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Editorials   A New Can of Worms
- By Mike Schneider [Editor In Chief]

Every so often, it seems that various issues touch off new media and public condemnation of video games. Five to six years ago, it was the widespread attacking of videogames by Senators Liebermann and Kohl. A few years back, the known love for Doom by Columbine killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris sent another wave of controversy stirring within the public. Now, in another month, the US Army appears ready to spark another issue.

First, some background for those unfamiliar with how the US Army relates to anything videogame related: In recent years, Army recruiters have found that with the passing of a generation of veterans who’ve seen active wartime duty, armed forces recruiters have few resources with which to communicate about Army life to a younger generation.

Likewise, it is quite obvious that technology plays an increasingly large role in the lives of youth.

Put two and two together, and the Army is where it is at right now: Nearing the release of its “America’s Army” PC game. Starting in August, it will be available for download at http://www.goarmy.com/aagame/index.htm. In addition, free copies of the PC game will be in dispersal within many magazines, and gamers may request for the Army to mail them a copy of it for free.

You can bet that this game will receive plenty of publicity. It’s free, after all. And the Army is pouring a solid 8-million dollars into this gaming project.

So then, back to the beginning: We’ve lived in a country that has a very vocal group of citizens that oppose violence in videogames, and we have an armed forces that is essentially using a violent videogame as a recruiting tool.

How the media will react to this is anybody’s guess… They could be totally supportive: all things considered, the country has been extremely united since 9/11. If one opts to view this game as a tool of recruitment, and one is not a pacifist, then one will certainly be in favor of the military’s endeavors.

However, with so many opinions and so many interest groups and sectors within society, things will not work out as prescribed above. It is almost a guarantee that there will be people upset with the idea of tax dollars having paid for the army’s videogame project… a project that promotes violence, warfare, and citizen involvement. Moreover, one may note the hypocrital nature of our government – one that has its anti-videogame stance, but yet in this time of need uses videogames to try to promote its armed services.

Having not specifically defined my own stance let me first point out why this all even matters for video gamers: for those who are anti-censorship (and likewise, for those who enjoy “mature” games), giving the extremists more things to quack about is not a good thing. And with this upcoming Army game, we’re doing exactly that – they’re going to make a fuss about a government institution contributing to a cause that they do not support.

Hopefully, history will repeat itself and government induced censorship can be averted once again by the gaming industry. An interesting thing to note, however, is how much more scary this issue could have been… Al Gore was a black box or two away from being voted into office, and along with him, would have been Liebermann. Yes, the same Liebermann who previously pursued videogame censorship. Thankfully, this isn’t the case and Bush and Cheney and the conservatives will likely make no legislative enactments to significantly affect the way we recognize the gaming industry.

“America’s Army” itself is divided into two separate experiences: “operations,” which is a first person shooting game with the intent of simulating battle and strategic-warfare situations; and “soldiers” which simulates daily life in the military. Unconfirmed reports specify that the Army plans on porting the game to all major consoles, as well, while still offering it for free.

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see if this game is able to spark any increased interest in the Army. Like it or not, it is a “propaganda” attempt by the Army. However, I hardly find this repulsive, since ultimately, if a person uses this game as the end all source for deciding whether to join the Army or not, then they probably are better off either joining or fleeing for Canada. It is free, and there is the choice of not playing it – so condemning the Army for its “propaganda” is like condemning a musician for releasing a remix compilation.