****This is the main menu and theme from Halo
Towards the end is a short game-play demo****
Video games, and their evolved form, Real-Time Simulations, could not only be used to train soldiers, but should also decide the ultimate victor as well. Scholars theorize that wars will be fought by robotic soldiers soon. Why not “duke it out” over Pac-Man or Battle Chess instead? The entire World already meets at the Olympic Games every two years to compete physically and mentally. Political conflicts likewise could be settled, well…Politically, and with a series of fair and balanced competition.
The “Halo” universe is a perfect simulation of the futility of War; there is literally no way to win, without dying thousands of times. Firstly, there is the story mode, which details an Earth of the future, invaded by a race of fanatically religious aliens driven to destroy those that do not believe as they do. Similar scenarios have occurred numerous times in the real world, Hitler, Bin-Laden, the Medieval Crusades; the creators of “Halo” were apparently counting on history repeating itself in 500 years. Playing a game like “Halo” has always suited my tastes; I prefer my killing to have a Sci-Fi/Fantasy tinge. In recent years, perhaps due to the popularity of “Halo,” many similar games, like the “Call of Duty” series, have gained in popularity. Although they share fans and similar game play, a realistic presentation changes the ultimate effect, on me anyway. Games that are basically war simulators, are being, uh, “enjoyed” by millions. Sure one could argue that it is all a stylized game of tag; that it is no different than watching a film like “Platoon.” I play video games, I love video games, and I can tell you it is very different. Seeing a realistic weapon firing in your face, as blood splatters on the screen, and civilian non-player characters run in terror is a terrifying thing. I once viewed a play through of the “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” level entitled, “No Russian;” in it you play an undercover C.I.A. operative who has infiltrated a Russian terrorist group, in this level you slowly march through, slaughtering innocent civilians at a crowded airport; to protect your cover and get the leader’s trust. It was a nightmare in polygons.
****WARNING!!! VERY GRAPHIC!****
I’ll take magic flowers that make me shoot fire from my nose any day.
Secondly there is the Multiplayer Halo experience; all things considered, a flawless model of “Mutually Assured Destruction” and the “Domino Effect;” unfortunately in real war, combatants do not “re-spawn” ten seconds after a death. From playing “Halo” multiplayer online I have learned that in a real war, I would last approximately thirty seconds (at least that is what my game stats say my average life span is.) No matter how good you are, there is somebody better, luckier, or just in a better physical position; you will die, many times. The good players die less often; but they die. You may have a good team, but you will die; if one goes down the others will fall eventually. Often a player you have “killed” will get a new life, remember where you are and kill you a few seconds later; granted the least realistic part of the game. In the real world it might be your victim’s comrade that gets “revenge,” but it will happen.
****A Typical Halo Multiplayer Match****
Videogames have long been a controversial subject in regards to violence. Claire Suddath gives a few key highlights;
“The first major campaign came in 1976, over Death Race, an 8-bit arcade game in which a vaguely car-shaped blob runs over stick figures, turning them into tombstones. In 1993 two games--Mortal Kombat (with its hyper violent, torso-ripping "fatality" moves) and the lesser known Night Trap (in which a male protagonist protects a houseful of scantily clad women from vampires)--caused such a stir that a Senate hearing led by Senator Joe Lieberman proposed federal video-game regulations. In an effort to pre-empt congressional legislation, toy stores pulled Night Trap from shelves, and the video-game industry founded the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self-monitoring panel that instituted a tiered rating system to track games' sexual and violent content.”
As teenager, I personally remember entering in a special code to get the bloody graphics in the home version of Mortal Kombat for the Sega Genesis; while wishing the superior playing Super Nintendo version had one. Is it because I had an unquenchable thirst for gore and violence? Possibly; but my desire to play a decent conversion of a cool Arcade game was stronger. The violence in MK was pretty cartoonish, even though it was digitized photos of real people. Yes, the nine gallons of blood that would dip from the zipper-like spine of your defeated foe, as you tore the head from his torso, looked very unrealistic and so over the top that it really did not deserve the controversy; but it did help sales. Street Fighter II was way better anyway. As is often the case controversy breeds public interest; the best way to get somebody to do something is by telling them not to. Firing a weapon, hand-to-hand combat, and video games go together like flies on stink; there really is not too much else to do but squash, throw, or consume ravenously a spectral foe for the high score. Even puzzle games like Portal and Puzzle Fighter have shooting and hitting. There are sports simulations like…(A-hem)…Hockey. Driving games with fiery crashes, skateboard games with head-crushing wipeouts, and cooking games that involve sharp cutlery, giant horny primates fall and get their heads crushed, and I shudder to think of all of those poor frogs; violence is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. Many nursery rhymes and fairy tales involve murder, cannibalism, and broken skulls violence is engrained in our subconscious. Without the threat of an ending, a game could last indefinitely; getting shot is a definite end. One could argue that even the balls in PONG “died” when they left the screen.
