Gamers, We Want YOU!

I was in San Francisco when demonstrators in Berkley were doing everything imaginable to drive out the US military recruiters, including (but not limited to) women making out with potential recruits to stop them from going into the offices. Despite these efforts there’s definitely been no slowdown in military recruitment. In fact, according to the New York Times, the economic downturn and slower news from Iraq have more people joining up then ever. So guess who the Army’s next target for recruitment is…gamers!

The enlistment spike is predictable since there are fewer job opportunities then ever for young people, but the US military is apparently of the mind that if you can hook people with exciting, electronic combat, you can make them thirsty for the real thing, and have turned to video games as a way of attracting new recruits. Games like “America’s Army” have drawn criticism from the ACLU for using video games to allegedly target minors as young as eleven. Whether or not the games are targeted specifically to minors is a difficult to prove, but there’s no question that denunciations or no, the role of games in military recruiting is getting bigger, not smaller. The Franklin Mills mall in Pittsburgh just opened a $12 million dollar, high-tech “US Army Experience Center” containing 60 PCs and 19 Xbox 360s, tons of military games, information screens, couches, casual clothes, and rock music.

When interviewed by Reuters, First Sgt. Randy Jennings, said “We want them to know that being in the Army isn’t just about carrying weapons and busting down doors. About 80 percent of soldiers are not involved in direct combat roles.”

Besides the main lounge, the center also contains special rooms where potential recruits can shoot electronic targets from a real Humvee or simulated helicopter. I wonder which non-direct combat roles those are advertisement for.

This is clearly aimed at “gamers,” but I think gamers are intelligent enough to know that there’s a sizable reality gap between a FPS and the heat, terror, and physical pain of a real gunfight. At least, I hope most are.