Military Video Games - Exploitative or Market Saavy?

[IrishCanadian25]

I'm not a video game guy. I'm an old schooler. I may buy a Wii this year because my wife became obsessed with Mario Galaxy while we were in Florida last week. But even I can keep tabs on what's happening in the industry, and in this case, it has cultural impact.

In this hybrid thread of VGA and the Cigar Lounge, I will challenge all of you to convince me that war video games are not insulting and exploitative to actual members of the military.

The recent edition - Call of Duty Black Ops - has an advertisement out claiming 'there's a soldier in all of us.'

[YOUTUBE]Pblj3JHF-Jo&feature=autofb[/YOUTUBE]

Here are some of the generalizations and stereotypes I see this message making:

1. You, too, can be a soldier simply by pulling a trigger on a weapon.

2. Heroism is acheived by racking up a body count.

3. If you kill Castro, you win.

Now perhaps having Kobe Bryant in the commercial with some other less-than-solider like people will take away from this, but I have a real concern about the presentation of the military in these video games.

I'm also very concerned that these video games are, in fact, used to instill a violent side in kids in hopes of boosting military enlistment in the future. Get'em young, that's what the marketers want. It worked for tobacco.

These are my concerns, so I ask you:

1. Is the military misrepresented in war games, and does it bother you?

2. Do you think these games unrealistically encourage kids to enlist in an infantry?

3. Do you think these games breed ethnocentrism / intolerance of other cultures?

4. Did you find the game release near Veteran's Day to be exploitative?

 

[Барбоса]

I have to say that at times I am a little annoyed at the representation of war in some of these games.

Granted, I have no and hope to never know the experience of fighting in a conflict so my opinions do not carry as much weight as someone who has; however, my 10 years of academic study suggest to me that these FPS games make war seem incredibly easy, when clearly it is a harrowing experience that requires you to keep your wits about you in the worst kind of circumstances in order to preserve not just your own life but that of you friends and allies.

It is not as straightforward as just holding down a button/trigger and firing off what seems to be an infinite amount of ammo with at times astonishing accuracy. Some thought has to go into where you hide and when you shoot - that is the realm of military strategy and tactics; something which as far as I can see appears extremely rarely in these type of games.

 

[Ferbian]

1. Is the military misrepresented in war games, and does it bother you?

I doubt the duties of a soldier etc. can truly be honored in a video game of any kind. So of course it will always be misrepresented in some way. However I would like to believe that, even if I have zero true knowledge of the military, that there are still some good interpretations and representation of what kind of things you could happen to experience during war.

2. Do you think these games unrealistically encourage kids to enlist in an infantry?

I'm not exactly sure. I mean I've played all of the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games, and none of the games ever encouraged me to sign up as a part of the military. War movies and some of the classic stuff based on war and all that kind of things associated with being a soldier had me wanting to be one. Yet never the games. The games in some way could possibly even serve as a "scare-off" for all the children. Due to the very fact that you're thrown smack down into the middle of a warzone and expected to survive. Not the kind of thing I would be too happy about experiencing in the future if I was a kid.

3. Do you think these games breed ethnocentrism / intolerance of other cultures?

I'm guessing you mean due to the fact that it is constantly focused around the attacking part against Germans in World War 2 games, as well as the Middle-eastern countries in Modern Warfare 1 & 2? Yes of course these games breeds some kind of intolerance to other cultures as well as it encourages severe nationalism. But that's only understandable due to the majority of the games being of either historical content on the positive side of the Americans, or quite simply American produced games.

World War 2 games has, and always will be downgrading to the German culture and the situation in Europe during the time. Because let's face it, you're NOT gonna be applauded for displaying Germany in a good light in any of those games. The same can be said with ALL of the other games, because the primary buyer of these games is produced towards Americans, and the Europeans follows as a "bonus" if you will. The very Europeans which are also encouraged to buy it due to features of British as well as Russian soldiers.

It's all a part of marketing, and it's actually quite brilliant marketing. Because, sure there's MANY German people. But let's face it, only a small part of them would like to play as Nazists during a wargame based on a war they lost. The same can be said about all of the other games, because in the end, the games focus on the winning sides. Because nobody wants to play a game where you loose.

4. Did you find the game release near Veteran's Day to be exploitative?

Absolutely not. While it once again focuses on a market which is severely dominated by Americans, there are still a large amount of European buyers. Europeans who doesn't celebrate Veteran's Day from my knowledge (Denmark certainly doesn't).

Now, had they released it leading up to.. Christmas, that's exploitative, but only due to the fact that we all know it'll sell like hell during Christmas seasons.

 

[ThUnDeRpHoEnIx]

I say that usually the soldier is misinterpreted.Not being in the military myself though, but I still assume that the soldier isnt always like they show in the game.

I honestly dont think it make kids join up to the army.It may if they are 6 or 7(but then why are they playing these games?)but when they grow up they'll learn that there are no seconds chances in war,no respawning,noob tubing isnt as effective and its a totally different battlefield.If you play Call of Duty or Medal Of Honour for 10 years straight doesnt mean you'll be prepared to go out and fight on the real battlefield. Its like those kids we hear about rarely that think playing Call of Duty or Gears of War will make them be prepared if aliens pop out underground or we are attacked by russians(using examples from those games)

I'll do the rest later.For now I go to go to work on 5 hours sleep...fun

 

[Spidey Revivey]

In this hybrid thread of VGA and the Cigar Lounge, I will challenge all of you to convince me that war video games are not insulting and exploitative to actual members of the military.

I would generally agree with you about the exploitation of war. I myself find it hard to swallow when our men and women of the armed forces are out there facing certain death while we sit around playing as if we were. But for sake of thread I will try and argue this case. I enjoy being challenged.

1. You, too, can be a soldier simply by pulling a trigger on a weapon.

Do we not, at some time or another in our lives, wish we were heroes? I consider this not degrating at all; I've made my peace in the The Cigar Lounge in the thread "Soldiers Aren't Heroes". Little boys play with their little green and khaki soldiers as if they were at war. Is that wrong? Now take that aspect and put it in a 3 Dimensional environment. You're behind the gun, and you're most likely playing a war game where you are fighting the "villains". Historical or not in your mind you're the good guy. That's quite respectable I think.

2. Heroism is acheived by racking up a body count.

I wouldn't exactly say this video touches on that. But let's say you're right. The good guy you're playing is killing off the people that would most likely hurt others if you didn't. You're racking up a body count from Hell. These "villains" could be Nazis, Terrorists, Aliens bent on Human Slavery, etc. In the end they all represent the same thing: Bad Guys that (without your interference) would kill/subject violence on innocents. Is it realistic? That's a matter of perspective. I don't consider the Third Reich in the right, so I'd be opposing them.

3. If you kill Castro, you win.

Not saying it's right, because I already stated in the first paragraph I'm doing this for sake of argument, but Castro could easily be swapped out be Hitler, Bowser, King George, etc. The villain is all a matter of perspective as I said.

1. Is the military misrepresented in war games, and does it bother you?

I would say it's definitely misrepresented. You don't get a kickass song playing in the background period. And you sure don't get an extra life. But it doesn't really bother me at all; games are going to misrepresent every aspect in life. That's why they are called games. Medieval Europe wasn't all scantily clad princesses and evil wizards; there was Plague, poverty, and frequent raids by another country. If people back then were around today they'd probably be pissed.

But that's the thing about it though isn't it? Games are going to romanticize everything.

2. Do you think these games unrealistically encourage kids to enlist in an infantry?

Not anymore than peer pressure, veteran relatives, and a chorus of "Citizen Soldier" by Three Doors Down does playing in a commercial.

3. Do you think these games breed ethnocentrism / intolerance of other cultures?

Again, not anymore than our government already has in such head scratching things as having a "Terrorist Alert". Exactly what were we suppose to do when the Alert went Yellow/Green/Red/etc? The alert was meant to install fear. At least in a game you get a gun and know what's going on.

4. Did you find the game release near Veteran's Day to be exploitative?

Exploitative...perhaps. But I would rather have this kind of game come out at this time then have it come out on Memorial Day. I don't think anyone would really feel offended if a new war game came out on July 4th either. Should we feel disheartened if Call Of Duty: American Revolution came out next year on Independence Day? I wouldn't.

 

[Arkham Noir]

I'm surprised more people haven't responded to this.

I'm not sure if these games are giving false ideas to people more than anything else that's in a video game or on television.These types of games tend to glorify the subject in a sub-conscious way that people almost don't even notice. I think I'm going to make a thread in the Cigar Lounge later about that concept so I'm not going to delve into it too much here.

Does it influence kids to enlist? I'm not sure. If someone is influenced by this kind of game that easily than they stand no chance in life anyways.But I'm really not sure that is a bad thing really. I don't think anyone should join the military with expectations of glamour, but the military could help some people gain some direction in their lives so I wouldn't say that is necessarily a bad thing. As long as they realize the fact that there is no coming back to life if you fail the mission.Don't mistake that for me thinking it is alright to exploit people, because it's not.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It's not really a good thing when you think about it. You can't just "become a soldier" by pulling a trigger on a video game weapon. You are playing a character in a game, that is it. The world is full of people who do not live in reality though. They see things in games and think that's real. They go on to think they would be capable of doing the real-world equivalent of what goes on in the game. Not good. Heroism is NOT achieved by a high death count in a game. It can be amusing and a form of stress relief, but that does not add even an ounce of heroism in real life. What a REAL hero is, is a topic for another thread.

It does bother me a bit how these games are made and how the military is misrepresented in them. War is beyond terrible in real life and there really shouldn't be games about it. This is real life, there are REAL soldiers fighting out there, losing their lives in real life. We don't get "extra lives", we only have one. These games encourage kids to enlist, not knowing what to expect due to thinking it will be all fun and games, and easy. It's not. I'm not involved with the military personally, but I know people who have and they have told me stories about it. The games create intolerance for other cultures by depicting them in bad ways. I disagree with that because not all people of a culture fit all of its stereotypes. I find these types of games to be just a bit controversial due to bordering far too close to reality, and wars are anything but a game in the real world.