If you're curious to see how the government is using video games to help war veterans – and not just turn them into killing machines, as some say – over at The New Yorker there's a rather lengthy piece on Virtual Iraq, a system in development that uses a modded Full Spectrum Warrior to help those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

In addition to the game, Virtual Iraq involves using a head-mounted display (i.e. virtual reality goggles), earphones and a scent-producing machine. The prolonged-exposure therapy involves having the user revisit and retell the traumatic story repeatedly to "disconnect the memory from the reactions to the memory, so that although the memory of the traumatic event remains ... are restored to insignificance." We look forwarding to hearing more about the program, and we wonder how the effects of it would change with a more visually-advanced war game like Call of Duty 4.

Note: The above video is from an un-modded version of Full Spectrum Warrior and not Virtual Iraq.

Taking a cue from America's army and, er, America's Army, the Australian military is also using online games to pump up flagging recruitment numbers. As the New Zealand Herald reports, Australia's Defence Jobs web site allows visitors to control crude, Flash versions of ARV Tiger Attack Helicopters, F/A-18 Hornets and more.

The games aren't exactly new (JayIsGames discussed one of them back in 2004) but they're getting increased attention now as a way for military recruitment to compete with a fierce job market. "It is critical to the future of the ADF that Generation Y and beyond can access and interact with recruiting information via the technology they are comfortable with," said Defence Science and Personnel Minister Warren Snowdon, who sounds extremely old.

Two of the Air Force games have recorded over 300,000 plays, according to the Herald report, which might not seem like much compare to America's Army's 8+ million users. Remember, though, that America's defense budget exceeds Australia's (and indeed, the rest of the world's) by leaps and bounds. Whoo! We're No. 1! Don't mess with the U.S.! These colors don't run! And so on ...

OK, we've said it before, but other than the constant threat of dying, one of the things we know troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from is boredom. So, when Peter Gallagher sent us a tip about his site GamesForHeroes.com, we felt the least we could do was give it some attention.

The Games for Heroes charity, which has a registered donor number with nonprofit MarineParents.com, is simply looking to collect handheld games and systems (Game Boy, DS, PSP), which will be sent to troops serving in a place of war. Information on where to send items or make cash donations can be found on the site. A similar charity called "Fun for our Troops" began last year, but without the portable gaming focus.

We like the way the U.S. military thinks. One of the Wii's biggest flaws is the painful stretches of downtime between its bigger releases, causing dust to settle on Nintendo's minuscule console and cobwebs to form on our Wiimotes. What better way to get more mileage out of our neglected gyroscopic peripherals than to use them to blow up actual bombs and landmines?

This must have been the thought process of those techno-wizards at iRobot, who have modified their Packbot model to be controlled by a standard Wii remote. It seems they discovered that Nintendo's motion-sensitive controller doesn't just lend itself to instinctive, natural interaction with games like Wii Tennis, but also with maneuvering rifle-mounted, explosive-detonating robots -- just remember to always use the wrist strap. Impaling a TV screen while hitting the Wii Bowling lanes is embarassing, throwing the reigns of a gun-toting war machine is just plain irresponsible.

The United States Air Force has an application in to the Federal Business Opportunities group to purchase 300 40GB Sony Playstation 3s. No, they're not belated holiday gifts for the troops; the consoles will be used to test the robust Cell processor and its military applications.

According to the document, the PS3 features the only Cell processor on the market to meet the standards required by the testing, and does so at reasonable cost. The Air Force Research Laboratory will be using the machines to conduct the tests, in what appears to be a growing trend these days. Or, you know, it's all a big scam so that they can get their Metal Gear Solid 4 fix.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

The Nation has a report this week on Operation Stand Up, an evangelical military entertainment group that is planning to send care packages including Left Behind: Eternal Forces to American troops fighting in Iraq.

The game, which raised the ire of many activist groups for its promotion of killing and converting non-Christians, will come packaged in "freedom packets" that also include a pocket-size Gideon bible, a Christian extreme sports DVD and the proselytizing book More Than a Carpenter. The OSU web site describes the game's inclusion as "just one more way OSU Tour can be a conduit in changing a soul forever."

While the group is affiliated with the Pentagon's America Supports You program, it's unclear just how much official support they have has from the military. The group does have the backing of "celebrities" including Stephen Baldwin, Evander Holyfield and, according to sources close to the group, God.

Microsoft has come out with a Halo 3 military edition Zune for members of the US armed forces. The Zune will be available exclusively at military retail stores in August and comes with pre-loaded stuff that is probably similar to the civilian Halo 3 Zune.

A group of soldiers who left for active duty today from Baltimore Washington International airport received the first batch. Microsoft is offering the military edition of the Zune to military personnel and their families at discounted rates. So, if you're a member of the military or family member you might be able to make a couple extra bucks selling it to fanboys who love themselves some limited edition Halo stuff. We were bummed to find out the military edition didn't have camouflage or a cloaking device.

Note: Please keep the comments related to Halo 3 and/or the Zune.

[Thanks Sgt. Mike]

Hippies and peaceniks are threatening the last solid recruitment tool in the US Army's arsenal -- the America's Army video game. Anti-recruitment groups are upset the army is sponsoring the Global Gaming League with a whopping $2 million where "victors may win a chance to check out actual computer simulations of combat situations utilized by the Army." Meaning, these winners get to spend some time with recruiters for a cup of coffee and absolutely no portion of the conversation leading to how the Army can help their future.

"It is part of this campaign for the last 20 years to invade youth culture with militarism," Project on Youth and Non-military Opportunities co-founder Rick Jahnkow told AFP. "It affects the way young people think. It affects their world view. That is a very dangerous thing." Considering the US has a volunteer army, the recruiters kind of have to "invade youth culture," it's not like they can recruit Grandma Yetta's House of Geriatrics for a solid fighting force.

Jahnkow cites the Iraq war as a "prime example" of what happens when a country allows the military to sell soldiering to the public. Meaning that because we have America's Army and military recruitment commercials that the US was more than happy to go along with the war. Jahnkow says, "Soldiering is being popularized when in fact we are supposed to be teaching people from an early age that civilian democratic rule is the ideal." Yeah, but who's gonna protect us when the Communists come for our babies?

We know that those serving in Iraq tend to be big on first-person shooters like Halo and Star Wars: Dark Forces, but what about Army gamers whose tastes run a little more cerebral? For them, Ziggurat Con will provide the opportunity to blow off some steam with a day of good, old-fashioned tabletop role-playing.

Described as "the very first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone," Ziggurat Con will give soldiers "a place where we can go somewhere far away from the IED's, mortar attacks, and gunfire, without ever leaving the safety of our camp," said Con organizer David Amberson. The Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase Community Activity Center will become a role-playing and anime-watching paradise for nine hours on June 9, with the blessing of the Army's Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department.

Many game manufacturers have agreed to donate materials for the gamers, but the scarcity of gaming stores in the greater Iraqi area may force attendees to share dice. It's true what they say ... war is hell.

Meet the RedOwl, a $150,000 robot intended to hunt enemy snipers for the U.S. military. The RedOwl boasts impressive precision detection, sharpshooter pathfinding, and the ability to "read a nametag from across a football field."

This powerful robot is run via a keyboard, but how does one steer a mega-expensive piece of military equipment? With a modified Xbox controller, of course. Unfortunately, they don't specify which model -- we're hoping it's either the 360 model or the original Xbox's smaller S variant. Sorry, but we want comfort when steering robots worth many times our annual salaries.

[Thanks, killr0y and Devastator; RedOwl concept image credit]

Things have come a long way since the U.S. Armed Forces got into the video game business with Marine Doom in the early '90s. Just ask Roger Smith, an analyst who presented on the past, present and future of military involvement in games at the Serious Games Summit. In the dozen or so years since their shallow, graphical Doom II mod, Smith said the military has integrated full-fledged training simulations for all sorts of different positions and situations. Right now most of that training goes to the "trigger pullers" -- the people risking their lives on the front lines -- but Smith said lower-cost technology solutions would allow for simulations geared towards medical, logistical, maintenance, and other troops who currently don't have many other training options.

While recent military sims like America's Army and Full Spectrum Warrior have crossed over into the commercial market, Smith said he sees this trend slowing in the future, with the military developing narrowly targeted simulations suited specifically for military use, not living room use. As this trend continues, Smith sees the military developing internal game development resources to create its games, rather than buying off-the-shelf parts and talent from outside game companies.

Smith also talked excitedly about the military's interest in developing for the Xbox 360 through the XNA program. While there were too many roadblocks to developing military trainers for the original Xbox, Smith said a simulation designed for powerful, affordable hardware like the 360 had the potential to open up training to every soldier, rather than just those in units with access to expensive, high-end PCs.

Also see: Serious Games Summit: Defense dept. games

While high-profile games like America's Army and Full Spectrum Warrior show the potential of collaboration between the game industry and the defense industry, there can be some friction when these two very different worlds collide. Department of Defense (DoD) analyst Brian Williams and game designer Bob Bates have been researching this very issue, and discussed some of the their findings during a session at today's Serious Games Summit.

Among the problems they discussed:

• While there are hundreds of games being developed by various parts of the DoD, there is no centralized area of the department governing all these projects.
• Despite hundreds of studies that prove the efficacy of games for education and training, the defense department is still wary to put them forth as a solution to a problem. When they do use games, they are often portrayed as a panacea solution to every problem.
• There is no organized repository where buyers in defense and sellers in game development can connect easily.
• The DoD has no rigorous evaluation process to determine whether a game actually succeeds at its goals. Many game projects go forward based on how cool they look rather than how good they are.
• The game industry has problem working through the mess of contracting regulations and acronyms DoD requires. Small companies don't have the resources to handle the accountability load the military places on them.
• While military officers are used to having their orders followed to the letter, game developers are used to questioning directions and looking for different ways to do things.

Despite all these problems, Williams and Bates agreed that games would be an increasingly important part of the way the defense department does training in the future. "Games are a part of the common language these soldiers speak, and that language can be used to teach," Bates said.

While pro-war propaganda and military recruitment tools are nothing new, using them as the medium to broadcast an anti-war protest is. Yet that is just what University of Nevada art professor Joseph Delappe is doing with his small bit of "performance art" in the military-funded game America's Army.

Instead of playing the game as it was intended, Delappe logs in and runs around without firing a shot, eventually getting killed by his fellow players. As his character dies, Delappe broadcasts the name of a real American soldier killed in Iraq, an act he's performed 1,273 times so far, according to Salon.

Some anti-war activists are obviously sympathetic to his cause, but one America's Army player and military recruit compared it to "crash[ing] a Girl Scout meeting by yelling through a megaphone that they should vote his candidate in to office." Are online games an appropriate place for protest, or should Delappe take his message someplace else?

We've heard recently how games are good for you; here's another side of the story, which could unfortunately become fuel for the anti-game brigade's fires. The history of games and the military is a fairly long one, with recent titles like America's Army and A.W.E. bringing the two together.

This Washington Post article examines the use of gaming in the American military, from mission co-ordination to marksmanship training. It also looks at soldiers who play games--from those who relax off-duty with first-person shooters, to a sergeant, home from the war, who won't play the violent titles he formerly enjoyed.

Allowing soldiers to familiarise themselves with combat situations before experiencing them in real life seems to have its bonuses, best summarised by Marine Col Gary W. Anderson: "Today's soldiers, having grown up with first-person shooter games long before they joined the military, are the new Spartans."

[via /.]