EcoEclipse said:
Hey, check out what site you're on right now.
That's right. The Escapist. As in, escapism. You know what video games are? An escapist medium.
You want realistic tanks? Go to war.
Let's go with that one. It's not inherently important to be realistic to life; we play videogames to get away with that. What's infinitely more important is that a game adhere to its
own sense of realism.
Note Bad Company 2-- a game where both gameplay and story revolve around a squad. In virtually every facet of the game, you are reminded that you are
not an invincible doom machine; to that end, you often have to call in help from a squadmate if a tank rolls in. And for that matter, that tank-busting SOB will have to call in for your help, if some other threat approaches.
Compare this to Halo, where your character is constantly lauded as a nigh-deific super-hero; having to call in for help at
any given time will shatter that illusion of (in-game) reality.
Each game-- though wildly different --demonstrates their own form of reality; a reality that adheres strictly to how the game operates.
Besides. If you want to get right down to it: in-game depictions of war could almost be considered a form of the Red Queen's Hypothesis, whereby any advantages provided by a tank would soon be negated by the oppositions ingenuity and wartime evolution.
(I hope that makes sense. But after drinking enough tequila, the desire to post quickly jumps to breakdown levels)