In response to "Future Battlefields in the Palm of Your Hand" from The Escapist Forum: They've been developing anti-missile laser weapons since the 1960s, so that's hardly a new concept. You'd laugh at some of the things that DARPA have developed and are developing, but they're deadly serious about it. Railguns, laser cannons, missile satellites, the ARPANET, along with some rather more mundane things like computer-surveyed battlefields and robotically driven cars.
BTW, the BigDog kicks ass, especially its ability to get up from amazingly difficult terrain. I'd be almost inclined to work for DARPA at this stage.
- RAKtheUndead
The Power Armour rig looked stunning - finally, new technology that doesn't have to be used to melt someone's face from 5 miles away.
The applications of this technology for the emergency services, firefighting and policing in particular, would be incredible. Could you imagine a team of firefighters capable of braving intense heat, moving or destroying debris and carrying unconscious vistims to safety with absolute ease and security?
I want to be a cyborg firefighter.
- Surggical_Scar
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In response to "From Gamers to Soldiers" from The Escapist Forum: This was a well written article. Very sobering the decisions that soldiers need to make in wartime, something none of us "civvies" really understand. The worst part is that by the time the events like those described in the article reach the media, most of the complicating factors have been stripped away leaving an distorted view of the original event.
Even if it is for a different country, I thank you for your (current/eventual) service in the military.
- wolfwood_is_here
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In response to "To the Front Lines" from The Escapist Forum: Gamers have to step back far enough to question why we feel the need to spend our time, money, energy and thought processes on video games that glorify violence. The slogans of my parent's generation was "make love not war" and "give peace a chance" which is a far cry from today's generation of gamers "OMG LOLZ, I just p0wned you n00b!" The conspiracy theorist in me would suggest that we are being programed to think upon war, violence, peace through superior firepower, U.S. foreign policy, post-apocalypse survival of the fittest, as positive and necessary factors of overall human existence.
It wasn't that long ago we were all happy playing an Italian plumber jumping across platforms collecting coins, nowadays gamers scream bloody murder on forums if they hear of a game's violence being toned down for any reason.
- MorkFromOrk
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In response to "Not All Fun and Wargames" from The Escapist Forum: I don't remember who actually said this but the phrase "War becomes us" comes to mind.
But that is not what this article is about, is it? Various military have been eying the prospect of having "virtual" training for quite some time now, probably since someone first adopted the idea into a piece of science fiction.
IMHO, only a game that can be heavily modded would ever be appropriate for training purposes. So far we have plenty of promotional entertainment, but those striving for brutal realism are left wanting.
As a gamer, I could honestly care less about realism though, I only care if the journey I take is fun or tedious. I don't need realism to have fun, only believability.
For a military though, they need that realism, so that they don't go into life threatening situations with unrealistic expectations that can get them killed. To a gamer, silly and stupid AI is just a quirk to deal with to accomplish a goal, to a front line man its not being properly mentally prepared for his opponents.
- CanadianWolverine
