Sunday 10 February 2008

an extension of 'Questions Never Answered' - the psyche of the NS to be

I thought about the content of Questions Never Answered, and I've come to realised how outdated I've become.

The generation of kids today haven't exactly watched Black Hawk Dawn or Saving Private Ryan. No for them, the images of war come in a far more visceral manner, and faster, and with greater interactivity. No, today, war for our younger kids mean Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes, Gears of War, and other military-themed FPS games. They see the bullets, hear the gunfire, experience the chaos of war and battle, but all in a 32-inch flatscreen tv. War has become a game for them, but even the war that they experience is nothing compared to the actual circumstances of war. Game-war, is completely different from war as it is fought in physical reality. Real War is slower, infinitely times more messy - even though I haven't fought in a real war, but war from a console is definitely different from war as it is fought with real guns and bullets.

Ok. So we all know that console war is different from real war. So what's the deal? The point is that, from here on, there will be huge gulf between expectation and reality, and truth be told, not many people will accept it. Young men who have never had any real military experience save for the console would be in for a rude shock when they enter NS, and realise that military life isn't the point and shoot in the FPS games. And then, what you get - disillusionment, low morale...

For these young sheltered people... it will really mean something for them, who have already had high expectations of the military.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sadly, for all the glamour associated with the title of your blog, you fail to give anything to "leading edge" about.

If you actually take the time to play more of those console games that you talk about, you might have come across this quote from CoD:

"War is delightful to those who have not experienced it."
- Erasmus

http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/914586/27271

And Erasmus died like 470 years ago.

You probably should read up more to create some REAL leading edge ideas.

I'm sorry, but it seems that I do enjoy putting you down, don't I?