Could be old news, but I thought it was interesting.
NEW YORK — It\'s the hottest online video game of the summer, and it\'s Uncle Sam\'s way to reach out to the next generation of patriots.
The Army wants you to be all you can be -- even if all you want to be right now is a video game junkie.
The Army has spent two years and more than $7 million to develop "America\'s Army," a first-person combat simulation game that can be downloaded free from the Army\'s Web site.
Players get to put themselves in very realistic military situations -- from the obstacle courses of basic training to the killing on the battlefield.
The goal of the game is to take down the bad guys, to stop them with everything from M-16s to grenades. Players also have to reload their weapons and dodge enemy fire, all the while helping America fight the war on terror.
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The Army is hoping that video game enthusiasts -- and possible Army recruits -- will play the game often and get good at it. If players eventually find themselves considering a future in the military, that means the game\'s mission has been accomplished.
But it\'s not quite that simple, according to those who developed "America\'s Army."
"The game might perk (people\'s) interest and then they go off and do some research," said Lt. Col. Casey Wardynski, originator and director of the project. "We don\'t think the game is the end point. You don\'t play the game and then enlist in the army. It\'s a starting point."
But the game has its critics. Some say it could get into the hands of kids younger than the age the Army is targeting.
Sidney Merin, a Florida forensic psychologist, said the game, which is rated "T" for "Teen," could easily be seen or played by a teen\'s younger siblings.
"It\'s nice to think that only 18-year-olds will look at this or play it at home," Merin told the St. Petersburg Times. "It doesn\'t happen that way."
Younger kids are "very, very impressionable," Merin added.
And Merin, among others, also expressed concern over the fact that the U.S. government has approved a game that so clearly depicts "maiming and killing" in a realistic setting.
But if many of today\'s top-selling video games are any indication, the violence in "America\'s Army" might be exactly what teens want.
The Army has said it reached its recruiting goals early this year, thanks to new advertisements, Sept. 11 and a sluggish economy. However, there has been a steady decline in enlistment over the last decade.
Recruiters are hoping "America\'s Army" can keep the number of recruits rising.
Fox News Channel\'s Rick Folbaum contributed to this report
