The truth behind FPS- Are they really military trainers?

[JamminOz07]

Ummmm, No.

Because...

A. I'm too unfit from sitting on the couch playing video games to actually run around killing people.
B. I don't think real guns have a "reload" button, similarly I believe that real guns also jam? What the hell do you do then?
C. When you get shot in a video game you don't actually die, so there aren't any real consequences to your actions.

 

[The Gardener]

Depends, if you're playing America's Army, then hell yes.

Really anything else, hell no.

True. America's Army is still just a recruiting device though.

Well ya, that's what it was intended as, and was indeed funded partially by the US military.

 

[Jharry5]

I doubt it. Real life doesn't have regenerating health, for one thing.
Then there's the aforementioned lack of spawn points, gun jammings or overheating, the noise, flying shrapnel, the smell of explosions, smoke, blood and decay. They don't teach you how to actually reload a gun (just press a button and the computer does it for you). The physics could never be exactly true to life. I could go on...

So no. Not really. All it does is de-sensitise you to violence (to a certain degree); even then, I think some people forget that pixelated violence is much different to real life violence...

 

[elricik]

No, I play FPS games daily, yet when I went to shoot a shotgun with my father at a shooting range, I nearly broke my arm and completely missed the target. (You know its a lot easier to shoot without the recoil, unless you count duelshock2 controllers as recoil)

 

[Trako]

You can learn tactics in an FPS if it has been designed in that fashion, but I'm not sure if any commercially available FPS has the entire repertoire of tactics the military uses.

 

[JemJar]

You're getting about the same level of training out of watching S.W.A.T with Samuel L. Jackson.

Best. Day. Ever.

 

[Abedeus]

I doubt it. Real life doesn't have regenerating health, for one thing.
Then there's the aforementioned lack of spawn points, gun jammings or overheating, the noise, flying shrapnel, the smell of explosions, smoke, blood and decay. They don't teach you how to actually reload a gun (just press a button and the computer does it for you). The physics could never be exactly true to life. I could go on...

So no. Not really. All it does is de-sensitise you to violence (to a certain degree); even then, I think some people forget that pixelated violence is much different to real life violence...

Play good games, not console ones. Rarely you've got a PC game that has regenerating health, save for Crysis, but that's explained by the zomfgadvanced technosuit.

TF2, CSS, America's Army and few other don't have such things. AA can actually teach you a thing or two...

 

[742]

i started playing FPSs at age 6. not my favorite genre, but i played quite a few on the N64 with friends, and occasionally played some of the good ones.

11 years later, i first learn to use a gun. i fail. hard. this proves that neither genetics nor videogames help you use a gun well. and even with earplugs and earmuffs, it scared the shit out of me.

also, as someone who has experienced real (but non-gun) violence, i must say, videogames are not accurate simulations.


all that being said, i think the time ive spent playing civilization and starcraft would make me quite the general.

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

Gaming doesn't make you into any kind of super soldier at all. On the contrary, if you've played games on an easier difficulty, you would probably end up a raging maniac, storming in the crossfire and getting hopelessly shot down. It might be possible that you would have a corrupted idea of the real risk involved in actual combat. A grenade? Just move 3 meters away from it and you're safe.. *BOOM* shrapnel in the face :/

Though I think you do learn some useful things if you play the right way. People who play Call of Duty 4 on Veteran (or whatever the highest difficulty is), or other tough FPS games, know that it is often better to get good cover, and take your time measuring the situation. You have learned that it is unwise to carry a spent clip in your gun, and you'd better reload after having fired a few shots, or when your gun is jammed. You will wait for your buddies, instead of charging in alone. You run like hell from grenades, and don't throw them through tiny windows in fear of them bouncing off the window post in your face. You don't stand in sight of a heavy machine gun or enemy tank. You don't stay in the same position after firing your gun. You fire short bursts, instead of emptying your clip at once. You aim for the head (or legs/arms), instead of the armour. If your rifle is empty, you quickly get your pistol to defend yourself. You are always on the lookout for hidden enemies and snipers when walking around. You never just go around the corner without knowing what is behind it. You cast stoneskin before every battle.. Oh wait :/

Not saying that I'll be a good soldier if I'd join the military, but I have learned some useful stuff while gaming. My reactions have increased too (though of course I don't know what these are worth in actual combat). But to say that I have learned nothing..?

 

[laserwulf]

Not in the least. I had played Counterstrike for a few years before joining the Army, and you can't compare the experiences. We spent three weeks straight on just rifle marksmanship. Even if video games have made it easier for someone to pull a trigger at someone, there is just so much more that it takes to become proficient (breathing, how you pull the trigger, sight picture, etc.)

Also, you'll act differently in a video game, since you know that it's not real. Nothing can replace actual training in person with your teammates. Even in a controlled environment and after training, I was scared to death the first time I held a live hand grenade, knowing that it could KILL me.

Now, if you flipped the question and asked "does military training make you better at video games"...

 

[CyberAkuma]

What? I don't instantly heal when I walk over a medpack IRL?!
Don't I get more ammo for my current weapon if I just walk over weapons on the floor IRL?!

What a shocker

 

[AkJay]

I'm pretty sure in the army they try to teach NOT to T-Bag someone's dead corpse.

 

[Flishiz]

People, especially young people, always crave excitement in their life. I'm sure everyone's been there/is there now/ will be there upon a pubic hair or so. A part of that is a reason why so many young people find themselves joining the military, even when their circumstances don't require it (no job, no college, no support, etc). People like to get out there and do something fresh.

FPSs allow that to happen. We can experience similar excitement without the larger drawbacks (See: Death). In my eye, they're less of a trainer and more of a replacement, like substituting heroin for cigarettes. Not the best for you, but still a step up.

 

[bjj hero]

I'm pretty sure in the army they try to teach NOT to T-Bag someone's dead corpse.

BBC news would love that. I can imagine all of the military top brass sitting around the tv watching the footage going "what was he thinking?"

 

[Raven's Nest]

The game, Full Spectrum Warrior was 'based on a training aid for the US army'. It's more a squad-based tactical RTS than anything. However, It's probably the most similar experience to the army as your gonna get out of a game. That said, it will not make you feel like your in a war. But playing that game helped me understand a lot of the theory behind fire team firing manoeuvres when for when I joined the army.

 

[Rassan]

I fsomeone who played a FPS joined the military, then they would probably say something like "LOL GUYS I'm A SOLDIER No-" a bullet enters the skull of the FPS motivated soldier. Yes.

 

[Aramax]

First person shooter games have the capacity to become military training programs... but you would need a convincing gun controler with recoil, full 360° panoramic screen with wide angle view or virtual reality, artificial intelligence that can actually make judgement call and "Trompe-l'?il" quality graphics.

None of those product officialy exist yet. (Unless you count the virtual boy)

When these items get created you can start your parade. Right now you might as well start a crusade against pong for being college frat boy beer pong training program.

 

[zeroyourpunctuation]

Umm is would definitally not say that playing fps is the equalvilint of a real world gun, but I would think that it could help with the basic knowledge of what the gun looks like and maybe some of the functions. But don't think that because you know about a gun in a game doesn't mean that the gun is as good or as bad as that game might say.