From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Videogames Page 155 - 172

Summary- A milestone in videogame history, Battlezone, by Atari created a revolutionary game in a 3d world instead of the common 2d planes at arcades of 1980. It also was one of the first first person games out in the market at the time. First person became an ideal choice for videogames because of their interactive nature. These two fairly new ideas led to the game's success and later applications of the ideas. The freedom was unfathomable at the time, and many gamers created their own stories and myths to go with the game. Another amazing change to the traditional system was the idea of dual joysticks. This gave the ability to both control head movement as well as feet in these new first person video games. Battlezone soon caught the military's attention. Ed Rotberg, the designer of the game refused to accept to convert this popular game to a military training system. He did not want his game becoming a machine to train people to kill. His directors eventually made him create a Army style Battlezone. The question arises to why the army would want this new game when it was filled with military simulators. The answer lies in the addictiveness of Battlezone. The army wanted the soldiers to do more training by having a pleasant time doing the training. During this time a new generation of youth had been born. One with controllers in their hand that lined up at arcades after school and played until night. Not surprisingly, the military also took interest in this. The new youth had amazing skill in the games that proved valuable in the military. This lead to the army sending recruiters to popular arcades. It was common to see a military officer approach a skilled gamer in hopes of persuading him or her to join the army. In 1993, another famous title came into the gaming world ,Doom. The gaming world had improved graphically at the time of this first person shooter's release. Three innovative aspects made the game so special at the time. One was the marketing. They came out with a demo, a common technique today to attract gamers into purchasing a game. Another aspect was the free roaming gameplay. There were secret areas that the player could venture into to discover all kinds of hidden things left by programmers, which were called easter eggs. The third innovation that Doom did was modding capabilities. This ability for the came to be modified led to an active community of gamers who constantly supplied new versions of the game to the public. Doom caught the attention of...(guess who"?) the military of the United States. Soon they hired modders to create a more realistic version of the game where the bad guys were replaced with terrorists and the futuristic guns with ones found in the military. As the War on Terror approached the military and entertainment industry gradually became closer and closer.

Quote- "Even without knowing it, you're being prepared for a new age............Many young people have incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games" (Halter 117).

Originally made by Ronald Reagan  on March 8, 1983.

Reaction- I connected this quote with my own generation, not necessarily the one Reagan was addressing. We are constantly flooded by titles such as Call of Duty, and without knowing it we are being trained for warfare much like how the simulators in the army did decades ago. Our understanding of computers and all kinds of technology is one that the older generations have a hard time comprehending. This quote it so true. We are the digital age. The age were we are born basically with computers in our hands and with this early start we become more knowledgeable with technology and certain motor skills come with our constant attraction to video games.