The US Army was long ago wooed by the siren's call of video games as a tool to bolster recruitment and image efforts (see America's Army). Even so, this story caught me by surprise.
Image from http://www.army.mil/-images/2007/02/02/2287/
When I first saw the image above (look at the leftmost soldier), I was sure it was some sort of joystiq spoof, created to amuse an editorial intern. That is, until I went to the US Army website, and found the same image. US Army Future Combat Systems troops evaluating the next generation of unmanned support units... by using the same Xbox 360 controller that I use to pop the arms off stormtroopers in Lego Star Wars.
This is for all the haters in the audience =) All talk of recruiting aside, what does it say about the gaming phenominon when the US Military, an organiation of nearly limitless resources and budget, is turning to a game console controller to test drive its next generation hardware?
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go dig out my Biology textbook and highlighter to study for an exam...
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