The video game conspiracy

Now, I'm not sure about this one. I think that many have thought about this but not really looked into it. But here is my reasoning at least. I'm not convinced of anything but I think it would be convenient for governments to do something like this if they were planning a war.

In recent years we have seen all these games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare and games like it and it seems to me that those who have these types of FPS games as their favourites are not allways the brightest bunch of people. But it's not that they sit there and just play the game in singleplayer. Then they play it for hours and hours on the net and competing with other people and get better and better at it every day.
What better way to train grunts than like this? Cheap and effective.

I played the Modern Warfare games myself and it's a classic sort of neo-cold war story with a little James Bond stuff thrown in there. It was actually good but not so awsome as everyone else seem to think.

Originally posted by Metallic Monk
Now, I'm not sure about this one. I think that many have thought about this but not really looked into it. But here is my reasoning at least. I'm not convinced of anything but I think it would be convenient for governments to do something like this if they were planning a war.

In recent years we have seen all these games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare and games like it and it seems to me that those who have these types of FPS games as their favourites are not allways the brightest bunch of people. But it's not that they sit there and just play the game in singleplayer. Then they play it for hours and hours on the net and competing with other people and get better and better at it every day.
What better way to train grunts than like this? Cheap and effective.

I played the Modern Warfare games myself and it's a classic sort of neo-cold war story with a little James Bond stuff thrown in there. It was actually good but not so awsome as everyone else seem to think.

No, War games are just a new gaming fad like platformers back in the 90's. It will all blow over pretty soon, retro remakes and abstract games are on the rise though.

And only idiots believe that playing COD will turn them into soldiers, action video games may increase vision by 40%(If I recall correctly) and gives you better reflex but turning people into soldiers? The Army has a few games they use as recruitment tools but they are god awful.

Originally posted by Metallic Monk
Now, I'm not sure about this one. I think that many have thought about this but not really looked into it. But here is my reasoning at least. I'm not convinced of anything but I think it would be convenient for governments to do something like this if they were planning a war.

In recent years we have seen all these games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare and games like it and it seems to me that those who have these types of FPS games as their favourites are not allways the brightest bunch of people. But it's not that they sit there and just play the game in singleplayer. Then they play it for hours and hours on the net and competing with other people and get better and better at it every day.
What better way to train grunts than like this? Cheap and effective.

I played the Modern Warfare games myself and it's a classic sort of neo-cold war story with a little James Bond stuff thrown in there. It was actually good but not so awsome as everyone else seem to think.

It's kinda like the chicken and egg. Did the military make video games to train new recruits or did the military just use video games as a method? I don't think they created it they just use it to their advantage. The Army actually spent 3 million on a game called America's Army and the controls for a drone looks just like a PlayStation controller. I think they just adapted the tech while game companies are just making stuff that'll sell.

Pretty sure they aren't for training purposes. It's the big craze in gaming right now. gears of war, call of duty, rainbow 6, halo. It's what people like so they will keep producing it.

I guess if an alien invasion occurs the many hours and coins spent playing space invaders will serve me well,or maybe if i need to gobble lots of yellow acid tabs while avoiding the paranormal my time on pacman would have been a worthy investment.Call of duty ,good game but your health doesnt recover by hiding behind a box in real life.
Sitting on your arse playing games does not help you lug an M60 through the jungle.

Oh its no secret the military designed Americas Army as a tool for their soldiers. Its advertised on the games (by the way the game sucks).
With regards to games like COD MW these are just realist games not made by the miltary but the various miltarys are used as consultation to add more realism to weapons and tactics.

Also not secret is the fact the mlitary give game consoles to its troops in barracks and bases to use in recreation time. It is proven playing FPS increases reaction times although i am unaware of the claim by another memeber of increasing vision (esp to 40%) although anything is poosible.

The US military actualy use a converted Xbox 360 controler for drones. This is due to ease of use with X and Y axis and triggers... also with the comfort of the controler.

I play Xbox online on COD MW2 for a few hours everyday. Not because it makes you a super soldier but i enjoy the game. By the way im a former 6 year British army Veteran. I find online shooters the best way for me to switch off from the trauma of hardcore conspiracy mode im in most of the day. I cant watch movies unless its UFO related and music i cant listen to anymore unless its conspiracy related. Im just too far gone down that rabbit hole so Xbox is my only true escape apart from work.

But some people do think like that.... I used to hear young americans on COD MW1 saying things like "kill those $%@#$ Iraqi's" and other stuff.... Funny i havnt heard things like that for a few years since the economic collapse. Those kids are now probs either got no xbox as momma had to sell it to pay the rent or they ended up enlisted into the military and have been killed by an IED in some sandy hell hole.

Edit to add, it is well known about video games able to desensitize the user after only a small amount of repetative killing. Maybe there is something juicy conspiracy-wise in that.

Some games of intrest:

Full Spectrum Warrior 1+ 2 (used by the US military to train JNCO's in team tacticts).
COD MW1+2 (super realistic video death)
Deus Ex + DE Invisible War ( UFO's, Illuminati, NWO, Cults, Bio-tech, Big Pharma, Military Industrial Complex)
Fallout 3 (post nuclear fallout world)
Halo franchise (bopping aliens with plasma weapons)
Super Mario Bros (dwarf italians high on shrooms) :lol

I know it's not a complete soldier simulator. But it's a good propaganda tool. Scaring people of the russians and the chinese, the russians in this case.

Hey

What about that military game the Govnment runs I saw that a couple years back, but for some reason I couldn't get on it at the time and lost inrterest and forgot about it.
Does anyone know it that is still going, should be, I have not looked yet.
That was the one to get you to sign up.

Another thing what about thosse drones the military use, the controls look just like the regular game controlers.

reply to post by Metallic Monk


Very interesting theory, and one I have wondered about myself. I have asked this question before, please check out my thread about this, and read some of the responses.

Are videogames turning us into soldiers?

Have a read.

VvV

I love playing fps. Doesn't really matter who the enemy is, As long as its not "the good guys" lol. Most people love to be an armchair commando imho. But do I think its training? not so much as in they could just drop you in a war zone with a rifle, but on the other hand, it would show you a lot of "minor" things they wouldn't have to spend time teaching you......possibly shortening boot camp in a SHTF scenario...

As far as the xbox controllers being used, it makes sense to use readily available parts, easily adaptable, and ergonomic to boot. Why rebuild the wheel?

Who knows ey, but if you follow hollywood action movies usually have the enemy as the "actual" enemy of the day if you catch my drift.

Russians, Germans, Cubans, Arabs, etc etc etc.

Its also like how girls are programmed by playing with barbie to turn into prostitutes and boys are programmed with GI-Joe to turn into order obeying patriotic idiots.

whilst there are a lot of war games around and has been for years i am unsure if it is part of a conspiracy, maybe if it is, the reason is'nt to make good soldiers for a future war, but could simply be to gain support for the wars by painting a certain picture of warfare to future voters.

if you can control the story line and hide the gruesome realistic reality of war then you can give an impression that war is for the 'good' and give a impression of what the current wars in real life are like according to the game, if you are the type to not read the news or research things(majority of people) then your judgement of war will be based on films and video games.

i believe the real conspiracy where games are concerned(not all games just certain types), is the ones structured to be as addictive as possible on purpose inorder to extract vast sums of money from the player and they make the game in such a way that to achieve anything on it requires vast amounts of time spent on the game.

so if you become addicted you spend most of your time playing just so you can get that awesome quest reward.

online MMORPG is what i'm talking about, they encourage wasting your life inorder to get one decent quest reward. they pry on ego, not being the uncool guy in rubbish gear and make it so hard and time consuming to achieve anything that it overlaps into encouraging children and adults(if they play) to throw away their life and become emersed in a false one. war games you can pick up and play and have a quick blast for 1 hour, complete a few levels, put it down and walk away, there are no 3 hour camps just to kill one mob for one update out of five just to complete 1 quest you need.

I have just two points to add to the debate:

First: Boys will be boys. As I tell my wife when she gets all whiny about our boys playing guns,
"Before they played guns they played swords, before they played swords they played clubs, before clubs, they threw rocks."
A large part of FPS gaming is just the expression of that deepseated male primitive urge to mock fight. Same as Paintball, Airsoft, Nerf or even those folks who smack each other with foam swords.
The gaming industry has evolved the FPS product into a very addicting and fun "Toy Gun".

Second: FPS games are notoriously shallow, tactics-wise. Also known as "Run and Gun" games, the focus is on a very chaotic, single person tactic. The maps have progressively become smaller to encourage a faster paced, hectic experience. There are no squad-based tactics or principles, and typically you don't get incapacitated on the first bullet hitting you.
The point is it isn't creating soldiers, it's creating an adrenaline-buzz combat style that if translated to an actual gunfight would probably get a bunch of folks killed quickly.

Originally posted by lifeform11
i believe the real conspiracy where games are concerned(not all games just certain types), is the ones structured to be as addictive as possible on purpose inorder to extract vast sums of money from the player and they make the game in such a way that to achieve anything on it requires vast amounts of time spent on the game...
...online MMORPG is what i'm talking about, they encourage wasting your life inorder to get one decent quest reward. they pry on ego, not being the uncool guy in rubbish gear and make it so hard and time consuming to achieve anything...

Yes. I am sure that MMORPG's have been and are discussed behind closed doors. Having literally tens of millions of people logging into their opium dens every day surely factors into how far TPTB thinks they can push us.

I have some things to say and some points to argue on why i believe these video games can give you skills in battle.
(MAYBE NOT FOR AVERAGE PLAYERS i.e. Pubbers, but defintaly www.gamebattles.com

While I don't think there is a "conspiracy" behind video games, they have nonetheless done an amazing job at desensitizing people to violence and opening them up to brutality like never before.

I don't think 30 years ago you would hear a child shouting "I killed him! I killed him!" while jumping up and down in excitement while the t.v. screen shows a bloody body with a knife stuck in the back of its head.

It should be noted, however, that the US government has taken no break in jumping in on the violent video game craze for their own promotion.

Case point: America's Army

America's Army (also known as AA or Army Game Project) is a series of video games and other media developed by the United States Army and released as a global public relations initiative to help with recruitment. America's Army was conceived by Colonel Casey Wardynski and is managed by the U.S. Army's Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis at the United States Military Academy. Wardynski envisioned "using computer game technology to provide the public a virtual Soldier experience that was engaging, informative and entertaining."

Dozens of government training and simulation applications using the America's Army platform have been developed to train and educate U.S. Army Soldiers. America's Army has also been used to deliver Virtual Soldiering experiences to participants at events such as air shows, amusement parks and sporting events around the country.

en.wikipedia.org...

There you have it.

It's not a conspiracy because it's right out there in the open and admitted.

The US gov uses video games to desensitize kids to violence and open them to the idea that they can get the same kind of thrills they do playing video games by joining the army and "playing the game" in real life.

Originally posted by Metallic Monk
I know it's not a complete soldier simulator. But it's a good propaganda tool. Scaring people of the russians and the chinese, the russians in this case.

I haven't seen any recent video games where Russians were the bad guys, but in a funny twist the US was the bad guys in Modern Warfare 2.

reply to post by Metallic Monk

Definitely an interesting idea (S+F)! I was actually just talking about this the other day with my buddy and he seems to think that games are indeed a training tool.

Personally, I really don't think so. Remove the game controller from one of these gamers, give him a real machine gun, and throw him into the heat of battle and it won't be long before he realizes there's no re-spawning in real life.

The only conspiracy I see with video games (much like with Hollywood as well) is that they're just another distraction for the masses to entertain themselves with, and at the same time, desensitizing them to the idea of war.

Edit to add: @Blamethegreys: Excellent comparison with the "toy gun"! I never thought of it that way.

reply to post by Metallic Monk


I highly disagree.
I usually find that alot of intelligent people play video games as well.
Why? Because our higher reflexes allow us an edge and we kick ass.
Personally I'm in the 99.999 percentile and I love video games (MW2 especially), and I can tell you I am no murderous grunt ready to rampage.

I would say that it definitely gives you insight into such situations, I would probably fair alot better than other people due to just 'experience' in virtual situations if we were thrown into a battle pit lol. They can be very realistic.
Use a 50" high res tv, a 5.1 or 7.1 sound system and you can be quite integrated into the 'experience'.

I think you might be on to something. I really don't have any experience with those kinds of games, the last one I played with GoldenEye for Nintendo 64. Is morality a big part of any of these games? I'm guessing the games don't force you to make tough decisions like having to shoot a little kid that's pointing a gun at you. Do you ever get to sympathize with both sides in war in these games or is it always pro-American? I don't know because I don't play them as I said but it's something I'd like to know.