Military and Microsoft Butt Heads Over Training

DayDark

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Oct 31, 2007
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I guess consoles actually are cheaper than a decent gaming PC, I thought that was debatable, but when the freakin US Army is thinking of jumping platform to save money, I guess that counts as something.
 

Vigilantis

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Jan 14, 2010
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samsonguy920 said:
Don't feel bad military. Microsoft doesn't meet our requirements for hardware, either.
Hah this ^, I'd say screw it, if an American console doesn't want to lend a hand then take your business overseas just like everyone else.

Beware soldiers with Wii-Remotes and Playstation Eye Toys
 

Sir Kemper

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Jan 21, 2010
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Wow, somebody has balls at microsoft to tell the army "Go buy it at retail price."

Actually, does anybody else think it's a bad idea for the Military to use 360's?

I mean, just wait, once Faux News get's a hold of the story it's "SATANIC CONSOLES ARE TEACHING YOUR KIDS HOW TO KILL, ALSO GAYS AND TERRORIST'S!!!"
 

Gethsemani_v1legacy

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JaredXE said:
Wow, this is quite a bonehead move for Microsoft. "Low attach rate"....the fuck? Yeah, it'll get you a loss, but it will also get you in good with the fucking US Military. How dumb are they that they don't understand that to make money you have to spend money?
Where's the profit in being a buddy of the US military (or any other military in a democratic, non army-junta controlled country)? The US Military would most likely buy several thousands Xboxes and from there probably offer a contract to someone willing to develop a training game for the Xbox360 to their specs. Even if we imagine that Microsoft gets a cut in on that action (I can't say if they would, since I am unsure of exactly how the whole console-royalty deal works) they are still effectively only getting royalties on a few thousand copies of one game to the same amount of consoles.

No matter which way you turn that, it is a huge loss for Microsoft. Besides, there is less prestige in saying "The army runs our console" as opposed to "We developed the game the US Army trains with" (which is the card that Bohemia pulled for example), the latter being the kind of PR a software developer can use to sell their future shooters.
 

Agayek

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Oct 23, 2008
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uppitycracker said:
Patriotism would get them a bad rep? Ya, I can see that.


But in all reality, I can understand the hesitation. I still find it weird that they're just flat out not gonna do it, though. Guess it's to the retail shelves for the army, haha.
It seems to be more an economic thing than reputation. Consoles are fairly universally a net loss for the producer, or at the very best it breaks even. If they sell the military a few thousand 360s, then the military goes and pays someone else to develop/publish/produce the game for it, they're just losing a bunch of money. It makes sense to stay away from the deal.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Eukaryote said:
Kind of like when the military bought all of those PS3s, eh? I don't blame them, you need to make a return on your capitol.
I bet Sony loved em for it though!
 

Chris^^

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Mar 11, 2009
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Sev said:
And they say games don't lead kids to violence.
i love you.

OT i dont see Microsofts problem, its a market they haven't exploited and made their ***** yet + it would earn them kudos from the government
 

Echolocating

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Crimsane said:
Echolocating said:
I think Microsoft knows it's console will red ring after a year or so and pissing off their country's own military is just not worth the negative publicity.
Pissing them off like say, outright refusing to sell them the consoles they desire might piss them off?
No, more like the military buys a few thousand consoles and half of them are defective within a couple of years. Individual consumers are one thing, but a single body with a million dollars worth of RROD is something they wouldn't want to deal with.
 

More Fun To Compute

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Nov 18, 2008
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The real reason for this is obvious.

Hideo Kojima is worried about gaming technology being used by the military for sinister purposes. Ergo, Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming to XBox as long as Microsoft refuse to sell 360s directly to the military.
 

Dogstile

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Jan 17, 2009
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Echolocating said:
Crimsane said:
Echolocating said:
I think Microsoft knows it's console will red ring after a year or so and pissing off their country's own military is just not worth the negative publicity.
Pissing them off like say, outright refusing to sell them the consoles they desire might piss them off?
No, more like the military buys a few thousand consoles and half of them are defective within a couple of years. Individual consumers are one thing, but a single body with a million dollars worth of RROD is something they wouldn't want to deal with.
You know, I think the whole RROD is blown out of proportion. Its really not that bad.
 

Andronicus

Terror Australis
Mar 25, 2009
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Austin MacKenzie said:
these 360s would be for training, not gaming
If the consoles are going to be made specifically for training, can't the US military just scrounge up enough cash to design their own console, made specifically for training? I mean, they'd probably have access to the exact same technology as Microsoft, maybe even the more advanced stuff, the same materials, and the same sort of hardware/software designers to actually put the thing together, and the end result won't even need to cater for the vast majority of gamers wanting all sorts of special features in their consoles. Why do they need XBoxes?
 

Mekado

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JaredXE said:
Wow, this is quite a bonehead move for Microsoft. "Low attach rate"....the fuck? Yeah, it'll get you a loss, but it will also get you in good with the fucking US Military. How dumb are they that they don't understand that to make money you have to spend money?
Did you just say Microsoft had no idea about how to make money ?

like, seriously ?
 

Jandau

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Dec 19, 2008
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Am I the only one who sees recruits slacking off and playing Halo during training?

Also, consoles are sold at a loss. The more consoles Microsoft sells to the Army, the more money they LOSE. Do you jump at the chance to LOSE money? Now, if the Army were to sign a contract that all its software will come from Microsoft and that they'll even pay for the licence, that might work.

Beyond that, I suggest they send out their people to stores all across the USA and buy the consoles like everyone else... ;)
 

brunothepig

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May 18, 2009
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Sev said:
And they say games don't lead kids to violence.
Actually in this case it seems to be violence leading people to games. And if it's going to be a loss, fair enough. But couldn't the army just offer extra to fill in that loss? It's probably still going to be much cheaper.
 

Doug

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Apr 23, 2008
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uppitycracker said:
Patriotism would get them a bad rep? Ya, I can see that.


But in all reality, I can understand the hesitation. I still find it weird that they're just flat out not gonna do it, though. Guess it's to the retail shelves for the army, haha.
American Patriotism...yay, I suppose. Doesn't do anything for the rest of the world.

But more accurately, people *cough-Jack-Thompson-cough* could truthfully say that "Game Consoles are being used to train soldiers to kill."
 

Booze Zombie

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Dec 8, 2007
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Patriotism is overrated, go Microsoft!

I don't get the millitary, willing to drop money for guns and ammo but if it comes to something important like stuff for training people to use guns and ammo?

Eh...
 

sidereal_day

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Feb 5, 2010
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JaredXE said:
Wow, this is quite a bonehead move for Microsoft. "Low attach rate"....the fuck? Yeah, it'll get you a loss, but it will also get you in good with the fucking US Military. How dumb are they that they don't understand that to make money you have to spend money?
You honestly think you know more about how to make a profit than Microsoft?

Okay...
 

Benjeezy

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Dec 3, 2009
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Booze Zombie said:
Patriotism is overrated, go Microsoft!

I don't get the millitary, willing to drop money for guns and ammo but if it comes to something important like stuff for training people to use guns and ammo?

Eh...
Yay for backwards thinking! That is a kind of thought process you can't teach in school :p