UK military uses modded video games for soldier training
updated 04:45 pm EST, Thu December 29, 2011
Ministry of Defense adapting battle video games
The British Ministry of Defense is turning to technology in order to train its soldiers. One such example is the virtual trainer called Virtual Battlespace 2, which is a modified version of a popular commercial video game. The need stems from hopeful soldiers who are used to popular and appealing video games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming consoles.
Also, the Ministry is looking at supplying fighter pilots with iPads that can house training and flight manuals and save them money, as paper manuals can cost thousands of dollars and need to be updated.
The Ministry of Defense representatives say the gaming industry and each game developer have a much bigger budget than they do to develop battlefield simulators. The Ministry may buy game code from the publishers and adapt it for their purposes. Virtual Battlespace 2 was based on tech licensed from the developers of Operation Flashpoint, for example.
The changes include making more realistic weapons that behave as they would in the real world, with realistic range. This is to boost the level of immersion and boost realism at the cost of entertainment. [via The Guardian]
