Computer games for the Army

[Sazerac]

I'm not sure whether this should go in the "War on Terrorism" forum or here at GD...however, since it's primarily about gaming, I'm placing it here. I can move it, however, if it seems more appropriate there. This does have some interesting impact for us gamers, though! We may be seeing a lot more reality-focused games hitting the market.

Here's the article, written by Ben Berkowitz: "Army Backs Combat Video Games."

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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25 — The U.S. Army, in an unprecedented alliance with Hollywood and a major university, is providing funding and technical advice for video games that aim to hone the skills of the next generation of military field commanders.

THE INSTITUTE for Creative Technologies, which is jointly operated by the Army and the University of Southern California, said Thursday it would develop two combat video games, with financial and tactical backing from the Army.

The Los Angeles-based institute said it will partner with FCS — itself a joint venture of studio Sony Pictures ImageWorks and video game developer Pandemic Studios — and Quicksilver Software to develop two games to be released over the next two years.

C-Force will be released for next-generation consoles, while ICT and Quicksilver will partner on CS-12 for PCs. Both games will have as executive producer Rob Sears, who produced the combat titles Mech Commander and Mech Warrior 3.

The U.S. Army will provide funding, and its Training & Doctrine Command bureau will also be involved in game development, ICT said.

“They will both be available in a consumer shrink-wrapped version and also another version that will be delivered to the U.S. Army,” said Jim Korris, the creative director of ICT.

The games will allow players to control entire groups of soldiers, ICT said, with CS-12 allowing the player to take the role of a company commander and C-Force putting the player in the role of squad leader.

“While offering unique training aids for potential squad leaders or captains, these products will also teach game players everywhere about how to leverage human resources and information — skills that will benefit them enormously in their professional lives,” said Richard Lindheim, ICT’s executive director.

The institute was formed in 1999 with a $45 million grant from the Army as a partnership among academics, video game makers and creative talent in Hollywood to design advanced “virtual reality” and simulation training systems for the military.

“What I hadn’t anticipated when we started down this road was how particularly relevant (the games) were going to become,” Korris said.

Thursday’s ICT release follows Monday’s news that Simon & Schuster Interactive had published Real War, a consumer adaptation of a game developed for the U. S. Department of Defense to train soldiers in joint combat operations.

The Army reviewed and approved the game before its release, a Simon & Schuster spokesman told Reuters.

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Cheers,



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Patience, my BUTT...I'm going to KILL something!!!

Good Article Saz It is a nice idea to have the Military utilize the free market to make its training aides. It will get a good tool for a fraction of the price it would take for a "Gubbermint CONtractor" to produce the same item with inferior graphics. The use of Strategy Games and Sims as training aides has been going on (in an unofficial way) since the mid 80's at least. Some Strategy games are excellent training for tactical and strategic thinking.

I remember we used several games, like Kampfgruppe (an old SSI product) and others to simulate tactics for the real world.


EDIT: Yes I know the old games were not terribly realistic but it did stimulate a lot of brainstorming and thought.
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Disintigration is easy, If you really want to impress me, ReIntegrate it.

[This message has been edited by MagiK (edited 10-26-2001).]

[Hiram Sedai]

I usually play a game called "Combat Mission" and it has all of the traits that were mentioned in your post, Sazerac. Its a WWII game that allows you to control squads, platoons, companies, and a battalions of soldiers. I'm especially fond of the tanks. I won't post the link here because it would seem tacky. Email me if you want to know more.

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[Sazerac]

Oh, you can add the link, Hiram Sedai! That's not considered "tacky." Now crossposting it to every group with the intent of "marketing" it would be...but that's not what this is about.

Cheers,



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Patience, my BUTT...I'm going to KILL something!!!

[Djinn Raffo]

Rogue Spear...
Nuff said...

[MILAMBER]

There are a couple of games that I have picked up recently that I can tell are aimed at something like that. Real War is an amazing game that claims to be a derrivative of a Joint Forces planning application. It is like a super accurate version of C&C. I'm loving it so far. Also I don't see how Operation Flashpoint could get much more accurate.

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"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."
-General George Patton (1885-1945)

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[This message has been edited by MILAMBER (edited 10-26-2001).]