NEWS - Thursday, May 15, 2003


U.S. Army Creates Video Game

U.S. Army Creates Video Game to Train Soldiers LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has found a powerful new weapon in training soldiers for the dirty and dangerous business of urban warfare: video games. For the past year, the Army has been handing out free games as part of its recruiting efforts, but in the coming months it will also turn to a video game to train squad leaders in real-life combat tactics. "If you enroll in the army of the future, you’ll get your helmet, your gun and one of these discs," said Wil Stahl, a game designer at Pandemic Studios who led the three-year project to develop the game based on the Army’s requirements. "You have an Xbox -- they assume -- at home," he said. The combat simulator, which Santa Monica, California-based Pandemic showed off for reporters at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week, puts players at the head of two light-infantry teams locked in a running firefight in a vaguely Middle Eastern city. The "bad guys" pop out from behind walls and pull up in pickup trucks with automatic-weapons mounted on the beds. When shot, they fall with a burst of blood from the head. In developing the game, which is now being spun off as a mass-market release titled "Full Spectrum Warrior, Pandemic said it was careful to fictionalize details of the game’s setting and to make sure that the U.S. soldiers acted with discipline and professionalism. As for the digital battleground, the look shifted from Bosnia-like terrain to a more Arab-looking street during the course of development, he said. "We can’t ignore the fact that we are in Afghanistan. We are in Iraq," said Stahl. The commercial version of "Full Spectrum Warrior" will be published by Calabasas, California-based THQ Inc. in early 2004 for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox game console. The project is not without its critics, especially among experts who question the relationship between video games and violence among children. "It seems to me that they’re using the Army’s involvement to legitimize the violence," said Joanne Cantor, a professor who researches issues concerning violent games at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Separately, the U.S. Army said that more than 1.1 million people have gone through "basic training" in its "America’s Army" personal computer game, which debuted at the Expo in Los Angeles last year. (With additional reporting by Ben Berkowitz)
Source: http://www.reuters.com/

Site Statistics

Registered Members: 79,303
Forum Posts: 725,965
Xbox One Titles: 6,071
Xbox 360 Titles: 1,086
Xbox 360 Kinect Titles: 95
Xbox 360 Arcade Titles: 586
Original Xbox Titles: 987
Staff Reviews: 2,544
Member Reviews: 10,339
News Articles: 16,531
Screenshots: 38,785
Xbox 360 Achievements: 45,112
Xbox 360 Faceplates: 2,016
Cheat Codes: 1,706

Latest News








See News Archives

Community Forum Activity

KeyWe Giveaway!
Post by Variation-XBA
0 Replies, 22870 Views

2021: XBA is still here
Post by shrew king
38 Replies, 184674 Views

Watch Dogs: Legion
Post by Nato King
0 Replies, 120157 Views

Xbox Series X or S
Post by Nato King
5 Replies, 137561 Views

Spellbreak Grand Magus Pack (3) and Starter Pack (7) Giveaway!
Post by Variation-XBA
0 Replies, 128779 Views

I pay $ 1000! I search the Element 54 Canadian launch Team signaturen Faceplate
Post by Smill
0 Replies, 149554 Views

Xbox one no signal
Post by debrartin
0 Replies, 139768 Views

do you remember?
Post by SnoochyBoochy
3 Replies, 199387 Views

i haz xbox
Post by SnoochyBoochy
0 Replies, 154550 Views

Claiming the first thread of 2020
Post by Kraft
7 Replies, 249167 Views

Important! I pay $ 1000! I search the Sweden launch and the Element 54 Faceplate
Post by Smill
3 Replies, 145887 Views

Squad Up
Post by samslophead
0 Replies, 248631 Views

TERA Skinned Xbox One X Giveaway!
Post by Variation-XBA
0 Replies, 176320 Views

Starfield Release expectations?
Post by DJ tx
4 Replies, 303996 Views

Issue with Xbox live on Xbox home
Post by rcmpayne
0 Replies, 164252 Views

© 2000-2024 XboxAddict.com - All rights reserved. All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft. XboxAddict.com is not affiliated with Microsoft.

Made in Canada
Site Design by Cameron Graphics