Blog Entry #1

Blog Assignment #1

The True meaning of "Game Over"

This game seems to be a form of propaganda. Trying to get young people to be motivated to join the arm by portraying it as a fun game. It appeals to kids because they just see it as a game with goals, but their is a "hidden message" that is trying to get them into the army without them realizing it. This game's appearance is very life like and it tries to be very authentic to what the military would actually be like.
This game indoctrinates the ideology of war by portraying it as a game rather then a grueling battle that people have to endure. This game seems to desensitize kids a little to how they react to killing someone and people dying right in front of them. It depicts war as a fun game, not a serious issue that can affect many people's lives. They might not realize the the other soldiers and people that they are killing are actual people and have lives and families of their own, they are just a target in a game.
In real life, when one is in war and there are gunshots are firing from every direction and a soldier gets shot and dies, they cannot just restart the game and start over. Once you die, that is it. This game could possibly give young people a false impression that they are invincible and that they get many chances in "the game of war". I met an Iraq veteran once and he had been sent home after a sniper shot him in the shoulder. I don't think kids playing this video game realize how real things are, and how in the game getting shot in the shoulder would completely take you out of the game for a while. They should be more aware of what the actual consequences can be, the real definition of "Game Over".
Some like to argue that violent video games cause adolescents to be violent in real life. I disagree with this theory. I don't think that video games actually affect how kids act in places like school life. I believe that if someone takes video games serious enough to a point where they confuse the two different worlds, then that individual has other serious issues that need to be addressed other then the fact that they play too many video games.
From a marketing standpoint, it is smart to target video games for getting people to join the army. The Demographics for a video game such as this are the ages that the army wants to target for potential recruitment.