US Army sponsoring Global Gaming League for an estimated $2 million

by Jared Rea { Apr 12th 2007 at 2:26PM }

Contrary to popular belief, the Army isn't looking for just any ol' pizza roll munching, message board trolling gamer. No, they're only looking for the best of the best. So when the Army dumps somewhere around $2 million dollars into the Global Gaming League, you better believe they're on the head hunt.

With their eyes set on the 17-24 male demographic that makes up 80 percent of the players on the site, the Army isn't stopping at just mere advertisement. America's Army is one of the games played by the league and potential tournament victors may win a chance to check out actual computer simulations of combat situations utilized by the Army.

Naturally, CGL players will be able to opt out of these situations, but it still gives us the creeps.

Tags: advertising, army

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Skippy @ Apr 12th 2007 2:41PM

Another fantasatic pic. I swear I often check Joystiq now just for the funny pictures.

Crono @ Apr 12th 2007 2:46PM

Yeah, it sucks that for some reason the picture, and only the pictures, are blocked from work here.

suxxor

Gavin @ Apr 12th 2007 2:47PM

ZOMG...federally funded murder simulators...somebody call Jack Thompson, quickly!!!

Jonathan Tran @ Apr 12th 2007 3:00PM

haha here the president is debating if our troops should have enough funds to have body armor and working rifles

meanwhile $2MM is spent on video games

Jb @ Apr 12th 2007 5:15PM

Only 2 million? They spend more then that on salt and pepper shakers. Its almost offensive.

C. Grant @ Apr 12th 2007 3:05PM

Really Crono? Weird ... how about other WIN sites, like Engadget? Or something totally different, like Parentdish? I wonder if it's the image hosting service ...

At least you still have the posts, right? :P

C. Grant @ Apr 12th 2007 3:06PM

Oh, and thanks, Skippy! :)

tittergrrl @ Apr 12th 2007 3:08PM

Yvan Eht Nioj!

jaysins @ Apr 12th 2007 3:13PM

That's a lot of money to be spending on our troops. Granted I'm sure it is a morale booster for some I think there are better ways to spend it, body armor being a very good suggestion from another poster.

That said I wouldn't want to play them in SOCOM, it'd be just like that commercial with the kids playing against real seals.

Anonymous @ Apr 12th 2007 3:22PM

I don't play Americas Army because quite frankly I don't need the military I'm already legally bound to sign up for (selective service, gotta sign up the day you turn 18 kids) telling me what games I can play too. A friend of mine signed up, and ever since he has gotten spam mail on a weekly basis from the Army, Marine Corp, and the Navy. It's like noone on earth knew this kid existed before he signed up for this stupid game (and used his real name and address to do it, like a moron).

I don't like it when games like EA put spyware in their games (Battlefield 2142) and I don't like it even more when generals sit in their offices looking at who is fragging with the most efficiency, and plotting ways to recruit them. It's time to offer the illegal Mexicans citizenship in exchange for military service. That's how you solve our troop shortage.

Ryan de michigan @ Apr 12th 2007 3:33PM

Wow! A year ago I searched high and low for this simpsons gem to to make a t-shirt. All I could find was a pixelated screengrab. Jared, where did you find the image?

Grail3x @ Apr 12th 2007 4:37PM

Seriously does this remind anyone of the moive the "Last Starfighter" where the kid with the highest score in an arcade game was recruited into a ficitious army?

Or similarly the book "Ender's Game" where the kids were "playing" an advanced RTS when in reality they were commanding an armada of ships.

GAMES FOR WAR!!! Where fiction becomes reality.

jcmschwa @ Apr 12th 2007 4:35PM

#10 Anonymous:

I'm not really surprised at this nor do I really blame the Army for trying it. With the debacle in Iraq (whether you agree with it or not) it has got to be getting harder and harder to recruit new people. Recruiting for the military is like recruiting for any other business: You've got a target demographic of potential candidates (in this case 17-24 year-old males) and you have to figure out the best way to make your product look appealing. Hosting a gaming tournament and using a free, realistic FPS game/propaganda tool seems like a pretty decent plan. Anyone who has played AA knows it's not just who is "fragging with the most efficiency". It takes a lot more patience and teamwork than the average FPS. If the military can increase their recruiting numbers by hosting this sort of event then more power to them.

With duty tours increased from 12 months to 15 months, and with all the negative publicity the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have gotten, the Army has to find new ways to recruit. I'm not against either of the wars, nor am I completely against our current administration, but it's the administrations fault, not the Army's, that the Army has been put into this situation. They're just trying to make the best of it all.

In reference to determined recruiters, I had a friend in high school who took a bumper sticker or something from the Navy recruiters who were in the commons at lunch one day in return for his name and address or something. Apparently they kept calling him and then one day we had a flash flood and he swore the Navy was flooding the neighborhood so they could drive a boat up to his door and take him away. hahaha, the good old days.

Matthew Mac @ Apr 12th 2007 5:08PM

The two mil is seen as a plus for recruitment purposes, and a gaurantee thats the budget it came from. The same reason they sponser a team in NASCAR.

If anyones curious, the 'computer simulations of combat situations utilized by the Army' suck, asuming they use the same stuff as the Marines. They really are some of the stupidest things I've ever been made to endure. Some games are better 'virtual trainers.'

Jeremiah Wood @ Apr 13th 2007 10:09AM

Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like they can force you to enlist -- unless you're a liberal with an over-imaginative imagination. The phone calls from recruiters gets pretty annoying, granted, but unless there's a draft, I don't see the problem. Also, it's funny how, for the most part, Engadget and related blogs can do a good job of leaving a political stance out their blogs -- but this one seems to have a difficult time keeping it that way. Please, spare us your liberal antics and focus on reporting gaming news from an objective standpoint, mmmkay?

Matt @ Apr 12th 2007 5:59PM

The current military budget is 380 BILLION a year...which is more than every other country on earth combined.

That said, Bush wants another 100 billion war spending bill to go through...just this week.

2 Million is laughable.

Rubang B @ Apr 12th 2007 7:24PM

@Grail3x, yeah this totally reminds me of The Last Starfighter. In fact, the Wikipedia page for The Last Starfighter mentions that the U.S. Army may have been inspired by those tactics. I love that movie. It also inspired the Moon Master episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

I haven't read Ender's Game, but that happens in the Robin Williams movie Toys too.

Grindstone @ Apr 12th 2007 7:59PM

$2 million? It's laughable because that is an incredibily low-budget game... is it under 50megs? Maybe it'll be on XBLA soon.

If they really wanted to make it a good recruiting tool, they should spend $20 million on it and just impress the pants off potential recruits. And then you might have something to bitch about.