And they're not even going to play games on them!

Instead, the consoles will be headed to the USAF Research Laboratory's information directorate in Rome, New York, where they'll be combined with 336 consoles the lab already own to form a "cluster" of Cell chips. A PS3 Rat King, if you will.

This cluster will then be put to work grinding out better ways to process high-res radar images, video footage, as well as research on "neuromorphic computing", a term that didn't sound that scary until I looked it up.

Air Force To Expand PlayStation-Based Supercomputer [IW]

Well, alright, maybe it's a heartwarming story anyway. The jamfest was put together by Pro vs. G.I. Joe, which arranges morale-booster multiplayer competitions between sports stars and service members overseas. Via Xbox Live and a satellite connection, Roethlisberger (git-tar, second from right), and his offensive line - Ramon Foster (guitar, left), Willie Colon (vocals) and Trai Essex (drums, looking like he's playing on easy) took their Guitar Hero 5 skills up against the Army's 336th Military Police Company.

Afterwards, Big Ben orated:

To be able to interact with these guys and enjoy it – and I could see the joy on their face – and get to beat them a little bit in some Rock Band. It's a lot of fun.

Facepalm.

Madden NFL 10 cover boy Troy Polamalu didn't play, but he did show up in grass-covered sniper camouflage (yes, really.) I bet Hines Ward's eyes got real big when he saw that, thinking that getup would be perfect for his next out-of-nowhere blindside hit on Keith Rivers.

NFL Super Bowl Champion Steelers Connect with Soldiers in Iraq for Guitar Hero Competition [Ripten]

The complex is responsible for building, repairing and disassembling components for nuclear warheads, so yes, it's a high securty, important place. And as such, it's got serious restrictions on bringing in stuff that can in any way store or transmit information. After all, you never can tell where spies are lurking!

One of the employees has been busted for bringing in a PSP, which because of its wi-fi capabilities violates that rule. And even if it didn't have wi-fi, they'd still have been busted, because under another of the facility's rules, video games are prohibited at the workplace. Which is why the other two guards have been suspended; they were found to be in possession of other, unnamed consoles that while not capable of transmitting data, still violated workplace regulations.

So, security guards at high security military complexes: next time you're bored, just bring a newspaper and do the crosswords, ok?

Y-12 Guards Docked For Bringing Video Games to Work [NTI, via Dtoid]

But the HD World does. A custom F-16 fighter simulator, it runs off 120 dual core PCs with 120 $400 graphics cards inside them, all chained together.

All that processing power gets you 10,000 "entities" on screen at once, realistic explosion and destruction effects and "20-40 visual acuity", which is apparently as close to photo-realism as current projector technology can manage in a situation like this.

Oh, and it all comes wrapped in a 180-degree screen, along with a fully authentic replica of an F-16 cockpit.

If it didn't cost millions and millions of dollars, I'd already have one on order. You can check out a clip of the sim in action below, courtesy of the Star Telegram.

Ultra-HD Military F-16 Flight Simulator Runs on 120 PC Graphic Cards [Gizmodo]

Six Days In Fallujah, which was announced and then abandoned by its publisher last month, was a game both hyped by its developer for its potential to be a game-documentary and scrutinized by game critics who questioned some of its Gears of War influences. To the public it became a flashpoint, a warning of video games perhaps going too far.

Is a game like Six Days in Fallujah even necessary? Coming out in favor, obviously, is Fallujah developer Atomic Games' President Peter Tamte. "Our point is that videogames are interactive, and they're the medium of choice for an entire generation," he told Kotaku this week. "Therefore, we should use this medium to deal with relevant issues while they're still relevant."

What obstacles are keeping the industry from tackling the sensitive subject of real-world warfare? And what divides the experts?

The Question of Fun

"It's not a great start that the Creative Director at Atomic Games is on the one hand talking about trying to "present the horrors of war" and on the other hand make 'entertainment'". - Dan Rosenthal, Iraqi War Veteran

When approaching a game that realistically depicts a modern combat situation, one criticism that often arises is the subject of fun. Can a realistic military shooter be fun? According to Ian Bogost, that's the wrong question to ask. "We use the word fun as a placeholder, when we don't even really know what we mean when we look for some sort of enjoyment in a serious experience," he said. Fun and entertainment aren't mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to entertainment based on real-world military conflicts.

As Bogost explains, fun isn't the key word in this situation. "It may not be possible to make a realistic war game that is fun - war is not fun - but it is possible to create an experience that is informative, appealing, and startling in a positive way."

Bogost cites the example of Blackhawk Down, the film adaptation of Mark Bowden's novel about military forces attempting to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid during the Battle of Mogadishu. It isn't the sort of movie you walk away from feeling good or happy, but it was a positively engaging experience for many film-goers. It wasn't fun, but it was fulfilling and by extension, entertaining.

Handling Sensitive Material

Retired U.S. Army Colonel John Antal is an author and a game developer, but he also spent 30 years of his life serving in the U.S. Army. From his unique perspective as a game industry insider who has led Soldiers from the level of a platoon to a regiment, Antal has his doubts that the industry could handle such a sensitive subject with the reverence it requires.

"There is a vital and very important role for video games and interactive entertainment in recording historic events," Antal admits, "But when you are talking about headlines - real situations involving real people - you really have to treat the subject with great reverence or it will fail. There are few interactive entertainment companies that even come close to being able to handle that properly."

The current war is perhaps more sensitive and politicized that any previous conflict. Every day, critical information of tactical importance is being transmitted. Horrifying images of soldiers wounded and killed in action began to circulate within days of the conflict starting. Antal compares this to World War II, where the first images of a dead U.S. soldier didn't appear until very late in the war. Just because we have easier access to information than ever before doesn't necessarily mean we should use it.

As for Atomic Games admittedly working with Iraqi insurgents on the development of Six Days in Fallujah? The former Army colonel was quite clear on his opinion of that matter.

"If you're working with the enemy, that's called treason. The jihadist killing our people today would love to get a larger audience to perpetrate their hate. If you think that reporters and filmmakers and interactive entertainment developers are not part of this world and their actions have no consequences, then you're wrong. There will be no virtual world in a real world run by the Taliban."

The Problem of Public Perception

If the distinction between fun and entertainment confuses the games industry, one can only imagine what it does to the general public, a large portion of which still see video games as light entertainment. Take the reaction of former Colonel Tim Collins, a decorated Iraqi war veteran who spoke up during the early days following the announcement of Six Days in Fallujah:

"It's much too soon to start making video games about a war that's still going on, and an extremely flippant response to one of the most important events in modern history. It's particularly insensitive given what happened in Fallujah, and I will certainly oppose the release of this game."

In a time where movies, documentaries, and books pertaining to the war have already been release, often to critical acclaim, the news of a video game covering those same subjects is referred to as "flippant" and "insensitive".

According to Bogost, reactions like this are part of an ongoing media literacy problem. People are just not willing to accept the fact that video games, like any other entertainment medium, are capable of handling a serious subject with the respect it deserves. Based off of media coverage of a game which only tangible assets were a handful of screenshots and a short video clip, a large portion of society was ready to dismiss Six Days in Fallujah.

Conflicting statements between publisher Konami and developer Atomic Games certainly didn't help the matter. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Atomic President Peter Tamte is quoted saying, "For us, games are not just toys", while in the same article Konami states that "At the end of the day, it's just a game."

"We have to insist that there's not a subject that's off limits and there aren't things that we can't do," Bogost said. "We can do it more or less effectively, but there is no sensibility that we have to account for."

Some might say that's dangerous thinking, including John Antal. "Every author, every filmmaker, every interactive entertainment developer creating a product is responsible for what it does and its after effects. Aristotle wouldn't agree with that."

Extreme statements aside, Bogost has hopes that the situation is slowly changing, citing a most unexpected catalyst - Nintendo's Wii Fit. Not only does the peripheral attract a whole new audience to the gaming market, it also affects them on a deeply personal level. The key to changing public perception lies in letting people know that games can be about much more than simply sitting on the couch, shooting at aliens. As silly as it may seem to "hardcore" gamers, Wii Fit does just that. It's ironic to think that Nintendo's focus on a wider audience

The Final Fate of Six Days In Fallujah

As for Six Days in Fallujah, developer Atomic Games remains quiet on the subject of finding a new publishers, instructing those interested to "stay tuned" for further developments. While some remain firmly opposed to the project, others believe it's a game that needs to see to see release, as Ian Bogost puts it, "if only to be another example of how to do things well or poorly."

Elaine Brower breaks down the group's disagreement and explains the march. Its intent was to deliver a "private criminal complaint," to the AEC's commanding officer, and to the mall owners. The complaint charges both with "endangering the welfare of the child," "criminal solicitation of a minor" and "corruption of a minor," because the AEC "entice[s] kids as young as 13 to not only play violent video games," but allows them access to real war materiel, including weapons.

"I decided that everyone who cared about our youth should be outraged and take action," Brower wrote, adding that the $12 million, 14,000 square foot pavilion "allow[s] kids to play the most violent video games available." More creepily, she describes "a back room where they can touch and feel weapons created for killing." Now I want to take a shower.

There's a huge play-by-play of what was chanted and said and done, much of it covered before. Brower insists that the seven arrested were wearing "death masks" and "standing peacefully," but not blocking access to the AEC. She alleges a hostile police officer threatened to charge them with an unspecified misdemeanor - probably for being masked in public, which is against the law in many communities unless you're trick-or-treating. It was probably intended to trigger an arrest anyway, which is civil disobedience 101.

In summary, this is why Brower and the other demonstrators are so fired up about video game recruiting, which has more to do with recruiting than games:

What is happening right under our noses is a transformation of the way in which the military plans on re-wiring the brains of kids at a very young and impressionable age to turn them into silent killers. By allowing anyone from the age of 13 to 18 to handle a machine gun, or use games that promote violence, it creates a generation that is wired to kill and think that killing is something that is easy and sanctioned.

This isn't a value judgment at all on the military, the wars it's fighting today, or video games. But it's naive to think only now, in the age of video games, that the military is creating a generation "wired to kill." Visit any boot camp, they've been training young men to kill for more than two centuries. That's sort of the point. And when it comes to indoctrinating an entire generation, the draft has been much more effective than any game.

Criminal Complaint Served and Seven Arrested at the Army Experience Center in Philadelphia Mall [OpEd News via GamePolitics]

GamePolitics tweeted the showdown, which began back in March with ideas of gathering in the mall as ordinary shoppers and then descending on the recruit station, which uses high end gaming PCs and consoles to appeal to potential recruits. Some among those opposed to current U.S. military actions finds that kind of appeal distasteful, misleading about actual military life and obligations, and trivializing of real war.

So, the demonstrators rethought their plan and, with the cooperation of the Philadelphia police, instead chose to march on the mall straight up, and were even let in. But here's the thing about demonstrations - the cops really don't like masks. Local ordinances usually outlaw them in these settings. So seven people wearing them refused police orders to disperse and were arrested, which was likely their intent.

The demonstration was bookended by anti-war speeches and songs, sprinkled with chanting and such throughout. Counterprotesters with a speaker system showed up to grief the antiwar marchers, apparently with some success. In the end, they got to make their point and act on their conscience, but the U.S. Army Experience is still up and running.

GamePolitics' tweet rundown gives an excellent narrative of all that happened. There's also video here.

Covering a Video Game Protest March via Twitter [GamePolitics. Pic also from GP.]

Wired wrote up the ARSS (stop snickering, those in Commonwealth nations) - which stands for Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System, and imagines it could find greater use to a military that finds itself dealing more with quasi-criminal activity such as piracy and hostage situations.

Remote snipers still need training on top of their existing marksmanship expertise. But those operating this drone use a modified 360 controller in a literal point-and-shoot situation. The shooter is supported by auto-correct software and a stabilized turret. Instead of a fixed wing drone blasting a $100,000 Hellfire missile that could blow up noncombatants, the ARSS is more surgical, firing .338 rounds costing $4 each at intended targets.

Video games and drone operation aren't a new story. But correct me if I'm wrong, this is the first military asset I've seen (in development) that uses an actual commercially-available game controller.

Army Tests Flying Robo-Sniper [Wired via Fox News

Thankfully, we're not talking about real fighters here, so rest easy, people of Britain. You won't have some snotty-nosed kid crashing a Eurofighter into your back yard.

You may find one crashing a Reaper - an unmanned reconaissance drone - into an Afghani's backyard, though, with the RAF choosing to skip on the £4million it currently spends training drone pilots like proper pilots. Instead, they'll begin employing pilots with as little as 30 hours of basic flight training, with special attention given to young gamers.

See, the RAF reckons research has shown them that the best drone pilot candidates are those who are experienced video game players, rather than experienced pilots. Sounds crazy at first, but when you think about it, pilots are experienced at actually flying. But flying something remotely via a 2D monitor? That's a gamer's area of expertise.

Oh, and in case you were worried about these "inexperienced" pilots being given command of anything truly dangerous, you'll be happy to know that, yes, Reapers are often armed. And armed to the teeth, as it's able to carry laser-guided bombs, air-to-ground missiles and, soon, air-to-air missiles as well.

RAF jettisons its Top Guns: Drones to fly sensitive missions over Afghanistan [Daily Mail]

What better man to help usher in a new generation of military espionage games than the man responsible for the first generation? While fellow MicroProse co-founder Sid Meier was creating strategy titles like Civilization, Stealey was creating some of the finest combat and flight simulations from the early days of PC gaming. From the first Tom Clancy video game, Red Storm Rising, to F-19 Stealth Fighter, which shipped the day the F-117 Nighthawk was announced to the public, Stealey had a hand in them all.

Now a retired United States Air Force Lt. Colonel, "Wild Bill" still maintains his love for flying and his love for video games. Now he takes that love in a new direction, teaming with fellow MicroProse veterans Fred Schmidt and Jim Bull to form Thriller New Media, a company delivering new online gaming experiences and social networking to military and espionage game fans around the world.

Kotaku spoke extensively to "Wild Bill" about his history in the game industry and the launch of his exciting new venture.

Bill Stealey's gaming pedigree goes back quite a bit before the 1982 founding of MicroProse with industry legend Sid Meier. Long before the then Air Force Major teamed up with the creator of Civilization, he was programming a completely different type of military simulation.

"I started out working as a High School student with the National Scientists Foundation designing helicopter simulations for the Army Signal Research and Development labs. Back then when we were programming games we were moving jumpers around boards, and that's how we did 1's and 0's - by moving the jumpers."

A fateful meeting with Sid Meier over a round of the Atari coin-operated arcade game Red Baron eventually led to the formation of MicroProse, and while games like Sid Meier's Pirates and Civilization might be the most fondly-remembered titles the company produced, its military games had quite a following as well.

"You knew the next military game coming from MicroProse was going to be good. So people lined up, signing up for two games at a time. Famous Hollywood actors would come up to me at the Consumer Electronics Show, asking me when the next flight sim would be out."

"Wild Bill" translated his military connections and expertise into creating a series of cutting edge military titles, including the aforementioned F-19 Stealth Fighter, which made the company $25 million despite the actual airplane being renamed the F-117 at the last minute.

"I was at the Pentagon, and I knew about the stealth fighter before anyone, because I was on active duty and had the secret clearance, and I thought "Hey, I can't tell anybody about it, but I can make a game about it, because that's my business." And the day that it was announced, I was sitting at the Pentagon, and I got an 8 o'clock call telling me they were going to announce the stealth fighter today at 1PM, and I went, "That's really cool, because we're shipping 100,000 units of F-19 Stealth Fighter today."

Stealey ran MicroProse until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte in 1993, forming the iEntertainment Network in 1995, where he still functions as the CEO, maintaining his online flight combat game WarBirds, where he "really enjoys shooting down customers".

Now "Wild Bill" and his fellow MicroProse veterans form Thriller New Media, a subsidiary of Thriller Publishing, taking decades of experience in the military and games industry and putting them towards developing new online experiences in the military action/spy game genre.

"The whole purpose of Thriller New Media was to say, "Hey guys, we were the military sim company in the 80's." Electronic Arts didn't have any. Novalogic didn't have any. Activision was doing Little Computer People. The military stuff worked well for us, and I had enough friends in the military that we could put some realism into it, and that's what we're going to do with Thriller New Media."

The game plan, as it stands, is to create massively multiplayer online games that are serialized...episodic, in a way. Players run through one gameplay scenario and then transfer their character to the next upon release.

"One of the things we're going to do with Thriller, is every game is going to be Call of Duty 1 through Call of Duty 5. Every game is a series."

Stealey's idea is to take great stories and make them into great games. Several of the gaming projects that Thriller is currently working on involve the kind of serialized novels you find in the book sections of your local grocery store. Pulp spy stories and science fiction series, made into games that draw the player in, telling a different story each time with familiar faces carried throughout. "They're all trash, but they're all fun - sort of like a video game."

He cannot stress importance of story enough, even going as far as to cite Halo as an example of a game they wouldn't be doing. "Halo was terrific, but I think the story came after they figured out what they were doing. So we really said let's take some great stories and make them into great game series, and we'll do it all in the military because I read those trashy "I was a hero in the terrorist wars" books."

Thriller New Media already has several games lined up for the service, having already licensed 20 books already for translation into online games, including one science fiction series that Stealey's handler had to keep him from revealing too much about, such is his enthusiasm about the games they're working on.

So while the game prospects are looking good, the games are only half of what Thriller New Media hopes to achieve. Along the the games, Thriller wants to create a social networking site for the players.

"I'm excited about that. This is Fred's baby here, he did that for MicroProse - built a community that was always talking to us on our BBS. He came up with this idea of making this Thriller HQ website where we can have everything about military and action and first-person shooters. This is a place everyone will go to talk about it, to play, to compete for prizes, and to compete for glory. You know we military guys all like to have a Hero Wall, and they'll have great Hero Walls to show off their accomplishments and show off how they kicked Wild Bill's butt three times last week."

And Stealey will be contributing to the website as well, using his connections to provide the sort of inside scoop that
military fiction fans live for.

"I'm actually going to put out the Pentagon Daily. When we were at the Pentagon, every morning we would get a brief on the action around the world, and I've got the kind of sources where I can get that kind of brief now. All non-classified, obviously...I don't want to get anybody shot here or give the bad guys any of the good stuff."

So Thriller New Media is basically looking to regain the glory of the old MicroProse games, when people like J.W. "Wild Bill" Stealey created cutting-edge experiences that helped forge a whole new kind of computer warrior. It's an exciting, ambitious project, and "Wild Bill" himself is its biggest fan.

"I'm just excited about it. We've got a great team here. We've got good people behind us want to come join us, and we've got a great concept. Now it's just getting going, getting it in place, cause I want to start testing these games."

Yes, even after twenty-seven years in the video game industry, 62-year-old "Wild Bill" Stealey still has one overriding desire.

"That's it. I just want to play them and I want to be able to kick everybody's ass."

In an interview, P.W. Singer, a former defense policy adviser to the Obama campaign, and the author of "Wired for War," explained how video games helped this guy shoot up through the ranks, and how others weren't so cool with it.

Democracy Now! talked to Singer - the conversation ranged into areas of civil rights and what the use of military force means if its deployed by robots. But they asked about the video game pilot, whose story is featured prominently in Singer's book.

The soldier in question was a high school dropout who joined the military to make his father proud. But his failing grades in school made his superiors skeptical of his qualifications to be a helicopter mechanic, his first choice. So they asked if he wanted to be a drone pilot.

"And it turned out, because of playing on video games, he was already good at it. He was naturally trained up," Singer told Democracy Now!. "And he turned out to be so good that they brought him back from Iraq and made him an instructor in the training academy, even though he's an enlisted man and he's still-he was nineteen."

(I can't help myself. Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-nineteen. Nineteen.)

Best part? This doesn't sit too well with bona fide academy flyboys. Says Singer: "You tell that story to someone in the Air Force, like an F-15 pilot, and they go, "I do not like where this is headed. You know, I've got a college education. The military spent $5 million training me up. And you're telling me that this kid, this nineteen-year-old-and, oh, by the way, he's in the Army-is doing more than I am?" And that's the reality of it."

Young Soldier Uses Xbox Skillz to Become Ace Drone Pilot in Iraq [GamePolitics]

So Governor-General Quentin Bryce flew in, said hello, shook some hands, dropped off a Wii and left. Bemused troops smiled, shook hands, waved goodbye, asked each other who the hell that was, then spent the night playing Wii Tennis and making penis-shaped, beige & green Miis.

Bit tight she only dropped off the single console. I know we're in an economic crisis, but still....

Bryce makes surprise Afghanistan visit [ABC News]

Incredible Technologies sent a brand new machine to the aircraft carrier after Lt. Mike Hall wrote a letter to them about his love of the game and his longing to play it while at sea.

After donating the arcade machine, the Navy invited some of the folks from Incredible Technologies aboard the aircraft to see just how important the machine will be to recreational life at sea.

The team is flying out to Bremerton, Washington today to help install the popular bar game and then plans to ride along with the Navy to San Diego where the Stennis will be preparing for her next deployment.

Looks like they're going to need to update the official page for the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier seems a little tight:

Crew: 5,000
Telephones: 2,000
Light fixtures: : 30,000
Sheets: 28,000
Golden Tee 2009 Machines: 1

Why Golden Tee? Why an aircraft carrier? [Golden Tee Blog]

The first, a $13 million facility built in the Franklin Mills mall in Philadelphia, PA, was designed to lure in shoppers and loiterers with free games like Rainbow Six: Vegas and Madden NFL 09. That's right. Come for the free games, stay for the "three full-scale simulators, including an AH-64 Apache Longbow helicopter, an armed Humvee and a Black Hawk copter with M4 carbine assault rifles."

Dubbed the "Army Experience Center," recruiters contend that the goal isn't just to see who can kill more efficiently and rack up the highest scores, but to educate.

“Most people think joining the Army means being a grunt, and that Iraq equals death," First Sgt. Randy Jennings told the Times. "We try to show them that there’s more to the Army than carrying a gun. If people come in here and they learn that but they don’t join, that’s O.K.”

While it sounds like a brilliant strategy to get the violence-desensitized gaming crowd comfortable with riding in the back of a Humvee, it's also giving me a case of the willies. Anybody been?

Urban Tool in Recruiting by the Army: An Arcade [New York Times - thanks, Andy!]

The main benefit of using a Wii remote to control military robots is the ease of use, especially compared to today's control panels, which feature more than 40 buttons that a soldier must keep on top of during sensitive procedures. On the other hand, developers have to overcome sensitivity concerns to make sure a twitching soldier doesn't accidentally set off a bomb or alert enemies to the robot's presence, while also making sure the signal cannot be hacked. The last thing we need is for the enemy to pull out their own Wii remotes, as hilarious as the mental picture that brings to mind may be.

How long until we start getting photos of remotes stuck in jeep windshields?

The Army will be setting up two islands in the virtual world. One is a recruiting center with information and means to contact the recruiting office in case you feel so inclined, and the other will be filled with activities like parachuting and rappelling with weapons, both of which are activities you can already perform in SL, only afterwards you can go and relax at a dance club dressed as Optimus Prime with a unicorn for a penis.

"Over the next 30 to 45 days you might, if you’re one of them Second Life avatar dudes, that likes to go populate islands within Second Life, you will find an Army island in Second Life," Gen. William S. Wallace, the commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), said during a presentation at the 26th Army Science Conference.

"Second Life avatar dudes"? This is obviously a man who is in touch with the pulse of America's young men and women from 15 years ago.

Trust me General, this is not a place to find people to defend your country. Not only is there a huge population from countries not exactly pleased with the U.S., any able-bodied men you might find are only interested in the type of hand-to-hand combat you might find during a romantic tryst with a sexy avatar piloted by a woman in her late 30's to mid-40's.

I'd daresay that a large portion of the populace of Second Life will resent such an intrusion, as most people that spend the majority of their time in the game are there to escape real-world concerns.

Our government Lindens at work.

Army Builds Fantasy Island in Second Life [Wired Blogs]

Donna Jo Blake, Chief of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation at Department of Veterans Affairs in Eastern Colorado thinks that this could lead to (and I do apologise for this) "Wii-hablitation".

"We are aware of many colleagues throughout the Veterans Affairs medical system who have developed dynamic Wii programs in multiple areas, including PolyTrauma, Spinal Cord Injury/Traumatic Brain Injury, and Long Term Care," says Blake, "Wii gaming has great potential for physical, mental and emotional well-being. We are delighted to receive this support from Soldiers' Angels."

Nonprofit Donates Wiis To Injured Soldiers [The Wiire]

"The Army takes this seriously," said Lt. Col. Gary Stephens, of the Project Executive Office — Simulation Training and Instrumentation, which will supervise this unit. "We own gaming for the Army — from requirements through procurement."

While the Army will not compete with video game development per se, nor is it producing commercially available products, it will still be interacting with the civilian games industry. The Army will be closely monitoring trends that may be able to help its video game training unit. It also has an undisclosed budget to purchase or have developed a state-of-the-art successor to its "DARWARS Ambush" trainer (pictured), basically an FPS with 20th-century technology limitations.

The new trainer, "Game After Ambush" will require much stronger technology, including support for more trainees participating at the same time, full-featured terrain and scenario modification, and playback/review capability so that instructors can assess trainees' tactics and choices. It sounds like they want to get this up pretty soon.

Leslie Duvow, project director for gaming at PEO-STRI, said the Army will have 70 gaming systems in 53 locations in the United States, Germany, Italy and South Korea between February and September 2009.

"Each system will consist of 52 computers with ancillary equipment including steering wheels, headsets and mice," she said.

Soldiers will be able to drive virtual vehicles, fire virtual weapons, pilot virtual unmanned aerial vehicles and do "most anything a soldier does" in a virtual battle space as large as 100 kilometers by 100 kilometers, she said.

[Col. Mark] McManigal [of Training and Doctrine Command] said the game will replicate what soldiers encounter on today’s battlefield — from fighting in urban terrain and convoy operations to reacting to contact and ambush operations.

"Your imagination will be your only limiting factor," he said.

Not Playing Around: Army to Invest $50M in Combat Training Games [Stars and Stripes via Blue's News]

The MOD already uses modified videogames to train ground troops but researcher have just invested £20,000 to investigate whether adding the sense of smell to a game experience can significantly enhance its realism and hence its value as a training aid.

"Smell is so closely linked to emotion and memory," says Professor Bob Jones of Birmingham University, "it's something that we need to take seriously."

If the research proves effective, it may not be long before games consoles adopt the technology.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the games companies are looking for an inexpensive version for the domestic market," said Jones.

"I think it could be translated into the computer games market in two-and-a-half years."

Just imagine - by 2011 you could be playing Gears of War 4 with two little Microsoft-branded plugs up your nostrils. I bet that armor really starts to stink after a couple of hours out in the field.

British soldiers could be trained on a computer game with smell [Daily Telegraph]

We've all felt a bit stressed when playing a video game - whether its the tension of creeping around a Doom map that you know contains a Cyberdemon or just the feeling of panic as the Tetris blocks creep inexorably up the screen - if you game you know that it can take a real mental toll.

Of course, there is a big difference between BFGing some demons and guiding an actual missile that you know will kill actual human beings. Could it be that the reverse is true & that the video game nature of drone piloting gives a sense of distance that insulates people from killing?

As an aside, current recruitment ads for the British Army show someone piloting a recon aircraft using an Xbox 360 controller. Make of that what you will.

Ghosts in the Machine [Slate]