actully i was pulled over by 2 army people about this and as soon as he said this i thought "vr training" isnt this kinda brainwash? its having kids mentally relate killing to videogames so when if ever in a situation the games teaching will kick in. but that was my opinion. ps im 16 and they also told me "tell your friends" if that matters any

don't these people know that protesting is useless and it just pisses Ahmadinejad off?

So the old "See the world!" and "We'll make a man out of you the ladies will love" tactics of old don't work anymore?

Honestly, it's just another angle they're trying to sweeten how "cool" it can be to be in the military. I have to say that the idea is definitely more of a variant on the "candy and the stranger" method of enticement, and strange as it sounds reminds me immediately of Scientology's "free stress tests", only here it's "come play our video games; say, want to play for real for four years?"

No thank you. I can make my own mind up.

I'm more concerned about these centers popping up in run-down, destitute areas of the country. It's no secret the Armed Forces thrive on recruiting kids that would otherwise not have much of a future in their current environment.

there is a scene in -Toys- where robin william (SPOILERS) sneaks into "restricted access" to find kids playing videogames where in reality they are killing/destroying cities and people

i have it and urge others to check it out

These protester types are usually annoying and almost always have some namby-pamby "peace and love" bullshit in their heads, I wouldn't want anyone joining the military at this point. There are a lot of people in the world what need killing, but you're unlikely to be sent to kill any of them if you join the Army.

This sort of recruiting should be illegal. Nothing against kids playing violent games, except that violent games are awesome and kids don't deserve awesome things since they should be mowing my lawn and doing the wash. But I'd much rather have cigarette companies advertising to children than the United States military. In fact, the only things I'd less like to see targeting children are religion and those "new age" hippy fucks with their homeopathic "medicine" garbage.

Too bad Americas Army is rated Teen...

And the immature twerps that would be the kind of people who would seriously be influenced by "games and war lololol!" aren't the kind of people that would be interested in Amercias Army at all.

Gears of War makes war look more like a game than AA does.

damn sucks to see so many people get pissed off over this recruiting technique
The only grief I have with it that it actually does seem to train kids how to kill or else it'd be pointless wouldn't it?
Besides that I'm actually ok with it as I'm thinking of joining the military if all other plans fail, might as well have some fun with vdeogames while being recruited right

How is having a recruitment center in a mall a vile idea? The army is a buisness and recruiting high school aged people to join their ranks.

Now coming from someone that has actually been there...this place is nothing more than a hangout place for kids to play America's Army or World of Warcraft. I was in there several times have never had someone come up to me and start pushing the idea of the military down my throat.

Considering it's an all volunteer military, I see no problems. Would you rather they reinstate the draft?

@ Yehat,

All those words and you completely missed the point. The point that the protesters are trying to make is that it is a Teen rated video game. Meaning that children 13+ are playing this game. Nobody gives a shit about the 18 year olds playing it who aren't anywhere near as impressionable.

Read the whole article. Not just the headline and the first sentence.

With that said, I still think this protest is stupid, but for none of the reasons Yehat mentioned.

The protesters who are honest with themselves hate it for one simple reason; it portrays the military in a positive light. BTW, video games aren't an especially effective method of recruitment. Public relations, yes, but it has not helped the military get more to sign up.

And as for the military going after the "destitute" who see no other option; its still safer than deep sea fishing, lumberjacking, commercial airline piloting to/from Alaska, and several other jobs. Don't see that get mentioned much though. Or see it mentioned that the vast majority of jobs in the military are support roles, where one doesn't ever do any direct fighting.

at 1:46, it says 'dollars for war porn'

WTF!?

wait... are they protesting wars in general? This protest doesn't make sense.

I actually agree with them if they are protesting what they say they are

protesting.

If the games are rated teen then they have every right to have these places open for those 13+. It's not as if they're going out of their store and forcing people to play their games, people must go in upon their own free will. As long as that is maintained, the army should be able to have these centers open wherever they wish.

I must also state that there is no inherent problem in their protesting. While highly condescending, Wolfrider's statement is right, these people have every right given to them in the First Amendment to have peaceful assembly. Even if the goals or ideals seem misguided, all still have every right to express their beliefs in protest or otherwise as long as they do so in a peaceful manner.

Well, I do see an ethical problem whenever a powerful and politically influential institution like the US Army uses shiny new toys to attract teenagers to enlist. Sooner than you know, something which began as innocently as having a blast with a computer game in a mall might end up as serious involvement in some nasty real-world, semi-colonial conflict on the other side of the world.

The effective use of advertisement for selling toothpaste or video game consoles is one thing, but when dealing with global politics and life and death issues in the way that the army of the world's last remaining super power inevitably does, I think there should be some serious restrictions in the way they seek new recruits.

So, wait...politicians get on their soap boxes and scream about how video games are evil, that games brainwash children into becoming killing machines.

But they're cool with the Army using video games as a recruiting tool, using taxpayer dollars to build "Army Experience Centers" in malls?

Huh.

"The army is a business..." War. War has changed.

"How is this any different than Pedo's luring in children into a rapevan with games/candy/puppies?"

Umm ... it doesn't involve pedo's, vans, child rape, candy or puppies. But, you're sure right about it involving children and games.

I work at the Army Experience Center and I can tell you right now that kids under the age of 17 are not allowed to play on mature rated games in the center. There are no parental consent forms or anything that they can even by pass to even allow them to play on the mature rated games. They can play Madden, UFC and other games like that. The center is not for recruiting either. It is used to educate the public about the military. We have high school classes ran by an independent program, where kids who are failing out or doing poorly in high school can come in and get a diploma. We do tons of community outreach programs. Philadelphia is a rough city, this is also a place where kids can come in and get off the streets and hang out so they aren't getting into trouble and their parents don't have to worry about them. People that actually want to learn about the Army can come in and do that in a non hostile environment. People can come in and talk to any soldier and get both the good and bad about the Army. A majority of the protesters that have come into the center only see what they want to see. They don't get the facts, they make stuff up to draw attention to their worthless cause because they are too narrow minded to accept that the Army would do anything good. I am a gamer and I would never condone my child playing M rated games. I also know that I could trust my child going into the AEC is not going to be talked to about joining up in the military or be allowed to play on games that are not appropriate to their age. No person that I have talked to in here has ever thought that playing a video game is going to be anything like being in the real military also. If parents are allowing their child to be that naive then their kids shouldn't be wandering the mall alone in the first place. The point I am making is...some people don't want to see the positives in some things. They only want to have a negative opinion. The Army Experience Center is not this horrible place these people are depicting it to be.