Army gunning for game players | CNET News.com
Army gunning for game players | CNET News.com
'Beginning the second year of its experiment in using free, custom-built PC games to give young people a taste of military life, the Army is finding the games to be not only spectacularly popular but a uniquely powerful promotional tool.
Chris Chambers, deputy director of the "America's Army" project, said in an interview at the E3 gaming trade show here that prospective soldiers who contact Army recruiters after playing the game have a better follow-through rate than any other form of advertising or promotion.
"It's a much more efficient and effective vehicle for the Army to provide information to young people than the other media we use," Chambers said.
And game players may well turn out to be better soldiers, based on recent academic research that shows regular game-playing boosts certain visual-spatial abilities. "There's a very high level of visual acuity in game players that's different than nonplayers," Chambers said. "They're good at focusing on specific things in a chaotic environment, which is an important skill in a lot of Army situations." '
So, there you go. I have two children (4 & 11) who are dedicated gamers. This could get interesting.
'Beginning the second year of its experiment in using free, custom-built PC games to give young people a taste of military life, the Army is finding the games to be not only spectacularly popular but a uniquely powerful promotional tool.
Chris Chambers, deputy director of the "America's Army" project, said in an interview at the E3 gaming trade show here that prospective soldiers who contact Army recruiters after playing the game have a better follow-through rate than any other form of advertising or promotion.
"It's a much more efficient and effective vehicle for the Army to provide information to young people than the other media we use," Chambers said.
And game players may well turn out to be better soldiers, based on recent academic research that shows regular game-playing boosts certain visual-spatial abilities. "There's a very high level of visual acuity in game players that's different than nonplayers," Chambers said. "They're good at focusing on specific things in a chaotic environment, which is an important skill in a lot of Army situations." '
So, there you go. I have two children (4 & 11) who are dedicated gamers. This could get interesting.
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