Rethinking Military Gaming

America's Army and Its Critics

Bibliographic Data

ID2409490
AuthorsMarcus Schulzke (0000-0002-5998-138X, University at Albany, State University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume8
Issue2
Pages59-76
Publication date2013-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGames and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1555-4120 • E-ISSN: 1555-4139
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1555412013478686
OpenAlexW2320278181
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited31

With the extensive use of military force by the U.S. government over the past decade, more scholarly attention has been directed at how mass culture is mobilized to support military objectives. Video games designed by the military or by civilians collaborating with military advisers are one of the major causes for concern, as these may provide ways of training players for military service or of building support for wars. This essay organizes prominent critiques of military gaming into structural/institutional, instrumental, and ideological perspectives and examines some of the most common arguments made from each. It argues that while critics of America's Army and other military games are right to be cautious about military influence on gaming, critics tend to judge military games more harshly than the evidence warrants

Civil–military relations · Government (linguistics · Ideology · Military government · Military operations other than war · Military psychology · Military science · Military service · Military sociology · Military terminology · Military theory · Military threat · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Revolution in Military Affairs · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Digital Games and Media · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Social Media and Politics

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