It appears that America's Army isn't the only link to the gamer generation being pursued by military recruiters.
The New Hampshire Union-Leader reports on a Halo 3 launch event in Manchester in which under-17's were turned away from a local GameStop's Halo 2 tournament, only to be ushered into a similar event set up by nearby Air Force recruiters:
More than 100 gamers... gathered at the GameStop for a "Halo 3" release party... There was only one glitch... a "Halo 2" tournament was delayed after the chain store's district manager, Suzan Shockley, announced that nobody under 18 could participate.
"I'm sorry, but it's a company rule. We take the game ratings seriously," she said. ...Fortunately, the Air Force was on hand to save the day.
As co-sponsor of the gaming event, local Air Force recruiters were manning party central outside... where underage gamers who had fled the store in despair flocked for pizza, Mountain Dew and a chance to play "Halo 2" on a split screen from the back of a pimped-out military SUV...
Air Force recruiter Staff Sgt. Christopher Johnson explained the military presence at the Halo 3 launch:
This is going to be huge. We expect a big showing. We have the same demographic as [GameStop]. Our target market is identical to that of video game stores...
Johnson told the newspaper that an Air Force/GameStop tailgating bash arranged for the August Madden 08 launch netted two new recruits. Johnson added that he had not heard any objections to using video games to attract young people to the military. But New Hampshire Iraq war veteran Joe Turcotte disgreed:
The whole idea of serving your country out of patriotism gets lost. It cheapens the honor and sacrifice when you turn it into a video game. We are proud of our service to our country, but there's something about this that just doesn't seem right.
I would like to know if there's a disclaimer, if they're warning kids that their actual combat experience may vary. War is not a game.
Additional reaction to the Union-Leader story is expected. Michael Moore's website picked up the story, as did the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (both without comment, so far).
Comments
And I say we should lower the drinking age to 18. If you're old enough to vote and die for your country you might as well be able to drink. These days you need to be drunk to vote for our politicians anyway.
(For the record I passed 17 over a decade ago.)
Or did I misinterpret what you said?
I see no lack of morals here. The recruiters know what people like to do. In order to attract said people, they utilize that knowledge. If you wanted to date a girl, and you knew she liked roses, and you got her roses, then you might have more of a chance. Same thing. The girl doesn't have to date you, and these men and women don't have to join the military.
Besides, I'm sure plenty of those people just wanted to play Halo 2. Like I go to Sam's Club to get free samples without actually purchasing anything. :)
The girl doesn't shoot you if you don't get her roses.
"The kind of people that would target kids and brainwash them with this garbage when they’re too young to know better makes them no different than child molesters."
- Right...yet again, not brainwashing. Please use your brain at some point in this discussion.
I don't see your analogy. In MY analogy, the girl was the recruitee and the guy was the recruiter. I'm pretty sure the underage kids weren't going to shoot the recruiters.
Okay, then the guy doesn't whisk the girl off to a foreign land, deprive her of sleep, put her in a position where she'll get shot at and confine her to a base 24 hours a day.
@Lard,
can you explain how that fits in at all? or are you just shooting off words as fast as you can think of them?
the girl in the analogy would be the kids, and the roses equate to the video games. So what are you saying with that statement?
...
...
...
...Wait a minute...we do!
You're forgetting that the recruitees know this before joining. You'd have to be a complete idiot not to know that going into Iraq isn't going to be puppies and fun.
No, but when you sign up for the Military you KNOW what you're getting in to. Even if you choose not to believe it or gloss over it. The military doesn't give you a beany baby and tuck you in. Come on now, make some sense here man.
"I need to hurry up and get deployed with my unit so I can make fun of Lard from Iraq."
Im sorry, but unless you have experienced a real war already, when they strap a m4 onto you and throw you in middle of desert where you see bunch of people blow their heads up, you're gonna shit your pants.
but maybe the girl gets married if she accepts this offer and then going through a logical following, it eventually so happens that she gets pregnant and is put through much misery just to bare children. i think that would be a great comparison to the iraq situation, pain suffering and even death in some occasions, but it was agreed to by the woman. the woman went into the situation knowing that was a possible outcome.
My post wasn't really aimed at going out to fight though, rather than joking about posting on the internet from there.
Between him and "The Corporal" I think we're actually seeing the cream of the crop of America's servicemen.
seeing as how your agruments have been torn to shreds by us, i think i can take that as a genuine compliment, that you truly mean it. Thanks buddy.
Are you a LaRouchite?
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Thank you for your compliment. Considering you can't take that statement as total sarcasm, I'm not too worried about your overall intelligence.
Oh god, is this going to be American System all over again?
Ah, yes. I remember American System. Great guy. Good for a laugh.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
I think the underage label was used to describe those that are 17 but couldn't play in gamestops tourney because they were not 18.
For those that have hair up their ass about the military using video games to help recruiting, get over it. Its just a way to get their foot in the door, its a marketing tool. If you are going to ranting about this you may as well rant about the fact there is a college fund in the military. I mean after all its only poor people that can't afford to go to college, so only poor people join the military.
You think anyone has the guts to file charges against the US Air Force?
Balls of Steel, that is what you have to suggest doing so.
What about the card game called war?
My wife and I often see military recruiters at all kinds of events. We've seen them at Gaming events, the Vans Warped Tour, and even BBQ Rib-Offs. Each time we pass them, we stick up our noses towards them and mutter a "boo" under our breaths.
It's not because we're unpatriotic. We think this is a great country with a lot of freedom that should not be taken for granted. And it's also because we feel that way that we dislike our current President (I sure as hell didn't vote for him!), various extremist nut jobs on both sides of the polls, and why we REALLY want to see Barack Obama win the Presidency.
But most importantly, we dislike military recruiters because they sent my brother in law, my wife's baby brother, to Iraq! They lied to him when he was signing up, saying that there was no way he'd be sent over. He'd be able to get money for college, achieve his career goals, and more. He went to Basic Training and had plans to get into the National Coast Guard once he was finished.
But not more than 2 weeks after he finished Basic, he had received orders to go to Iraq.
My wife's family and myself were NOT happy about that.
Soon though, he'll be home and able to transfer to the Coast Guard so he can do what he really wants: bust some heads by making sure that illegal drug cartels don't smuggle their illicit goods into our country.
He's a good kid too! Made Eagle Scout and received top honors in Scouts (including earning the medal for saving a life), trained in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Firefighting, and Police Enforcement, and enjoys spending time with tricking out his truck, playing paintball, and hanging out with friends.
My wife's family and I all can't wait for him to come back home. In the words of my mother-in-law:
"I want my son back!"
And yes, she actually DID say that!
So jeers to military recruiters that try and splash a pretty image over what they do. Training is good and all, but they forgot one thing:
People train WITH the hopes that they never have to use what they learn in training at all!
Torchwood, episode 3, when Capt. Jack Harkness teaches Gwen Cooper how to handle ballistic weaponry:
"Let's hope you never have to use any of this."
There may be a game called "War", but real life war is not a game! Not by a long shot! People get injured and killed regularly! And even if there's no physical harm, there's always mental scarring, the "Shell-Shock" that affects war veterans.
Bring our Troops home!
~Otaku-Man
So yes, some recruiters out there are less than truthful, but anyone that thinks there's no chance they'll see combat is sorely mistaken. Sure, there's always a chance you'll get lucky and will never have to, but...there really are no guarantees.
The coast guard can still be sent to a war zone.
To everyone volunteering to wear the uniform: Thank you. Your service is appreciated by this American.
So you "boo" at military recruiters because you're shocked that your brother-in-law got sent to war during a war? That's just sheer ignorance on both your part and his.
Its like saying that cause the Air show is free to the public that its attempting to recruite young people.
I do think my recruiter pretty much told the truth, and he is still telling the truth. Now he's telling me how to get back out again.
Though i will have to say... Halo? come on people, it is not the greatest game evar.
I find it amusing that the Air Force is attempting pull in recruits using Master Chief, a dude who's nickname and faction (UNSC) appear to be based on the Navy.
Then again, it's just me.
People need to get over their own insecurities about the military and stop using every odd situation as an excuse to blast legitimate recruitment efforts.
(Go Army, by the way.)
Why not petition against the No Child Left Behind Act, which allows military recruiters full access to every school-child's personal information instead?
at least that makes sense.
throwing a hissy fit because a family member JOINED the military and then was sent to war is just idiotic.
Not only is this a offense to gamers, but it is also a big slap in the face to both the troops that are currently serving, and to the veterans of war. "War is not a game" and the Army certainly isn't in the game business to make a genuinely enjoyable gaming experience, it's solely using these games as a recruitment tool. I know it's expected behavior of the military, but I'm still sickened by this.
Oh and I agree if you are old enough to die for your country you should be able to drink. Therefore ONLY those serving in the military under the age of 21 should be allowed. They are the ones "dying" not the underage civilians looking for a legal reason to get drunk...
Dude, if they had puppies, I would SO enlist right now.
but i will say the following.
I do not believe this is wrong or unlawful. I also believe we have the greatest system of recruitment, a volunteer one.
Though some recruiters lie, and are scumbags for it, many others do not. So I believe each case has to be judged on it's own merit and not by another situation.
I guess you could say there are 4 major branches, but it doesnt change the fact theres still 2 more that are considered to be their own branches as well.