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Military

spies

Custom Video Games Training American Spies


Fascinating article on Wired.com — the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's CIA counterpart, just paid $2.6 million for three custom video games to train its entire analyst corps, young and old. So, you want to bitch about $60 titles on the Xbox, think of that next time. Plus, these games are bereft of squad-based FPS tactics or any real arcade action. They're designed to get to the heart of epistemology, which is, in essence, how you know what you know, and in these three cases, it's how to assess a threat or judge the quality of information. More »

wii

Scientists Create Wiiimote-Controlled Bomb-Bot

We're already well aware of the various health-related applications for the Nintendo Wii, but what about the military uses? The U.S. military, who were up until recently confirmed Xbox 360 fanboys, are now looking into the possibility of Wiimote-controlled robots. Scientists have created the Packbot, a Wiimote-operated robot armed with a machine gun, to be used in clearing mines and bombs. The military would generally use a standard remote for such purposes, but scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy say the Wiimote is more instinctive, allowing users to focus on date processing rather than which button to press. In my world the device would come with a screen so the soldier operating it could watch his Mii diffusing bombs and tip=toeing around land mines. My world is a much happier place.

Wii controls to defuse bombs [Metro.co.uk]


war games

Major General Hammond Invokes Pac-Man

U.S. Major General Jeffery Hammond, delivering a press briefing on the progress of the 4th Infantry's efforts in Iraq, revealed the inspiration behind their current strategy for dealing with Al Qaeda operatives and Shiite extremists.

"I believe they have been degraded, we continue to PacMan, like the video game, away at their efforts, at their different levels," Major General Hammond said.
While it's nice to see a video game reference made by high-ranking military officers, I have to wonder exactly what this means. I get this bizarre mental image of an overhead view of the streets of Baghdad, fruit carts spilling into the streets and the military struggling to pick up the produce for extra points. Are we the ghosts, or are we Pac-Man himself? Are power pellets sanctioned under the Geneva Conventions? With so many questions, one thing remains quite clear - we need to air drop Billy Mitchell into the war zone immediately, hot sauce and all.

4th Infantry Update from Baghdad [KXRM Fox 21]


military

DARPA's Crusher, Xbox 360 GOTY

This is DARPA's Crusher. This 7-ton unmanned vehicle can drive through almost any terrain you can throw at it. But the most interesting point is its operation. While a hacked iPhone related system diagnostics in real time, a standard Xbox 360 controller is used for raising the antenna, camera control and, yes, even weapon fire.

We've heard of console gamepads making their way into military equipment before, and we always knew our soft, girlish hands were really advanced killing machines. But it's still odd to think of Xbox 360 hardware driving DARPA's latest and greatest machinery. (Cue RRoD jokes).

Pentagon's 'Crusher' Robot Vehicle Nearly Ready to Go [FOXNews via Maxconsole]


military

Air Force Unveils Plans For Air Force 2.0

Never accuse the USAF of being too far behind the times - they've just unveiled a long term plan to create 'Air Force 2.0,' including social networking (MyBase!), virtual training, and more ways to appeal to those tech savvy kids than you can shake a stick at. The Air Education and Training Command paper details the plan (but no real mention of cost), wrapping up with a look at three of the ways they hope Air Force 2.0 will function:

Attached at the end of the white paper is a series of three vignettes, detailing narrative form how MyBase will operate for each sector: recruiting to and inspiring the public after a recent terrorist attack with games as well as social settings; training new cadets in a virtual Squadron Officer School (vSOS) with avatars of famous historical thinkers, guest lectures at the University of Texas, and full-blown simulation of what it's like to watch an air mission from the ground in an Army M1A2 Abram; and, finally, using avatars as interaction methods for research about security issues and further training.

Ooooook. Well, they've projected plans running through 2030, so we'll see how long it takes for the USAF 2.0 to become reality.

Air Force Unveils Potential Plans for MyBase Virtual World [Virtual Worlds News]


court

Thompson: Stocking Full of Crazy

It's been a roller coaster ride of a year for embattled Miami attorney Jack Thompson. Being the most maligned person in the gaming industry (besides whoever made the ET game) can't be an easy job. Even now he is fighting to keep his license after a series of behaviors that have left the worlds of gaming and law wondering "What the hell is this guy's problem?" So it should come as no surprise to anyone that ol' JT has decided to stir up some more trouble as a last ditch effort to be the guy with the most outrageous lawsuits of 2007. More »

military

UK General Praises "Playstation Generation"

General Sir Richard Dannatt told an audience of business leaders that the "Playstation generation" was more than a match for what is required for combat in Afghanistan.

"There was a time when commentators and some more experienced members of the Army expressed concern as to whether the 'PlayStation generation' were up to dealing with the gritty bloody conflict that is routine business in southern Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Well, I'm pleased to say that they are. Our young soldiers, drawn from across British society, are more than a match for what is required of them and I salute every one of them."

Well there you go, but what about the Wii and 360 generaiton?

Army leader backs 'Playstation generation' [IC Wales]


military

Royal Air Force Games for Recruits

Signing up for the military has never been so easy. The Royal Air Force ran an ad in the "Rock Band" issue of Edge featuring a faux video game called Battle Manager and telling air force potentials to text "BATTLE" and your email address if you're interested in joining.

Hit MTV for a glimpse at the full ad... and then text to your heart's content.

How The British Military Attracts Gamers [Multiplayer]


serious games

Microsoft Announces Simulation Platform

Microsoft has announced a new "visual simulation platform," dubbed ESP, to be released in January 2008. The company imagines the toolkit will be used to create applications for training, learning, modening, military, and aviation.

Microsoft ESP enables the innovative use of visual simulation for immersive learning and decision-making, supports PC-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software, and enables simulations to be built faster and more cost-effectively.
ESP seems to be an extension of the Microsoft Flight Simulator platform, which the company has been extending for some time as an application development environment.

Hard to tell how it will work just yet, but Microsoft does have a history of making visual programming tools very easy to use for ordinary developers. The price? $99 for the SDK.

Microsoft ESP Debuts as a Platform for Visual Simulation
[CNN Money]


game charity

Fun For Our Troops Sends Gaming Relief

While a lot of us are safe at home playing Call of Duty 4 on our game consoles, a sizable portion of the US military is overseas right now living it - but that doesn't mean they aren't gamers. There are tons of video game addicts in the military, and now there's an organization dedicated to getting them their fix. Created by military wife Stephanie Doctor Shea, whose own husband was just redeployed to Iraq, Games For Fun is an organization that plans on raising money to supply our troops with video game goodness. She and partner Dana Blackman Brady believe that the comfort of video games will do our forces a world of good.
"What they really appreciate over there is the true comforts of home," Blackman Brady said. "The stress relief and the escapism involved in these games, we really think could be beneficial."
More »

bargains

ECA Cuts Military Spending

You read that right, the Entertainment Consumers Association, an organization dedicated to promoting consumer advocacy with concerns to political issues involving gaming, has cut military spending by 25%. Granted the discount only applies to military personnel who wish to join the ECA, and it only comes out to five bucks off the normal fee of $19.99 a year, but hey, it's something! It's all thanks to GamePolitics.com regular and ECA member Robert Kalal, stationed in Turkey with the Air Force, who wanted to promote the association to his fellow servicemen.
"We're excited to extend our 25 percent Student Discount for annual membership dues to all active service men and women with a valid dot mil domain extension," said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA.
There you go, proud men and women of the military. Getting shelled by enemy artillery doesn't sound so bad now that you've got 25% off ECA membership, now does it? More »

south korea

South Korean Navy Starting Pro Gaming Team

The South Korean Navy is following in the footsteps of the Korean Air Force and is starting their very own pro gaming team to "develop the talents of pro-gamers in the service." South Korea has compulsory military service, so this is a win-win (I guess ...) move of giving those pro gamers who also have to serve in the military something to do while providing the Navy or Air Force with 'low-cost publicity.' What will they be playing? Starcraft, of course. More »

wii

Hudson, Nintendo Fix Military Madness VC Issues

Wii owners who purchased Hudson's Virtual Console release of the 1990 turn based strategy game Military Madness should hit up the Wii Shop Channel today. They'll find an update to the game which will fix issues related to maps that required scrolling. More »

halo

The Halo-Inspired Military Body Suit

Bear fightin' Troy Hurtubise shows off his latest creation: the Trojan. Fast-talking Hurubise describes it as the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armour." His inspiration for the $15,000 prototype? More »

tennis

Harrier 2, Military Madness and Tennis Hit Wii VC

Right now, right this second, according to NIntendo, you can get on your Wii and download three new classics from the Wii Shopping Channel for your Wii's virtual console. More »

wii

Military Madness Is Hudson's Next Virtual Console Game!

Holy! In a post on the official Hudson forums, John Master Lee gave the community a clue in the form of "VGCE0590PG46". Cryptic, right? Pfft, no way. It was so obvious! More »

military

Israel Army Not So Fond of D&D

The Israel Defense Force sends recruits who play Dungeons and Dragons to a psychologist before giving them a security clearance, YNews reports. More »

military

Games Used to Treat PTSD

Gamasutra reports that Full Spectrum Warrior is being used to treat PTSD in war veterans. More »