Computer games military training

Second, the military is a forerunner in original methods of education. How are video games, specifically designed for the armed forces, empowering soldiers?

How do they influence civilian behavior? But before Mead can conjure the ethical dilemmas of bloodless virtual realities, or plumb lionized state violence, he acts as a historian. It still lives: The military offers funding and technical expertise to game and computer developers, and, in exchange, they give it proprietary technology and technical consulting.

As Mead tells us, the side project was made on a Programmed Data Processor-1, an early microcomputer. But SpaceWar! Through commercial gaming technology, the armed forces could adapt soldiers to the tactics of team fighting and trigger-fast decision making, or conjure tailor-made battle environments for them. The arrangement has synergy: The Pentagon avoids pitiful, expensive efforts to create their own training simulators, and developers get fat government checks. The symbiosis flourished after the Cold War, as budgetary constraints—the lead unnamed character in this book—privileged tactical games over costly field exercises.

But 21st-century warfare and the young people who volunteer for it were changing too. It's military life presented like never before. Check it out at We Are the Mighty. Theatrical releases were almost as chaotic in as they were in Will be the year we finally get to see "Top Gun Off Duty. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. You May Also Like. An after-action review mechanism is also vital.

The game must allow instructors to analyze performance, identify desirable and undesirable behaviors, and provide feedback. Lunsford, who has designed more than a dozen games for the U. Over the last decade, training games have spread across the U. Armed Forces, as well as Britain, Canada, Australia, and other nations. But training soldiers nowadays is expensive in terms of money, resources, and time.

Games are not a substitute for live training in the mud or the cockpit, but they are cost-effective in preparing soldiers for many tasks. Players must cope with various types of incidents such as fires and plane crashes, as information is relayed to them through text messages and multimedia files. Each team member is assigned a unique slot on the expedition, similar, if possible, to what they do in their real-life company. Team roles include expedition leaders which rotate among the different players , navigators, guides, quartermasters, scientists, and doctors.

The expedition must choose a route through uncharted terrain, as well as how they are going to travel by canoe, foot, etc. Every team member has a chance for a unique and secret reward: The scientist, for example, gets bonus money for each scientific discovery.

Yet to accomplish their individual goals, the team as a whole must succeed. As their familiarity with the game increases, we increase the pace and complexity of the exercise.

It is far less costly to expose and address problems in a game than it is on the battlefield or in the office. Another challenge is convincing the leaders that they need routine leader and team training for their organization to thrive. In the corporate world, the detailed study and practice of leadership is rare. Lunsford is a firm believer in the value of games for training, but he is adamant that the human element is what makes a training game work. Regardless of the quality of the game, I believe 75 percent of the actual learning is dependent on the quality of the instructor.

The use of serious games is quickly becoming a more mainstream method for achieving key objectives in a variety of business initiatives. Applications designed for the military, education, health care, and government have produced many positive outcomes and kicked off the infiltration of serious games in the broader corporate world.

Serious games are best defined as games used for purposes other than pure entertainment. They incorporate elements of game design in order to enhance the level of engagement of the target user above and beyond that which can be achieved with non-game approaches. These elements include, but are not limited to:. Currently, the most prevalent use of serious games is for training purposes.