game over

while they have no doubt been around as long as war or games
war games are still a disturbing trend
(which is not to say i don't occasionally enjoy a bit of virtual violence)

here are two relatively recent multiplayer contributions to the genre

nation states seems a text and web based forum for community interaction
this review suggests its superficially fun
but not much of a keeper in gaming terms
which is a bit of a shame
because it appears to have some potential



more disturbing is america's army
a cutting edge combat computer game
designed by the u.s army for recruitment purposes
apparently at great taxpayer expense

it's designed not only to instill
a code of honour and fighting spirit
but presumably also to generate
an interest in actually enlisting in the army

it is apparently available free
not only from the website
but also on cd-rom from recruitment 'centers'

"and while you're here,
why don't we have a little chat about your career options?"

the download instructions
are in spanish as well as english

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