As you can tell, from the silkily-leering voice-over of this game review, the industry's totally fucked up and sick to the core, but we already knew that ... what we (myself at least) didn't know was a) a non-commercially-available version of Operation Flashpoint is used to train the military and b) it's cheesily-rendered pixel deaths just ain't enough any more. According to this report in the DAILY MAIL:
The MoD has been forced to dramatically update simulated combat training to cope with the expectations of the PlayStation generation, it has been revealed.
New recruits are so used to playing ultra-realistic combat games on consoles that they are losing concentration on 'dated' training simulations.
Troops sent to Afghanistan have been trained on Virtual Battlespace2 - a spin-off from the commercially-available Operation Flashpoint - that can test reactions to coming under enemy fire.
And in other military news, this time from the JERUSALEM POST:
US to hold largest ever missile defense exercise this spring; thousands of US soldiers will be deployed in Israel.
Israel is moving forward with plans to hold the largest-ever missile defense exercise in its history this spring amid Iranian efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.
Last week, Lt.-Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the US’s Third Air Force based in Germany, visited Israel to finalize plans for the upcoming drill, expected to see the deployment of several thousand American soldiers in Israel.
The drill, which is unprecedented in its size, will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces in the event of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East.
The US will also bring its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and shipbased Aegis ballistic missile defense systems to Israel to simulate the interception of missile salvos against Israel. The American systems will work in conjunction with Israel’s missile defense systems – the Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome.
And that's how you CONTINUE to earn your Nobel Peace Prize, eh?