British Army launches game-based recruitment

News Bot · 04-06-2009, 18:00

"Start Thinking Soldier" campaign to target online games players; Army says two-thirds of 17-21 year olds have no career path in mind.

Military forces around the world haven’t been slow to see video games as useful recruitment tools. Young people well-versed in shooters are regarded as ’ideal’ for piloting Apache helicopters, while the U.S. Air Force took advantage of Halo 3 as a recruitment tool. The U.S. Army launched America's Army, an online first-person shooter to encourage people to enlist,and most recently, the U.S. Army Experience Centre opened in Philadelphia, loaded with 19 Xbox 360's, interactive map screens, and simulated attacks from an Apache helicopter.

Now, the British government is set to use a similar tactic to help enlist the nation’s youth in the armed forces. A campaign entitled "Start Thinking Solider" will include an online game where players have to escape enemy tunnels from a first-person perspective, find the parts to make a bomb in an enemy stronghold, and answer multiple-choice questions.

Research conducted for the British Army recently found that 68 percent of 17-21 year olds had no career path in mind. The campaign, consisting of four television commercials, will be targeted at that group, each ad highlighting a particular area of Army expertise, including teamwork, decision making, leadership, and fitness and mental sharpness.

At the end of each ad, viewers will be asked the question, "What would you do?" and are encouraged to head online to answer the question via the interactive game.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"British Army launches game-based recruitment" was posted by Mark Walton on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:49:24 -0700

Feed provided by GameSpot

Jemima · 04-07-2009, 01:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by News Bot

Now, the British government is set to use a similar tactic to help enlist the nation’s youth in the armed forces. A campaign entitled "Start Thinking Solider" will include an online game where players have to escape enemy tunnels from a first-person perspective, find the parts to make a bomb in an enemy stronghold, and answer multiple-choice questions.

Research conducted for the British Army recently found that 68 percent of 17-21 year olds had no career path in mind. The campaign, consisting of four television commercials, will be targeted at that group, each ad highlighting a particular area of Army expertise, including teamwork, decision making, leadership, and fitness and mental sharpness.

At the end of each ad, viewers will be asked the question, "What would you do?" and are encouraged to head online to answer the question via the interactive game.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"British Army launches game-based recruitment" was posted by Mark Walton on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:49:24 -0700

Feed provided by GameSpot

im sure i remember some ads a while ago on uk tv like that. from most of the soldiers i know crawling through a few tunnels isnt really gonna impress them or make them of wanted to sign up, although an awful lot of them seem to play Americas Army

Danoclese · 04-07-2009, 01:44

Lol, just like the USA did with "America's Army". Still quite popular, I think.

Maduro · 04-07-2009, 03:43

America's Army was a really well-done game with a huge fan base. If the Brits are even half as successful with their version of it then they will at least have provided some great entertainment

Now whether it's a success for recruitment remains to be seen.

UUUU · 04-07-2009, 04:31

Does anyone know of anyone or did anyone personally sign up because of the US version of the game?

safara · 04-07-2009, 07:04

Well, my Brother LOVED playing fighting flight sims as he was growing up (still does)

He always said because of them, he wanted to do it for real.

And he bloody has, he now flies fast jets for the RAF

So, yeah, basically utilising a gaming set of skills in the real world.

Pretender · 04-07-2009, 08:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by safara

Well, my Brother LOVED playing fighting flight sims as he was growing up (still does)

He always said because of them, he wanted to do it for real.

And he bloody has, he now flies fast jests for the RAF

So, yeah, basically utilising a gaming set of skills in the real world.

aint going to get much better than that now does it

Blake Seven · 04-07-2009, 08:50

The TV commercials for this have just started airing over here.

ACEwoK · 04-07-2009, 09:08

dunno why they are bothering tbh...with the world down turn, traditionally the armed forces have a bounty when it comes to recruiting, same as the public service...