Video Games as Recruitment Tools

A report came out of the United Kingdom (England for those who didn't know) that the British are planning on advertising for their various intelligence agencies within the confines of the video game world in an effort to recruit 'smart and tech-savvy people' who will then provide an apparent frontline for the coming intelligence storm. What that means is that not only will you have the chance to beat video game villains but you could have the potential to be a live action hero as well. Doesn't this seem like the premise for the movie "The Last Starfighter"? I think it's an excellent idea but do we think that this will be an effective option for increasing interest in various defense and intelligence related fields?

At least here in the states, recruitment and retention within the military has reportedly been on the decline. Whether it is due to the state of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan or other reasons, it's becoming harder and harder for the military to maintain their personnel goals. This isn't a good thing since our armed forces are the first line of defense and if no one is springing to the defense of our country then that's never a good thing. Video games as recruitment tools are a pretty decent idea seeing as how today's kids are going to eventually become tomorrow's leaders. The Army tried this before with the release of their "America's Army" video game. This game series was released for free to the public as a first-person shooter and was meant to give gamers a taste of actual life in the military. Often times in video games that reality is lost simply because if you lose a life, you restart from the last saved game.

This type of attitude can be a bit dangerous since it sort of divorces the human element from combat or dangerous situations. It can be compared to what used to happen in the first World War where generals safe behind the lines would order men to charge into Hellacious fire and mortar attacks for no gains whatsoever. This type of attitude is also quite dangerous simply because it takes the compassion and feeling out. What use is there in sacrificing so many for so little gains? If there is some way to ensure that once a gaming character is lost and lost permanently then there will be some level of realism to what a player would experience in reality. Not that video games will ever come close to reality in combat. At least not with modern technology.

I think it speaks volumes that we're getting to the point now that we have to start recruiting at younger and younger ages in order to ensure that when the time comes, some of these impressionable youths will choose to serve their respective countries. I suppose these types of games are also more popular in comparison to other industries that could use video games as recruitment tools. I mean can you honestly imagine kids lining up to get the latest financial analyst video simulator? How about the auto-assembly line challenge? See what I mean? The just don't seem to have the same appeal. I think that the types of jobs these games are targeting will probably do well to link themselves with such industries but it's also misleading in the sense that although it's cool to be like James Bond, most actual spies don't do anything even remotely similar to it. I guess reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.