge of Art) This can be very beneficial for the Army so they can determine how the soldier will act in certain situations. For example, if a person gets nauseaus from watching a pixelated human explode, you will know how he will act when that situation happens in real life. Looking at this topic from the opposite side, you can also determain a person who has no morals. If someone is carelessly nuking everything and everyone and getting enjoyment from this, would you honestly strap a gun to his chest and expect good to come from it? “America’s Army boasts two kinds of gameplay: ‘Operations’, a firstperson action game, and ‘Soldiers’, a goal-based role-playing simulation.” ( Joline Blais, Edge of Art) This is a very helpful tool for the right people to get trained for what they are expected to see. The problem with this situation is that some people can not handle this, especially the younger crowd which is clearly their main target. Considering Counterstrike is a free downloadable game, anyone can have access to this game, I even use to play it in high school. Some people play these games so often, witnessing what looks like real people dying horrible deaths, that it has no effect on them whatsoever. They can not determine what is morally right from wrong so witnessing a tragic death could leave them emotionless. Garbage in, garbage out.
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