video games, global and interstellar conflict

the results obtained from the use of video games, can some day be used to train for interstellar conflict. the benefits that arise from the use of video games are great in the conditioning, and the training of the users both subconcious and conscious mind. according to a study conducted by daphne bavelier and shawn green , videogames are a useful tool in the rehabilitation of humans with visual impairments but just as well, they are good at training soldiers for combat.

"It is certainly good training for people in situations where they need to detect things in their visual environment at any time in any location, like ground troops going through uncharted territory," said Daphne Bavelier, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester.

Video Games Boost Visual Skills, Study Finds

Soldiers who grow up playing video games do better in processing information on a screen or operating long-range unmanned aerial vehicles that can film or photograph enemy activity on the ground, according to military experts.

“There are some very avid video gamers in the military. The people who have been playing video games all their lives seem a lot more comfortable in some of these kinds of environments,” said Lt. Cmdr. Russell Shilling of the MOVES Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Study: Video Games Hone The Mind

whether the application of video games is for entertainment, education, rehabilition or training. video games have achieved a significant strangle hold on a multi billion dollar industry. as of 2006, the industry saw numbers well above 12,000,000,000 dollars in the united states of america.

When hardware, software, and accessories sales are combined, the total US gaming market for the year amounted to $12.5 billion, a 19 percent jump over 2005's $10.5 billion, which was the previous highest grossing year in US gaming. December alone saw the industry bring in $3.7 billion, 27.8 percent more than the $2.9 billion it brought in for December 2005. The figures did not include sales of PC games, PC game subscriptions, or downloaded content.

Last month, retailers racked up $1.7 billion in game sales, a 5.4 percent increase over December 2005. While sales of games for the recently released Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3 added to the tally, console software sales overall were virtually unchanged, up only about .5 percent. However, last month's portable game sales showed significantly more growth over December 2005, as they cumulatively jumped 18.8 percent to $521.6 million.

NPD: Game industry reaches $12.5 billion in '06

The NPD Group has just released its December and year-end totals for 2006, and it's truly stunning. The U.S. video game industry has reached an all-time high at $12.5 billion, easily eclipsing last year's record $10.5 billion. The final month really put the industry over the top, as December total sales hit a whopping $3.7 billion, an increase of 27.8 percent. Software sales for December totaled $1.7 billion, up just 5.4 percent.

It was hardware, however, that saved the day. During December hardware did incredibly well, totaling $1.6 billion (up 59.2 percent). And guess what system put up the highest numbers... that's right, the Nintendo DS. We say it every month, but it's mind boggling how successful the DS has become. The handheld sold 1.6 million units in December and life-to-date stands at 9.2 million. The PSP did fairly well also, selling 953.2 K units (6.7 million life-to-date). Nintendo's GBA came in third among portables with 850.7 K unit sales (35.1 million life-to-date). Overall, though, portable hardware sales were still down 5.7 percent year-over-year in December and essentially flat on an annual basis.

Breaking: U.S. Video Game Industry Totals $12.5 Billion in 2006

what about the rest of the world? let's see, japan saw numbers well above 625,000,000,000 yen, roughly 5,300,000,000 dollars.

in Japan the games industry had its biggest year yet with total industry sales of 625.79 billion yen (up 37.6 percent).

Japan: 2006 Sets Record for Video Game Industry

the uk?

According to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), the video game industry in the United Kingdom enjoyed a record breaking year in 2006. Sales increased a little over one percent compared to 2005's figures, as the industry posted revenues across all platforms of £1.36 billion (about $2.64 billion). Furthermore, the U.K. games industry also saw unit sales increase seven percent to 65.1 million units sold.

Record Breaking Year for U.K. Games Industry

well, i think we get the idea. it is impossible not to accept that this industry is very powerful and growing all over the world. like all media out there today, movies, television shows, news outlets, magazines, books, the internet, they are all vulnerable in the sense that agendas can be spread much to easily through them. video games have evolved into the same category because it is just another form of entertainment. record numbers of sales are seen, millions of humans have or will have them in their home. that is where the vulnerability exists. millions of humans will have them in their homes. if mind condition through venues of communication is apparent and exists, it seems that maybe those who are in control of these outlets are already in control of the video game industry. what about those humans who claim to know something?

In 1938, Orson Wells produced a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells, ‘War of the Worlds’. In the famous broadcast, listeners believed they were hearing genuine news reports of an attack by Martians on Earth, and the destruction of the United States. While Wells’ production shocked listeners, it gave a classic example of how mass communication could very easily shape public opinion of extraterrestrial races. Moving to the present era, Dr Steven Greer, director of the ‘Disclosure Project’, has interviewed an extensive number of whistleblowers that are former or current employees in the US military-intelligence community, or aviation industry (www.disclosureproject.com... ). In his interviews he has learned of a secret plan that involved producing another fictitious ‘War of the Worlds’ as a ‘First Contact’ event where the global population would officially learn of the hitherto secret extraterrestrial presence in terms of an extraterrestrial invasion (see www.gvnr.com... ). The fake extraterrestrial invasion would presumably happen at a time and place that suits the interests of clandestine organizations that have secretly managed extraterrestrial affairs since the Second World War era (www.exopolitics.org... ) .

The fake ‘war of the worlds’ would allow military-intelligence organizations around the world to continue their vast network of secret projects that are funded by ‘black’ budgets that in the case of the US, go as high as $1 trillion dollars annually (see www.american.edu... ). The fake invasion would allow the passage of strict national security laws that would benefit those factions within the national and global extraterrestrial management groups that desire to maintain full control of all aspects of the extraterrestrial presence without being scrutinized by open and transparent democratic processes. The strongest supporters of a fake extraterrestrial invasion have been described as a mysterious ‘Cabal’ that has in the past approved policies targeting and shooting down visiting extraterrestrial space craft (www.drboylan.com... ).

The Race for First Contact - Shaping Public Opinion for the Open Appearance of Extraterrestrial Races

if this plan, as it is being exposed by these witnesses, holds any truth, the release of certain video games seem to play in part to what is happening today in the world. let's take a look at some of the most influential games dealing with armed battle.

Metal Gear Solid
Counter Strike
Medal of Honor
Ace Combat

just to name a few as i am sure there are plenty of them out there. notice how these games are more like tools in training humans for combat. younger generations have been exposed to these games, more so, the generations who have achieved fighting age, including mine. now, dont' take it from me, just accept that the military has caught on, and are applying virtual battlefields into their training.

Developers at the Institute of Creative Technologies (ICT) -- which created MRE -- are working in conjunction with storytellers from the entertainment industry; technologists and educators from the University of Southern California (USC); and Army military strategists. The Los Angeles, California-based ICT was formed in 1999 to research the best types of simulators to be used by the military.

War games: Military training goes high-tech

"The realism you get is the ability to keep somebody engaged and play a game for three or four hours as opposed to in a classroom, where after 15 minutes they're bored," says McCracken.
And, one thing young recruits in today's military have in common is that they've all played video games. They all talk the jargon.
"They know all the words," says gaming expert John Beck. "They can talk, 'Oh, this is like that game, and when they talk about it everybody knows, this is like Halo 2."

Uncle Sam Wants Video Gamers



[edit on 19-3-2007 by souls]

wow! halo 2! those little suckers with the needlelers always get me. anyway, will get back to that in a minute. the power of video games, they even use them for recruitment. have you heard of "America's Army"? yeah, you can download it right off there website. initially it was designed for recruiting purposes, but since it's popularity has grown, recruiting is not the only purpose now.

America's Army provides civilians with an inside perspective and a virtual role in today's premier land force: the U.S. Army. The game is designed to provide an accurate portrayal of Soldier experiences. The game is an entertaining way for young adults to be educated about the U.S. Army and see some of the career opportunities available to Soldiers in the U.S. Army — all this as a virtual Soldier. America's Army emphasizes teamwork, values and responsibility as means to achieving the goals.

The Official Game of the U.S. Army

well, teamwork, values, and responsibilty are all very good skills. but there should also be some focus on what the simulations/video games display as the enemy and what they display as a friend. today we see "terrorists" as the enemy and the player as the hero, or liberating force, or whatever you want to call it. tomorrow, what will we see? humans fighting monsters, the living dead, extraterrestrials? wait, we have already seen that. and it is intensifying.

Contra
Doom
more Doom
WarCraft
Halo
more Halo
Unreal
more Ureal
Quake
more Quake

i can't help but notice that i see the same basic concept through out most of these popular games. you are part of an earth team, going against an extraterrestrial invader. you grab your shotgun, your automatic rifle. strap on your back a rocket launcher or maybe a sniper rifle, pocket some granades and go kill some aliens. it could be that the amazing talent and ideas behind the creators of these games are just ideas and talent and nothing more. but one can't help but ask what is really going on when you see videos like these. could that be some type of high energy weapon being fired at that object above the ozone? or is it just swamp gas reflecting the light of venus? after some reading and searching, it seems possible that video games, and the concepts that they present, could be a way of disensitizing generations to come. it seems apparent when you see movies like "War of the Worlds", "Signs" , even television shows like "Taken". this type of entertainment has not been used as much as it has been over the past few years. could the industry that controls all communications be preparing the world for their "arrival"? could that "arrival" be in the form of interstellar battle? did they start a war with another race? will they start a war with another race? there is no way to know if this is true or not, but sometimes a gut instinct is all we humans have.


[edit on 19-3-2007 by souls]

Greetings, Star Fighter. You have been recruited by the League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Kodan Armada...

Blah Blah Blah... it's all been done before.

If video games are such great training tools for war, then why has the USA lost over 3000 lives fighting the guerrilla war in Iraq? There's only so much that you can do with a video game before someone has to actually get off their arse and pull a real trigger or kick down a real door.

How many real soldiers have 'hit points' like the video games? If those games were REALISTIC, then they would be one-hit-one-kill games to many of the players. The only reason they have hit-points is to prolong the game to give the player some satisfaction.

[edit on 19-3-2007 by tezzajw]

As much as I like video games, and Know them to be helpful in all kinds of 3D thinking, I fail to see why this thread is on the Alien & UFO forum.

Tezz> Compare those 3000 to the number Iraqis that has died before you state anything.

Originally posted by Drexon
Tezz> Compare those 3000 to the number Iraqis that has died before you state anything.

The inference from the original post is that video games are being used to train the population, possibly preparing future soldiers for better conflict.

Many of the USA soldiers would have some form of simulated training, and many of them would also have played popular video games before and during their military service.

It would be a reasonable statement to make, that the USA has technological superiority over the Iraqis.

However, despite their superior training and exposure to video games, the USA has still managed to lose over 3000 lives in the conflict fighting a vastly inferior force.

Drexon, there's nothing to be proud about, when despite superior training, resources and hardware, the USA is still being slammed by feral opposition by fighting them on their own terms. Video games don't train soldiers for that.

Well no, video games do not help against road side bombs, snipers or other type of killing tactics Iraqis use, but I assure you, the death toll would be greater if it wasn't for video games.

Also, video games have shown to increase the accuracy of surgeons! I read something like "A surgeon who plays video games at least 3 hours a week is x% less likely to commit an error during surgery". You'd have to find a source on that yourself though, as I'm incomprehensibly lazy.

Video games are good for training the user in tactics,and tactics only. Even then,all games are not created equal.

Counter-strike- Good for teaching the user to think smart. Good squad based movement.

Doom- Teaches nothing. There are no tactics at play in doom,or quake.

Americas' army- The most realistic of the first person shooters out there. Can't win by running into an area by yourself.

Full spectrum warrior- Another very realistic type game. Teaches the user how to move in squads,and provide cover and flanking.

These traits along with improved hand/eye coordination are what's being improved upon. So no,people dont have hit points,or life meters. But from playing games and from training, the soldier knows the best way to eliminate his enemy is to flank him and not try to go head-to-head.

Reminds me of the book - "Ender's Game". Good novel if you ask me.

edit: link for those who haven't read it: en.wikipedia.org...'s_Game

[edit on 20-3-2007 by curiousbeliever]

I'm damn good at kickin' alien butt in Halo! Sounds like they'd recruit me. Only problem is if I had a bigger screen, I'd be so much better! I don't cheat either, I find cheating too easy and not fun at all. I like challenges!!!