America's Army

In 1999, recruitment levels for the U.S. Army were the lowest in thirty years. Because their goals were being missed by "considerable margins," the Army's recruitment budget was increased to more than $2.2 billion per year. With this money, the Army created the most successful advergame (a game used to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint) to date, America's Army. The game was made (and still is available) as a free download. By 2005, the game had 4.6 million registered users and gaining about one hundred thousand more each month. By 2007 it had 8.5 million users, 30 percent of which were between 16 and 34--the army's target audience.

The game's main focus is to recruit by giving people an idea of what the army is like. First, the player goes through a type of boot camp, where "characters are taught to follow orders to advance, which is based on their scores in 'loyalty, duty, respect, selflessness, service and honor.'" Here is a sample of part of the training:



The second thing the game offers is the actual FPS game, doing its best to maintain realism, using realistic sights and sounds. However, "players who are killed hear no noise and are shown only a small red circle at the time of their virtual death." This is done to make sure the game was held at a Teen rating, allowing most everyone to play it and an attempt to avoid a lot of controversy about the violence of the game.

Though the game was a large expenditure, it looks like it's paying itself off. "According to Army sources, recruiting using television ads can run between $5 and $10 per hour per viewer, while the cost of America's Army is roughly ten cents per viewer per hour."

And not only is the game a useful recruitment tool, but it can also provide training. Existing soldiers can receive scenarios from the military and then information from their play sessions would then be sent back for evaluation. It also introduces new soldiers to the army's "core value system" and giving them some training before their actual, real training.

While America's Army has been a great tool for the U.S. Army, it's generated a lot of controversy, especially among war veterans. Here's a video of a demonstration against the game:



Which side are you on--are you for or against the game? Explain