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Subject:
Why The XBox is Important in the Iraq War
James Dunnigan
2/12/2005 11:32:42 PM
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Even during a war, as busy as soldiers are, there?s a lot of down time.
Throughout American history, the troops relied on reading material (newspapers,
books, letters), or games of chance (cards, dice) to deal with the boredom With
the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, that?s all changed. The troops are still
reading and gambling, but they?re also spending a lot of time watching DVDs (on
laptops or large screen TVs), listening to digital music (iPods are very
popular) and playing computer games (XBox and Playstation are the big
favorites.) Today?s troops are from a generation that grew up with PCs and video
games. They prefer to get their news off the Internet, and play cards via a web
site, or on their laptop. Military psychologists are trying to figure out what,
if anything, this all means. For example, for generations, troops spent hours
playing cards with their buddies. Now, the favorite form of interaction is
playing against another GI on a video game, or putting together a network and
doing a multiplayer session of a violent video game. The army and marines even
provide modified versions of commercial games for training purposes. The
commercial games often depict incorrect combat procedures. The modified versions
show how to do it right, and not make a mistake that could get you killed in
combat.
Iraq is a unique war in that everyone leaving base (and most
troops don?t do that), have to be ready and able to fight. While the incidence
of combat is not high, it?s enough to get everyone?s attention. But most troops
play the violent games just to deal with the tension, not to pick up combat
tips. The troops preferences in entertainment is similar to their civilian
peers. The ?Internet generation? has already been studied and found to be
quicker and more confident when it comes to decision making. So any impact all
this electronic entertainment is having, it?s society wide, and not just the
military. In fact, the armed forces are quite pleased with the new skills their
PC savvy recruits have brought with them. Moreover, the military does not allow
booze or prostitution for the troops in combat zones these days. So compelling
electronic entertainment solves a potentially serious morale problem.
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