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Games that Deal with the Emotions of War
Sharon Sloane, Co-Founder and CEO of the Maryland based serious game developers WILL Interactive Inc., has used her background in education to work in the virtual experience and interactive gaming industries. She holds the patent for Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations (VEILS), a series of live action feature films and video games. Sharon and WILL Interactive have developed 25 serious games in use by all branches of the United States Military.
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Specialist Kyle Norton is a 19-year old soldier two months into his first deployment in Iraq. Already lonely for his fiancée, Anne, Kyle receives a "Dear John" email along with the news that Anne is pregnant with his friend's baby. Feeling as though his life is turning into a bad soap opera, he initially receives some support from his buddy, Specialist Brad Blair. Unfortunately, Kyle is soon hit with another devastating loss--Brad is killed in an ambush...
While not the story lines usually associated with video games, reality-based situations that test the emotional resiliency of today's soldiers are redefining the next generation of military gaming and simulation. Internal battles such as Kyle's, portrayed in the Army's new suicide prevention game, Beyond the Front, confront users with complex personal challenges in the context of war. In this instance soldiers "become" Kyle Norton and navigate through a series of traumatic events within the game. The decisions they make in each situation ultimately determine whether Kyle decides to attempt suicide.
Beyond the Front was commissioned by the Army in response to troubling data that suicides among active-duty soldiers are on pace to exceed last year's record breaking high. Even more worrying, for the first time since the Vietnam War, the military suicide rate is projected to exceed that of the general U.S. population. This simulation represents the first time the military has embraced a unique and interactive technology to address the problem of the increasing suicide rate within the military.
Military leaders have become increasingly aware that while traditional training programs effectively prepare soldiers for day-to-day tactical and operational functions, there are learning gaps that leave them underprepared for issues involving leadership, adaptability, cultural awareness and interpersonal relationships. Recognizing that young officers are making decisions that have the potential to have global consequences, new serious games, based on lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, are being deployed to improve officers' ability to lead under high stress situations.
Some of the most crucial decisions a soldier will face, such as preparation during pre-deployment or responding to a death in their unit, are overlooked in traditional video games. This new genre of virtual experiences illustrates not only the importance of a soldier's every decision but the impact those choices have on himself and those around him. Nonlinear stories create an intricate web of critical decision points, all of which determine the choices available to the user and the final outcome of the game. In Beyond the Front outcomes are based on the user's ability to cope with a continuum of complex issues and seek help when their resiliency is challenged.
Unlike animated games, serious games use actual video to address behavioral and social concerns. They realistically simulate environments and the decisions users face in a multi-dimensional slice-of-life setting. This increased realism not only prepares users for the conditions present in hostile environments, it teaches them how to think under such circumstances. Animation creates a PG-13 world where nothing seems too real; bodies fall but fade away. Live action virtual experiences give soldiers a more comprehensive picture of the environment they will face, while emotionally engaging them and increasing learning retention and effectiveness.
Gayle Olszyk, deputy to the commander for training at the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools, says that "at one time, putting materials out in a book format was appropriate, but this younger generation, they like the use of games and technology. They need to have their fear tightened through this type of environment because it portrays the reality of what they're going to face. They are more interested and more excited about doing training this way versus just sitting in a classroom and talking about people's experiences."
Almost half of the United States Military is currently under the age of 25, meaning today's soldiers grew up playing video games. What better way to engage and train them than by using the medium they know and love? Realizing their appeal to young soldiers, and the range of issues these games are able to address, the military has embraced serious games; effectively turning gamers into soldiers.
Consider this scenario, taken from the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools simulation Outside the Wire, now part of the West Point curriculum:
You are Lieutenant Lisa Carter, whose maintenance platoon mechanics work around the clock in Falluja to keep vehicles on the road. Today you get an unusual mission to lead a convoy transporting potentially dangerous detainees. Your job is to protect them to the same level as your own soldiers. When you overhear one of your guards, Private Grimes, taunting a detainee with threatening gestures, you correct him on the spot, but there's a bitter look in his eye that raises a red flag. You learn that Grimes lost his best buddy in a recent ambush, but his leaders say he's never let them down on the job. Do you take Grimes off the mission and force another soldier to pull double duty; do you let him drive a truck he's not fully trained to operate; or do you keep him on the mission with extra oversight and take a chance on his stability?
Playing as Lieutenant Carter in Outside the Wire and Specialist Norton in Beyond the Front, users face decision after decision. Sometimes there are no absolutely correct answers, but there are consequences for each decision. Positive outcomes occur when solid choices have been made; and the negative effects of a poor decision become clear down the road if not immediately.
Olszyk continues, "The Army does a magnificent job in training leaders, but it's tough to teach the experiences. You don't want them to get to Iraq and have to experience the learning through mistakes. Outside the Wire allows them this safe environment to make wrong decisions and understand what the second- and third-order effects are."
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Specialist Kyle Norton is a 19-year old soldier two months into his first deployment in Iraq. Already lonely for his fiancée, Anne, Kyle receives a "Dear John" email along with the news that Anne is pregnant with his friend's baby. Feeling as though his life is turning into a bad soap opera, he initially receives some support from his buddy, Specialist Brad Blair. Unfortunately, Kyle is soon hit with another devastating loss--Brad is killed in an ambush...
While not the story lines usually associated with video games, reality-based situations that test the emotional resiliency of today's soldiers are redefining the next generation of military gaming and simulation. Internal battles such as Kyle's, portrayed in the Army's new suicide prevention game, Beyond the Front, confront users with complex personal challenges in the context of war. In this instance soldiers "become" Kyle Norton and navigate through a series of traumatic events within the game. The decisions they make in each situation ultimately determine whether Kyle decides to attempt suicide.
Beyond the Front was commissioned by the Army in response to troubling data that suicides among active-duty soldiers are on pace to exceed last year's record breaking high. Even more worrying, for the first time since the Vietnam War, the military suicide rate is projected to exceed that of the general U.S. population. This simulation represents the first time the military has embraced a unique and interactive technology to address the problem of the increasing suicide rate within the military.
Military leaders have become increasingly aware that while traditional training programs effectively prepare soldiers for day-to-day tactical and operational functions, there are learning gaps that leave them underprepared for issues involving leadership, adaptability, cultural awareness and interpersonal relationships. Recognizing that young officers are making decisions that have the potential to have global consequences, new serious games, based on lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, are being deployed to improve officers' ability to lead under high stress situations.
Some of the most crucial decisions a soldier will face, such as preparation during pre-deployment or responding to a death in their unit, are overlooked in traditional video games. This new genre of virtual experiences illustrates not only the importance of a soldier's every decision but the impact those choices have on himself and those around him. Nonlinear stories create an intricate web of critical decision points, all of which determine the choices available to the user and the final outcome of the game. In Beyond the Front outcomes are based on the user's ability to cope with a continuum of complex issues and seek help when their resiliency is challenged.
Unlike animated games, serious games use actual video to address behavioral and social concerns. They realistically simulate environments and the decisions users face in a multi-dimensional slice-of-life setting. This increased realism not only prepares users for the conditions present in hostile environments, it teaches them how to think under such circumstances. Animation creates a PG-13 world where nothing seems too real; bodies fall but fade away. Live action virtual experiences give soldiers a more comprehensive picture of the environment they will face, while emotionally engaging them and increasing learning retention and effectiveness.
Gayle Olszyk, deputy to the commander for training at the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools, says that "at one time, putting materials out in a book format was appropriate, but this younger generation, they like the use of games and technology. They need to have their fear tightened through this type of environment because it portrays the reality of what they're going to face. They are more interested and more excited about doing training this way versus just sitting in a classroom and talking about people's experiences."
Almost half of the United States Military is currently under the age of 25, meaning today's soldiers grew up playing video games. What better way to engage and train them than by using the medium they know and love? Realizing their appeal to young soldiers, and the range of issues these games are able to address, the military has embraced serious games; effectively turning gamers into soldiers.
Consider this scenario, taken from the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools simulation Outside the Wire, now part of the West Point curriculum:
You are Lieutenant Lisa Carter, whose maintenance platoon mechanics work around the clock in Falluja to keep vehicles on the road. Today you get an unusual mission to lead a convoy transporting potentially dangerous detainees. Your job is to protect them to the same level as your own soldiers. When you overhear one of your guards, Private Grimes, taunting a detainee with threatening gestures, you correct him on the spot, but there's a bitter look in his eye that raises a red flag. You learn that Grimes lost his best buddy in a recent ambush, but his leaders say he's never let them down on the job. Do you take Grimes off the mission and force another soldier to pull double duty; do you let him drive a truck he's not fully trained to operate; or do you keep him on the mission with extra oversight and take a chance on his stability?
Playing as Lieutenant Carter in Outside the Wire and Specialist Norton in Beyond the Front, users face decision after decision. Sometimes there are no absolutely correct answers, but there are consequences for each decision. Positive outcomes occur when solid choices have been made; and the negative effects of a poor decision become clear down the road if not immediately.
Olszyk continues, "The Army does a magnificent job in training leaders, but it's tough to teach the experiences. You don't want them to get to Iraq and have to experience the learning through mistakes. Outside the Wire allows them this safe environment to make wrong decisions and understand what the second- and third-order effects are."
I think it's an excellent idea, but when that little bubble pops in their head, video games don't exist.
Someone's super-negative today.
This seems like a very positive thing... if the military can understand that games are useful for education, perhaps other governmental organizations like schools will start to utilize them.
Also - real video? Night Trap anyone?
Or, you could make games that try to dissuade gamers from becoming soldiers.