America's Army Report

development currently costs about $2.5 million a year

Heh. And it's really paying off, isn't it. Those recruits are just knocking down the doors!

Obviously, it'll take more than half-assed army video games to get more bodies for Bush's hopeless wars.

It'll take a draft. Maybe they'll build that into the next update.

And they say videogames don't affect people. I know for me, Doom put an end to any plans I had for a career at the UAC.

Now you can even join the army from your computer! I officially now have no reason to be a part of the real world.

Perhaps they could double their budget then and make the game suck less

I attended this conference, and have seen Col. Wardynski speak several times, and I gotta say this guy is sharp. Every time I do see him speak, I am more and more impressed with the whole AA project. If you ever get the chance to see Col. Wardynski talk, do so.

Though personally I don't agree with some aspects of the whole US military system, I think what they are doing is smart, novel, clever, and extremely "outside the box" thinking. These guys and gals aren't fools, nor do they take the average gameplayer as being a fool. They aren't trying to brainwash, but rather are trying to educate players to what they see the military as.

If you ever get the chance to see demonstrations of other projects the US Army has done using AA as the base platform, do so. At the conference, I tried out a bio/radiation contaminant training system at the conference which was pretty impressive. As the "player" you hold a real sensor unit in your hands, and as you move it around, it is like your "mouse look" in-game that changes your view. Click the buttons on the real unit and see the in-game unit do the same. I tried an AA based training system with a real (unarmed) large full-sized anti-vehicle guided missle mounted on a tripod, where you aimed, armed and activated it all with the real switches and mechanics of the real thing, while looking through it's view finder at an AA based simulation. They also had a shoulder mounted rocket launcher system that worked the same way. Put it up on your shoulder, look through the viewfinder at an AA based simulation view, fire the (virtual) rocket.

Of course if you REALLY are against AA and what it stands for (military), what you should do is take the best of what they are doing (and doing well) and use it for some other cause that you do support. If you're angry about AA, then you must be thinking it's got some ability to actually influence others - as could other games for other causes not quite so controversial. Not that "People's Peacecorps" would be as fun to play...

Hurry up on that in-game "enlist" feature! I can't wait to see fat kids crying when they click it by accident! OW! In-game bug that auto enlists you!

An in-game recruiting centre?

Geez.

Shouldn't Jack Thompson be all over this? I mean, how much more blatant of a murder simulator for kids can a game be than this?

enjoy your video game , before you Die in war.

I'm not sure how a game where your average lifespan per round is about a minute, two tops, can be used as an effective recruiting tool.

I mean, if you're real good and know the maps well you can last several rounds in a row but still.

Saying this partly as a joke but I wonder how many terrorist cells play the game as well.

I think it's great that they think it's so worthwhile (and maybe it is) for them, because meanwhile we get a free game that will apparently be moving to a new state of the art engine. I've never played AA but I still find that exciting.