WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! The Military-Nintendo Complex In Orson Scott Card's science-fiction novel Ender’s Game (1985), a group of kids playing video games discover they are actually being used by the military to fight real wars. What’s actually happening is this: video games are being trained by kids to fight wars. Virtual combat as a recruitment tool comes next. Strafing villages as online entertainment will follow. The U.S. Army’s Web site will offer more interactive gizmos including video games, to attract teens' attention sagging enlistment efforts aid. The military trained troops for decades with video games: it taught an entire generation to fight. In partnership with the public sector, the military/video gaming industry nurtured a cyber-savvy warrior generation. Dubbed the Military-Nintendo Complex by John Naisbitt in High Tech, High Touch (New York: Broadway Books, 1999), the suspected link between the Pentagon and video arcades has long been a hobgobblin of liberal anxiety. Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex morphed into a Military-Entertainment Complex (McKenzie Wark). Col. John Alexander's Project JEDI (1984) used Neuro-linguistic Programming and creative visualisation techniques; today, virtual simulations and scenario generators are commandeered to enhance the art of keeping war at your fingertips. Like arms merchants, the military also unleashed simulated warfare into the mainstream. Game designers frequently receive Pentagon funding and other assistance to create and promote such entertainment. Since turning Doom into Marine Doom, the Marine Corps Combat and Development Command (Quantico, Va.) has "evaluated more than 20 commercially available electronic games for their potential use as training tools for marines." Atari’s 1980s game BattleZone was made for the U.S. military, and used as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle training simulator, one of the U.S. arsenals' best anti-personnel devices. MAK Technologies (Cambridge, Mass.) won a 1997 Department of Defense contract to create Marine Exed Unit 2000, an amphibious assault game intended for both military and commercial markets. Interactive Magic, maker of the flight simulation game Carrier Strike Fighter, was given permission to roam the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln to film videos to ensure accurate visuals and a realistic feel. What gets a spy hanged for espionage will only get a video game designer's name on the military’s mailing list for upcoming events. Each year the U.S. government hosted Connections Conference war game designers and developers for a smooze. "Attendees include personnel of the Defense Intelligence Agency and game companies like GT Interactive," Naisbitt states. "Conference agendas have included such topics as 'Wargaming Design Fundamentals' and 'Department of Defense Wargaming 101.' " Well-meaning efforts to curb violent multimedia pale in comparison to designers' efforts keep raising the bar on pixilated mayhem. Raven Software and Activision released Soldier of Fortune, a first-person shooter that "stands out for its unmatched level of violence." If stimulating dormant aggressive DNA is id Software's goal, they should have received a lifetime achievement award by now. The company is promising a Doom follow-up; its prequel Wolfenstein 3-D has been clinically tested for increasing "aggressive tendencies." It is a gross oversimplification that the Military-Nintendo Complex has an entire gamers population right where they want them. The U.S. Army’s upgrade is a desperate attempt to draw out a technologically intoxicated society of youths too emotionally downloaded to enlist. Suburban super-strata will likely stay home for Armageddon - unless it can be played out online with a Playstation2 or Dreamcast device, leaving the upcoming generation in the bad neighborhoods to play for keeps, brick-and-mortar style. The "digital divide" must make the Pentagon wonder if America’s underclass has the "nuts" and know-how for the one-click wars to come. Research by Douglas McDaniel [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- The Information War In this 21.C magazine article, Australian cyberculture theorist McKenzie Wark proposes that Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex had been usurped by the Military-Entertainment Complex. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Child's Play: Computer Games: Who's Looking Out For Your Kids? What I could never get an answer for from the ESRB was why Delta-Force, a first-person shooter, gets a "Teen" rating for shooting Asians, Columbians and Arabs, but Quake III gets a "Mature" rating for equally grotesque entertainment! >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Killology Research Group He is a retired officer whose profile was maximized after Columbine due to this catchy POV: There's no difference between a violent video game and basic training for field ops. Retired Lt. Col. David Grossman, who coined the term "killology," the study of why people kill, is a darling of the smoking digits theory of video violence. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- John Naisbitt’s Military Nintendo-Complex Synopsis Great idea for a Web approach, in general. Give the gist of the book, High Tech, High Touch (2000), and then include info and indexing for those who want to know more. I like the Web site better than the book, for some reason! >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Warfare Design For Fun & Profit A bio for a game designer such as this Zombie VR Studios team, which came up with such virtual wargames as Special Ops II, is a typical example of the easy slide from military to commercial applications. Co-founder Joanna Alexander's resume reads like an introduction to a conquering hero about to speak at a Veteran's Day Brunch. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Disinformation Dossier On John Shirley: Black Hole Sun, Won't You Come? Check out the Disinformation dossier on John Shirley: Black Hole Sun, Won't You Come? >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Disinformation Dossier On Howard Bloom Check out the Disinformation dossier on Howard Bloom. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Disinformation Dossier On Marilyn Manson Check out the Disinformation dossier on Marilyn Manson. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Disinformation Dossier On Robert Wright Check out the Disinformation dossier on Robert Wright. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Disinformation Dossier On Turning Cops Into Soldiers Check out the Disinformation dossier on Turning Cops Into Soldiers. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Behind Blown Eyes: Blurring Boundaries & Role Playing Games This *spark-online column (June, 2000) by John Shirley is a good ramble about emotional downloading as a contestant in cyberspace. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Entertainment Software Ratings Board ESRB is the gaming industry supported organization in charge of keeping the video game beast at bay, or, at least, properly labeled. Find out how new games are being rated. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Playstation2: Missiles Sold Separately This bizarre USA Today story (April 17th, 2000) is about Japanese government officials who are worried that Sony’s Playstation2 is a danger to world peace. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Skirmisher Interview: Lt. Col. David Grossman The Lt. Colonel answers still more questions about his theories stated in his book, On Killing: The Psychological Cost Of Learning To Kill In War And Society (New York: Little Brown & Co, 1996). >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Joysticks Lead To Mayhem This Wired News article (April 24th, 2000) details the Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology study (April, 2000), released to celebrate the anniversary of the Columbine massacre. The controversial study connects Columbine and video game violence. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Gauging Game Violence This Wired News article (June 8th, 2000) by Dennis McCauley reviews the latest in video gaming mayhem, with a few words by a small-college researcher on games and violent behavior. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- The Second Coming Of DOOM This Wired News article (June 8th, 2000) by Dennis McCauley reveals how a noted software designer dictated company policy by forcing id Software to come up with a follow-up version of Doom. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Video Games And Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, And Behavior In The Laboratory And In Life In April 2000, just a few days after the one-year anniversary of the Columbine High School Shootings, the Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology released its report with the following introduction: "(Eric) Harris and (Dylan) Klebold enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by the U.S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill." The study looked at Mortal Kombat, and a new id game, Wolfenstein 3-D, and found that they improved aggressive tendencies for whoever played. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Cyberplay: Why Do So Many Games Have Violence And Devil Imagery? This CNN article (May 30th, 1997) by Steven L. Kent examines the appearance of occult and violent imagery in video games "as an extension of today's popular culture rather than an indication of religious beliefs." >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Video-game Violence Targeted After Littleton School Shootings This Seattle Times article (May 16th, 1999) is by Stephen L. Kent, a well-connected nationally syndicated gaming columnist (CNN, USA Today, numerous mainstream pubs) who thinks Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is full of it. Kent sticks to his guns (or is that joystick?). In early 2000, he refused to commit to an article connecting video violence to contributing to events leading up to the Columbine massacre. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- 1999 Video Game Report Card An article detailing the leading busy body conservative media watchdog group critique of the video gaming industry. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Stimulus Addiction An article about the obsession to seek out better, faster video violence. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Army Homepage To Get New Look The U.S. Army gives a hint of boffo online action with enhancements to its site for recruitment and public outreach. >>Go ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Back to top ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- © 1997-2000, The Disinformation Company Ltd. 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