With the release of America's Army in 2002 we see the first successfully popular "advergame", or a game thats primary reason for being is that of an advertisement. After the US Army failed to meet recruiting goals for several years they started attempting to find new ways of recruiting young men and women into the armed forces. One of these new ways was the creation of the FPS America's Army, a video game that promoted  the life style of the US Army by communicating the core values of the army, "Loyalty, duty, respect,selflessness, service, and honor". It was given out for free at Army recruiting events, in magazines, and NASCAR races. The Nichols article continues to go on about the aspects of this game being a great recruitment tool for the Army and how the game industry is becoming more involved with the government and the making of training tools for US soldiers and other government workers such as baggage screeners.

Now there is controversy about how games as advertisements, like America's Army,  are trying to "brainwash" kids into joining the army or desensitizing them to violence. I think that is really just a bunch of BS. It isn't any worse than any other type of advertisement we see today and there hasn't been any real link to games and violence proven. What i am more interested in is these "advergames" like AA. With its success im surprised that we haven't seen other industries take a shot at it. Could games like Trauma Center be used as a recruitment tool for doctors and nurses? Is The Sims: Wall Street Banker edition far off? Or do gamers just wise up and know when someone is just trying to recruit them and thats why we haven't seen it work in other professions? I think video games can work as a great way to train employees and they are something todays generations will be familiar with and could pick up more easily.

So my question is do you think that we will see more "advergames" in the future? Have you played any "advergames" that weren't AA? and do you think that using video games as training tools is the next logical step in the evolution of the gaming industry?