Videogames Are Far More Than Play

USA Today has a piece up talking with the writers of Smartbomb about the greater significance of gaming in the here and now. From the article: "In 2002, the military released America's Army, a game designed to inspire young men and women gamers to join the army. Within one year, it was registered by 2.4 million people and nominated for an award by a top gaming organization. It was a blockbuster. America's Army, along with a game used to train recruits and a sci-fi, holodeck knockoff (a room that allows the participant to see, feel and smell a virtual environment), will be used to 'train soldiers for the emotional experience' of war, making up a part of the U.S. military's new DNA, according to Chaplin and Ruby."

FREE

[SafteyMan]

I think the biggest reason America's Army was so popular was because it was a decent first person shooter - THAT WAS FREE.

A little dry..

[Rapter09]

Perhaps it's just me, but considering the depth and the deep-rooted history of the videogame industry writing an article that seems to try and make a widesweeping comment on the explosion of video games that covers only one or two 'major' games seems a little dry. Maybe they should rename the article dealing more with the promotion of a recruiting tool. I can understand with what the writer of the article is trying to get at, but it needs to be a little bit more researched, with a greater except from 'the industry', unless i'm missing something big (which is entirely possible.)

Re:I've tried playing this recently

[karnal]

Same with UT2004. Hardly anyone playing that either.

Actually, as a member of a clan and an active UT2k4 player (>1 hour per night), I'd have to say you're probably not in a UT2k4 clan. For quick pick-me-ups, there aren't a whole lot of pickins to choose from in UT (check out our RTO n00b assault server- there's always someone there!), but once you get into a clan (be it assault, DM, TAM etc) you get a chance to get in on scrims and pugs and all sorts of fun.

Yea, for the casual gamer, it's frustrating (UT2K7 around the corner tho!) but if you are dedicated enough to be in a clan (and I'm really just an average player) there's so much more to play :)