According to the Nichols article, the US army developed America’s Army (once a popular first-person shooting game) in response to a few problems. First of all is the training cost of infantry. Instead of using live rounds in training, the US military found that it is more cost beneficial if they used simulation. Secondly, with the rise of video gaming popularity and the decline in military draft; the US army decided to use gaming as a means to attract a special niche of the population. Amazingly enough, a good portion of these military simulation/training tools, which should be classified, are released to public. America’s Army is priced at $16 million US dollars, which are the most expensive game titles at the time. And I am pretty sure it is still ranked high up in terms of cost if we evaluated it against some of the current game development costs.
The newly introduced Medal of Honor is also a military based game designed by Electronic Arts. The newest installment of the Medal of Honor series allows the player to play as the Taliban; which, in my opinion, is highly controversial. Though the series did allow players to play as the opposing force but those editions were based in the past such as WWII. Though I am not a veteran or know anyone that is one; it seems to me that the game has already offended many people out there.
The anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released in less than two weeks. From what I know of the game, the game developers have added a personal touch to the game! Players can now further relate themselves to their avatar. Which, in my opinion, makes the game much more realistic? Players will be able to customize how they look in the game and the guns they use are heavily customizable. This game will make war simulation a big step closer to real battles…
My question: Do you anticipate augmented reality war games to be released in public anytime soon?
Im not sure that Black Ops will be as realistic as you say due to it being about the Cold War which enables the use of prototype weaponry and the customization won't be that severe either. Either way I see no reason for those other games you mentioned no to bevreleased. Video games strive for realism.. and we're pretty damn close :)
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