ActionTrip heeft de laatste dagen al een paar leuke features online gesmeten en gaat hier vandaag weer mee verder. Deze keer is het onderwerp het realisme in de games van tegenwoordig. Dit realisme wordt door één van de crewmembers vergeleken met "the real thing".I thought it would be interesting to addre this elusive term "realism" attached to the games, in the gaming society. Another thing that prompted me to do this are some of your comments on articles, my articles included. (He's mainly referring to this and this Counter-Strike article, in which fans of CS and R6 are enjoying a cla ic spitting contest in the comments section over "whose game" is better - Ed.)

Those comments ranged from witty and humorous, to downright rude, but reading them in general they look like one of those childish arguments on who would win the fight, Batman or Bruce Lee. Not that I found those comments trivial, mind you, it is of crucial importance to the future of our planet which game is better and the celestial order depends on it. Just picture it, on Judgement Day, the Good Lord will come down in all his power and glory, surrounded by seraphim and cherubs, archangels and angels, and the first thing He will say is "Counter Strike Rules". Moreover, in His immense wisdom and justified rage, He will send all R6 players to eternal sulfur and flames, to suffer torments forever and ever, amen.

But to get serious, and back to the subject, the majority of the combat games today are produced using some serious resources, provide tons of fun and the development teams behind them obviously put in "above and beyond the call of duty" effort and research. Raven Software, which created Soldier of Fortune, is a prime example since they went so far as to hire a military consultant and not just anybody, mind you (I don't know how many of you read John Mullins' resume, but it is impre ive). Other games, such as Unreal Tournament, are played on LAN as practice by US Marines simulating situations po ible to encounter in CQB (a CNN documentary on electronic warfare and electronic aids in training military personnel showed a squad of Marines playing this game). Since it is a new approach to training, the effects will be visible after some time, but in my opinion it could turn out to give troops a false sense of competence. And just to make sure everybody understands, they play games as a PART of their training. The bulk of their training time is still spent on the firing range, war games, good ole' drill and physical exercise. Judging by your comments, I would say you imagine those guys sitting in front of a computer all day long. Bestudeer het hele verhaal hier.