Uncle Sam wants you to play Army - Realistic video game is a recruiter's dream

Newark Star Ledger ^ | 8/31/03 | Wayne Woolley

[Incorrigible]

This is "America's Army," a taxpayer-financed video game launched by the Army last year as a recruiting tool, is growing into an Internet phenomenon.

The popularity of the free game, which can be downloaded from an Army Web site (www.americasarmy.com) or obtained on disc at any recruiting station, has exceeded the Army's wildest expectations.

[Incorrigible]

Sounds cool.  I'll have to download it.

[joesnuffy]

Be carefull if you go on R&R in Bangkok....
you could catch a virus

[stylin19a]

Players who kill teammates or type racist or sexist comments are banned forever from playing the game online.

um.....how do they do this ?

[LibWhacker]

Jack Thompson . . . "The Army is training kids at taxpayer expense to become sociopaths and killers,"

C'mon, Jack, go pester a liberal or something.

[boxerblues]

While you are playing the game online you can leave messages for others who are playing

[KarlInOhio]

A player who shoots a drill sergeant in basic training materializes instantly inside of a jail cell and hears the soulful hum of a harmonica.

That's pretty rough if the player was punished that way. Is there any way we can get Saddam that way? Just beam him to Gitmo?

[Psycho_Bunny]

The ban isn't "forever" but we do ban IP addresses.  Also, your in-game name (nick) is registered and you're authenticated every time you join a server.  If your nick is banned, you're kicked.

There's a couple other little tricks to admining AA:O but, it wouldn't be appropriate to answer them.  The net-code for dealing with problem players in AA:O is probably the best ever written.

[HF+] Mad Bunny

[Psycho_Bunny]

The Army spent more than $6 million on the game's development, easily three times the industry average.

That's not correct.  The development price of the game was pretty much normal.  They didn't even have to spend time developing the engine because they used the Unreal engine.

The way the Army deployed the game was entirely unique to the industry and boosted the "over all" price.

[sigSEGV]

And it runs great under Linux. Even faster on my box than under Windows.

[stylin19a]

I'm sorry..I wan't clear in my question. How can they ban someone for life, from playing the game online ? They would have to know all my ISP's, all my aliases etc...

[Yardstick]

Anybody have screenshots?

[weegee]

I guess that they had to find something new since they can't write down the initials of the people who hold the high scores on Battlezone anymore at the corner arcade.

[JoJo Gunn]

http://www.americasarmy.com/gallery/

[Yardstick]

Thanks! Looks like fun...

[WOSG]

Uh oh, just when I felt safe from being sucked into playing this game, i follow the link and it says it has a Linux version ...
I feel a 'force' inside saying "download download"

[Libertina]

Great idea

[FierceDraka]

America's Army has been around for about 18 months now. Cool game, and it's free to all.