Nothing new here, except for the Army doing it themselves. Which doesn't thrill me too much since that's my job.

I wonder what aspects of unit training are considered to be lacking in COTS software. At the least, this could give the industry an incentive to include game elements that would've been scrapped because they didn't add to the entertainment value for the public consumer.

Don't they already have something like this? America's Army?

AA was made to get people to come in to recruitment offices (it used to be available only on CD, back when we were suffering through dial-up), so you had to come and see a recruiter. It was meant to spark interest in the military while familiarizing yourself with concepts you would see in basic.

@BlackIce:

Yes. However, basic military tactics can be emulated in-game. Sure, it's no substitute for actual experience, but at least should the guy go to basic, he may recall something he saw from the game as useful.

But will the Chaplain have a powerful melee attack?

@Anonymous

It's spelled "Commisar".

@GRU

I don't get it..

This is pointless. Games don't teach you anything.

The media doesn't pitch a fit when the Army's involved!

@DarknessDeku

Not true mate. Games teach all kinds of things. The basic shapes square, circle, triangle (Playstation 1-3) the number 1-4 and basic colors (XBox 360), which ways it up, down, left, right, forward and back. All those are useful skills... really.....

On the otherhand I have played flight and battle sims and having been in a real Apache I can tell you for a fact that the game did not teach me squat on how to fly one. Military sims... interesting thoughts there. Did firefighter training in both formats and I can say with certainty that the heat, smoke, smell and getting dowsed by your buddy to keep you from getting BBQ'd is a BIT different than the game. As mentioned many times, games do NOT teach you have to load, aim, fire and HIT with a rifle/pistol. The lack of recoil alone should be set off major red flags but of course some are just blind to any truth that is not theirs.

So they are going to try to make a game that is going to teach you how to make and protect (and be protected by) buddies or even how to march. Sorry not going to happen. Maybe they teach how to stow your locker correctly or make a bed but some things just need to be done in reality. All the sims in the world are not going teach what a real experience can.

[...] Los van a usar como entornos de simulación para entrenar a las tropas. Tags:Tecnología [...]

The Legend of Zelda taught me how to defeat evil people like Ganondorf and Vaati. Trust me, THAT will be an important skill in my career. J/k. :P

So we don't spam this thing, topic is now open on the forums (http://www.gamepoliticsforums.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=3555) You'll need to register before you can post.

@DarknessDeku

Not entirely true. Games can be used in training, and can teach certain things, particularly strategy and tactics. While AA can't teach you how to shoot a gun, it can help teach some timing techniques, as well as how to coordinate with other soldiers in your squad in a safe environment. Now, at the same time, that doesn't mean if you play AA you can survive in wartime. *No* amount of training is going to fully prepare anyone for wartime conditions. Anyone in the military can tell you that.

When I was in the Army, we'd regularly go out into the field (that is, out in tents, living in the woods for a few days, simulating what we'd do in wartime). While in the field, we'd strap on what was called MILES gear (basically, laser tag, using a harness you wear, and some additional components attached to our rifles which shoot a laser that gets picked up by the other person's harness when a blank is fired), and we'd do some wargames, as well as run scenarios like if we got ambushed, hit with various kinds of attacks (including chemical attacks using CS grenades), etc, how to handle medical situations on the battlefield, etc.

For all we did there, it was a known factor that exactly none of the training would prepare people for what happens in war. When the lethality of war strikes home, when you come face to face with your own mortality, and that everything you do affects the lives of everyone around you, that raises the level of stress and fear considerably, and people have to very quickly learn to cope or die. Nothing can prepare for that grim reality.

However, training can help you, as a support to hold yourself together with while reality itself is beating you down. The intelligent leaders will look for more and more effective methods of training to ensure success -- training that serves a specific purpose. Video games can help considerably in some areas, like strategy, tactics, communication, and coordination. Hand-eye coordination even is helped, which being able to quickly react to a situation could be the difference between living and dying on the battlefield. As such, there are some commanders which have looked more into using video games as a tool to help train. Not exclusively, but inclusively with other training aids. What video games lack in being able to teach, there are other tools available to use. And when it comes down to it, video games simply become another tool to help with training, nothing more. And, it may be a pretty good and effective tool to use, because of the popularity with the troops, it will draw their interest potentially, rather than being something they feel constantly forced upon them.

[...] SOURCES: Game Politics - US Army Creates Video Game Squad TSJ Online - Constructive Progress: U.S. Army embraces video games - sort of Wired.com - Army Sets Up New Office of Videogames [...]

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