the PlayStation Generation
Back in 1991 during the buildup to Operation Desert Storm against Iraq there were several video games released relating to the event (the one below F-19).
Saying that video games and war have a close relationship is a pretty obvious statement and if your not instantly familiar with games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Arma Assault then you obviously don't play games (at all).
But what's interesting is when you send your Grand Theft Auto or ace shooter at BF-2 into a real war, Evan Wright a journalist calls these guys the PlayStation Generation.
He even penned a book Generation Kill about them and his experiences when he was embedded with them (the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the USMC) during Operation Iraqi Freedom in mid 2003, he describes how in Iraq they "killed very well" unlike US personnel in other wars where they lost their innocence first.
This theory is backed up by the George Gittoes movie Soundtrack to War in which soldiers listen to heavy metal music and rock and roll songs during the heat of combat (again in Iraq in 2003), one of them even mentioning listening to 2Pac driving over the border when the shock and awe invasion begun.
Other soldiers describe how its not really like a video game one guy exclaiming how "you see in the movies, bang your dead you fall down, here its bang, you should be dead, your guts are hanging out, but your walking and talking swinging in a swing set swingin'like your half crazy. They just don't die!"
After watching that documentary a few times I have no idea what he was exactly talking about, but the truth is video games still have a bit to go before they authentically simulate realism in combat.
But not much further...
Saying that video games and war have a close relationship is a pretty obvious statement and if your not instantly familiar with games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Arma Assault then you obviously don't play games (at all).
But what's interesting is when you send your Grand Theft Auto or ace shooter at BF-2 into a real war, Evan Wright a journalist calls these guys the PlayStation Generation.
He even penned a book Generation Kill about them and his experiences when he was embedded with them (the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the USMC) during Operation Iraqi Freedom in mid 2003, he describes how in Iraq they "killed very well" unlike US personnel in other wars where they lost their innocence first.
This theory is backed up by the George Gittoes movie Soundtrack to War in which soldiers listen to heavy metal music and rock and roll songs during the heat of combat (again in Iraq in 2003), one of them even mentioning listening to 2Pac driving over the border when the shock and awe invasion begun.
Other soldiers describe how its not really like a video game one guy exclaiming how "you see in the movies, bang your dead you fall down, here its bang, you should be dead, your guts are hanging out, but your walking and talking swinging in a swing set swingin'like your half crazy. They just don't die!"
After watching that documentary a few times I have no idea what he was exactly talking about, but the truth is video games still have a bit to go before they authentically simulate realism in combat.
But not much further...
Labels: arma assault 2, games, generation kill, operation desert storm, operation iraqi freedom
posted by Paul Iddon @ 12:18 PM
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