Gaming is SRS BZNS

In 1999, the military was running low on recruits. The turnout was so bad that Congress increased the recruitment budget to over 2 billion dollars per year to help them more effectively gain more soldiers. What did they do with the extra money? They made a video game.

America's Army, at $16 million dollars, was one of the most expensive games to have ever been made at the time, costing more than even most triple-a titles. It tried to make the gaming experience as reflective as possible of actual military life and ideals, giving players a taste of what it was like to be a soldier. This was advertising genius - gaming was, at the time of release, growing to be a dominant form of entertainment among Americans, and proved to be an excellent way to appeal to a variety of demographics who may not otherwise have been interested. The game's popularity soared, and players began signing up for the military to experience the game "for real." The Army itself was also able to use this "serious game" to train and monitor its soldiers, because of its similarity to actual combat environments. Not content with killing two birds with one stone, the game was also cheaper than other forms of advertising and training - as with any game, the initial production cost was high, but once produced, it cost almost nothing to reproduce.

However, the Army wasn't the only company making military games. EA's popular Medal of Honor series included in its newest installment the ability to play as the Taliban and fight against American troops in multiplayer mode. This has been done before, with previous Medal of Honor games allowing players to play on the opposing side in a WWII environment. However, the inclusion of the Taliban struck a little too close to some current soldiers and recent veterans, who had just returned from fighting in Afghanistan. In the article, one soldier is cited as saying, “You know how many of my friends have been killed by the Taliban? One of my friends was sniped in the head by them. That’s something you want to have fun with?” EA has since removed the Taliban feature from the game, replacing them with a more generic "Opposing Forces" character in the multiplayer mode. This incident goes to show that while games can paint the military in a positive light, they are also capable of demonstrating the bad points of war.

Both of the articles we read described Serious Games in terms of the military. Do you know of any other types of "serious games," i.e. those that aren't related to the military?