House representative speaks out against 'Virtual Army Experience'

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 26th 2009 at 7:15PM }

Ohio Democrat and US House rep Dennis Kucinich has got some serious beef with America's Army (the game, not the US Army) and the US government's "Virtual Army Experience." Billing the recruiting center-cum-arcade as a "high-tech traveling exhibit" and saying it advertises to "children as young as 13-years-old," Kucinich requested a variety of improvements be made to the experience -- for instance, not targeting the experience at people under 18 years old.

The House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton acquiesced to Mr. Kucinich's requests in monotonal agreement, matter-of-factly stating, "I support the VAE -- at the same time, I know it can be improved." To see the entire thrilling exchange play out on C-SPAN, check it out after the break.

[Via GamePolitics]

Tags: americas-army, dennis-kucinich, government, house-of-representatives, ike-skelton, legal, ohio, us-army, us-government, virtual-army-experience

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Olicon @ Jun 26th 2009 7:31PM

I thought that game is rated T? Is it only PG13?

At least they are being a bit more consistent with the anti-gaming sentiment. Sort of.

Douche Bigalow @ Jun 26th 2009 7:38PM

Seriously, what could be worse than one of our youth maybe thinking that the military would be a good career for them? Far better to fill their minds with cynicism, drug references, sexuality, and self-loathing.

Rhamsey @ Jun 26th 2009 7:51PM

agreed, the things some parents (okay, most) let their children watch/do/participate in truly makes this look like a joke.

Uncontrol @ Jun 26th 2009 8:04PM

this comparison might make sense if GTA was actively promoting a life of crime or something

this game exists solely to convince children that joining the army is a good idea and completely misrepresents what life in the army would be like

this is propaganda at best and brainwashing at worst

aristokrat @ Jun 26th 2009 8:22PM

Yeah, this game brainwashes children into thinking that the Army is all about shooting and killing and getting killed as opposed to the mindless monotony of cleaning and filing paperwork that it truly is most of the time. Better they do that in the corporate world...

Douche Bigalow @ Jun 26th 2009 8:53PM

"this game exists solely to convince children that joining the army is a good idea"

I'm hoping that you were being sarcastic. Because I can't see how any rational person could say that playing a game that makes the Army look fun and exciting is brainwashing, but playing a game that makes criminal life look fun and exciting isn't.

Frankly, I don't think either is brainwashing. But you can't have it both ways. Sure, both can influence a child's behavior.

But why, exactly, is it bad to potentially influence a child's behavior to maybe want to join the military? It's an honorable career choice, and one that has molded some of the best men and women this country has seen.

And as for the 'glorification' angle: few jobs reveal how tedious, monotonous, dangerous, or frightening they really could be. Playing up the positive side isn't devious or underhanded - or do you think it's wrong that society respects policemen (you're just a fascist thug! you could get shot!), firefighters (you firephobe! And you could burn!), doctors (making money off of sickness! And you have to see blood and puke!), and on and on and on.

It's not 'enlightened' to hate the military, chief. It's just a reflection of what a sad, little person you are that you can't respect people who put their lives on the line for a greater cause than their own comfort and safety.

Jose @ Jun 27th 2009 1:07AM

Sorry Douche, you can have it both ways. You can't say that rock star is actively trying to recruit coke dealing mobsters, and street hustling gangsters with their games. The military is creating these games and arcades solely for recruiting purposes; not to make money for a company or shareholders, and not to provide escapist entertainment (some would say harmful, others would not) to the public.

But in any case, I hope parents will use this as an opportunity to talk about the costs and benefits of joining the military...

Hah... that was a good one: "parents talk to their kids." Fucking gold.

rowd149 @ Jun 27th 2009 9:31AM

That's right, Douche! You're either for the military or for drugs, hedonism, and overall emoness! Nope, no middle ground!

Shadsy @ Jun 26th 2009 7:39PM

Kudos to Kucinich. Since everyone already knows he's insane, he can bring up any kind of controversial argument that politicians would otherwise be afraid to talk about for fear of being called unpatriotic etc.

LaughingTarget @ Jun 26th 2009 7:49PM

I still don't see why tax money should be used to make video games. Stop wasting my money, but then again, the House did just pass the add $3,000 to everyone's annual energy bill law, so it's probably the rest of the House that's nuts, not Kucinich.

Daniel C. @ Jun 27th 2009 9:39AM

Ummm, Kucinich supports the "cap and tax".... So yea he is nuts just like the rest.

LaughingTarget @ Jun 27th 2009 10:19AM

Then why did he vote against it, hmm?

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll477.xml

chispito @ Jun 27th 2009 2:06PM

"I still don't see why tax money should be used to make video games."

Obviously, the military has determined that the returns in new recruits for the military outweighs the costs of developing the game. You make it sound like the government is paying programmers to fine tune Peggle for no apparent reason.

Neil @ Jun 26th 2009 7:52PM

Kucinich is a gigantic dope

Uncontrol @ Jun 26th 2009 8:02PM

kucinich fucking owns

Obi-Habby @ Jun 26th 2009 8:06PM

He is the liberal version of Ron Paul.

Uncontrol @ Jun 26th 2009 8:08PM

you take that back!!

Obi-Habby @ Jun 26th 2009 8:26PM

I can't dude. Its already out there!

Diskoboy7 @ Jun 26th 2009 8:08PM

These Dems are really starting to piss the American public off.

So much for those "tax breaks for 95% of the people". Everything Obama has tried to fix the economy, has failed miserably. He's weak on Iran and North Korea.

If this cap and trade shit passes - the LARGEST tax INCREASE in American history. And you can blame enviornmentalist libtards when your electric bill skyrockets.

Impeach Obama. In 6 short months, he's already proven he's a worse president than Jimmy Carter.

Uncontrol @ Jun 26th 2009 8:10PM

while i agree that obama's not doing incredibly well to say "IMPEACH OBAMA" is retarded on so many levels

2 years ago: "RESPECT THE MAN, HE IS PRESIDENT WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT"

today: "NOT MY PRESIDENT. IMPEACH OBAMA"

aristokrat @ Jun 26th 2009 8:26PM

Ha. Even though those "respect the man he is our president" claims fell on deaf ears at best, and were responded to with "Fuck you, he's the worst president ever" at worst (which isn't true, everyone knows Carter holds that distinction), you now claim that there should be moderation in the opposite direction. Grow up.

DWells55 @ Jun 26th 2009 8:27PM

Impeach might be a bit much (as there aren't any reasonable grounds to do so on), but I'm definitely VERY disappointed with his short time in office. The plan to tax healthcare benefits as income is absolutely ridiculous and a real slap in the face to people who work hard for their money. In the meantime, welfare-leeching freeloaders will be getting their healthcare for free if he has his way.

Gotta love socialism.

Uncontrol @ Jun 26th 2009 8:30PM

saying obama's policies are socialist is an insult to socialism

also not everyone on welfare is a "freeloader"

Uncontrol @ Jun 26th 2009 8:33PM

aristokrat: it's almost as if politics are more nuanced than internet flamewars

Leobebes (BDF: Braid Defence Force) @ Jun 26th 2009 8:34PM

Wow did you study history off the back of a cereal box or something?

Weak on North Korea? Obama is the only president not to give into that crazy cook's demands and send him money, food, or reactors. Do you want for Obama to go all cowboy on NoKo and support a hint of a military buildup on the DMZ that would put millions of South Koreans at risk? Talk about an armchair war general.

Environmental libtards? So you suggest we continue our current trends of energy consumption, bow down to middle eastern tribal lords so they don't cut off our oil supply so we can continue to live an unsustainable lifestyle? Go read Robert Baer's "Sleeping with the Devil" if you want to continue our current foreign policy the way it is we will see more 9/11's for many years to come. Baer is neither a Liberal or a Conservative, he is an ex CIA chief who doesn't feel we should continue to compromise our values so we can appease old, piece of shit, tribal, backwards nomads.

The sad thing is your world view is so grossly uncompensated that your posts really have no relevance to real world solutions. You think just because you can post on a message board your ideological shortcomings have a legitimate platform. Go read some more before you parrot more free republic talking points. In fact just stick to opinions about video games.

BananaBoat @ Jun 26th 2009 8:37PM

Move to Canada, etc etc, yadda yadda, pants.

Diskoboy7 @ Jun 26th 2009 8:51PM

Leobebes - were you thumbing through a thesarus while posting? Liberal newspeak doesn't fool anyone. It just makes you sound like a pretentious asshat.

And you know what?? I DON'T MIND our current energy consumption. I LIKE using my computer. I LIKE playing my video games. I LIKE charging my Ipod and cell phones without being taxed through the roof. I LIKE progress. I LIKE to live in the 21st century, not the 19th. It's called drilling for our OWN oil, on our OWN soil. Or how about building some nuclear plants? And yes - enviornmental LIBTARDS have basically wiped most industries off the map through regulation. I'm 35 - the government isn't my mommy. Nor do I want them to be.

And lets see, Nork Korea has threatened us 3 times, in the past week. Iran begins rioting for democracy - What does Obama do? Tries to pass his travesty of a healthcare bill, stop for some Ice Cream, and have a fucking luau at the White House. That's called WEAK. Obama doesn't mind if Hawaii gets obliterated. He'd be happy, because that means his real birth certificate, and all corresponding records, would be vaporized.

Douche Bigalow @ Jun 26th 2009 8:55PM

Oh how I wish that were true. Skipping the "I told you so" from day one on this moron President, the fact is that votes have consequences. Even if the American people come to their senses and push these tax-and-spend jackasses out of office, you still have a year and a half for them to ram through idiocy like cap-and-tax and government health care - idiocy that we can't afford.

This is what happens when you fall for a used-car-salesman huckster with no experience and a radical agenda.

Douche Bigalow @ Jun 26th 2009 9:05PM

" Obama is the only president not to give into that crazy cook's demands"

1. We're still giving NK money and other subsidies. The old treaties still stand. The only thing that changed was instead of insisting that their behavior change in order ot keep those subsidies, we got a new touchy-feely president who decided 'listening' was the best approach. The fact that we had to deploy floating radar to warn us of a missile launch, they're openly calling for our destruction, and have conducted multiple missile/nuke tests ... while our idiot-in-chief laughs ... shows how well this worked.
2. Iran. Enough said. People there dying for democracy and our idiot-in-chief wants to 'engage' with the murderous thugs retaining power.
3. I realize you think you're smart. But if you were really smart, you'd know that we get most of our oil from Canada. Not the Middle East. And the only person to 'bow down' to the Middle East so far has been Obama. This cap-and-tax bill is a travesty, and if it makes it through to law Obama will fully succeed in killing any recovery. Hell, even Greenpeace doesn't support the thing!
4. Please explain to us how apologizing to murderous thugs and talking down our own country is a better foreign policy. I'm really interested to her your justification for that nonsense.

Obama has made us a laughingstock - a broke one. That's a dangerous situation.

BananaBoat @ Jun 26th 2009 9:59PM

Oh my god, please tell me that you aren't one of those nutjobs that doesn't believe he's really an American citizen.

Disagreeing with policy is one thing, but give me a break. He's as much of a citizen as you or me, and a much more accomplished one at that.

cheese @ Jun 26th 2009 8:20PM

At least the game will show a "conscientious objector" what they could possibly getting into if they sign up for the military. If anything, it could potentially turn away as many as it brings in. I'm not sure what Kucinich's problem is, exactly. If he wants to institute a draft then the game America's Army and most types of recruiting would not be necessary, so for him, perhaps AA is a bit of a "necessary evil" that he needs to learn to put up with. Honestly I've about had it up to here with politicians meddling with the military.

ChomskyKnows @ Jun 26th 2009 8:27PM

Kucinich +1

yenrab @ Jun 26th 2009 8:36PM

I can't wait for the day when no one signs up for military service and our government takes away (or severly limits) our 2nd rights....then the brown coats can come in and take us over. It'll be awesome.
Did you government educated folks know that other dictatorships do not try to take us over because ONE: our military, and TWO: over 50% of US citizens own firearms.....be pretty dang hard to overthrow us if we have guns and are willing to fight and die for our freedom.
Most as most readers on here, enjoy the brown coat takeover, I know I will till I'm shot dead.

cheese @ Jun 26th 2009 10:21PM

Yeah, I never understood how some of the same people who love to play Call of Duty 4, that can completely ignore the cautionary tale told during the course of the game, can be against something like America's Army. Then again I was in the Army long before America's Army ever came out--been out for 11 years--so I have some perspective on actual military service. I can say that it definitely does give you some basic information about the military if one was to ever join. Of course it's not going to completely give a full experience but it sure as hell is not going to sugarcoat anything for you either.

Bones3D @ Jun 26th 2009 10:45PM

While it is in poor taste to use games and other media to mislead people into thinking the military is something it's not, outright banning these mediums altogether because they might be used for such purposes is downright fool-hearty.

These mediums can offer far safer ways of learning about and experiencing elements of the military that would be potentially dangerous for anyone completely lacking experience with such a setting. It is also far less expensive to deploy a set-up-anywhere virtual experience that can be made available to anyone interested, rather than using a crowded, centralized location requiring extensive planning ahead of time to visit. Also, since it's virtual, it costs very little in time, money and resources to reset everything back to default for each and every group that visits.

xgarryx @ Jun 27th 2009 12:21AM

sigh....another liberal democrat telling us what is inappropriate to play . just like when al gore fought against bands like 2 live crew, cannibal corpse and ice t. why do conservatives get the wrap for this stuff?

Zrinski @ Jun 27th 2009 1:22AM

So a lot of people on both sides think they know better than everyone else when it comes to all these political issues being discussed here. If you are one of these people, keep in mind before you post, there isn't a single highlighted post in this thread, but a lot of people have been downvoted and blanked out. I think that's pretty telling.

Overgauss @ Jun 27th 2009 2:40AM

Well it really doesn't matter if you think you know better than anyone else. We're in the middle of two wars, 3 if you count the war against recession. Well 4 if you add the war against Christianity.

Is it really the time to be questioning shit like this? Over a video game? Of arguable informative use and instruction? I mean didn't some dude save some girls life after a bad accident because he had learned how to handle trauma situations from one of these 'games'?

C'mon people priorities. And I prefer my priorities in this case to be patriotic.

rowd149 @ Jun 27th 2009 9:39AM

>war against Christianity

You had me until this line. Good show.

Lennoko @ Jun 27th 2009 1:48PM

>war against Christianity
I Lol'd. GTFO.

Overgauss @ Jun 27th 2009 2:26AM

Yeah this is almost as lame as going after Camel cigarettes because the "Joe Cool" mascot and tropical flavours was perceived as marketing to kids.

Then you have conspiritards jumping to conclusions because of colorful packaging and the fact that video games was involved in the first place. Like it's some sort of neural linguistic programming coupled with nefarious advertising schemes used to 'brainwash' gullible, innocent and completely daft children. By the way, if you believe that, I've got some water to sell you on Mars.

It's not like iconic media, or gasp upon gasp, video games, have ever been shown to really influence anything important. That's like saying rock and roll is the work of the devil and GTA will destroy all humanity.

It's just a game, relax your buttcheeks. Otherwise, I must call into question your respect for our military that gives lifesblood for your right to compress carbon into diamonds with your ass on message boards.

What are you going to ban next? Toy soldiers and green army men?

rowd149 @ Jun 27th 2009 9:48AM

The issue is that a game (developed using American taxpayer money) is being USED by the army to recruit, not that it's depicting anything different from more consumer-oriented games. It's like if the NFL used Madden to recruit hundreds of thousands of amateur football players... except instead of football, it's "We're shipping you out to a foreign country to kill people who have a legitimate motive and opportunity to hurt this country (which, really, nowadays, they don't), and possibly to get killed or maimed yourself." And they don't show this killing or maiming.

Video games are purchased more by adults than kids these days, but minors still make up a large percentage of game players, and they're also a demographic known to hang around malls. There's just something a little sinister about it all.

Oh, and Joe Cool WAS created to market to kids. That's why they don't use him anymore. ;)

Daniel C. @ Jun 27th 2009 9:54AM

I didn't vote for Obama, I think he is doing a horrible job, and I have yet see him take a position or sign legislation that I can support. HOWEVER he is my president. The majority of the country spoke, I don't like it, I'm disappointed, but he won fair and square.

On one hand I respect that Obama has done a commendable job living up to doing what he said he was going to do. The only two exceptions has been his promise to increase transparency ("Any bill that comes to my desk will be posted online for everyone to read five days before I sign it") and his promise to create "Hope" ("health care is doomed", "Detriot is collapsing", "Earth is turning into a fireball", and exactly how much hope does the iranian people have at the moment?).

On the other hand I don't trust Obama as far as I can throw him (which isn't very far considering Secret Service wouldn't let me within a few yards of the guy).

So I will continue to respectfully disagree with him, the Dems, and many Republicans on what the best course for this country is. I do so on principals and logic and I have no need for the personal hatred, lies, and smears that was so popular with the left during Bush's term.

My name is Dan, I am a conservative, and as a citizen of the United States Barak Huessain Obama is my President.