U.S. Army Goes On A Booze Cruise

[Andy Chalk]

U.S. Army Goes On A Booze Cruise

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The U.S. Army [http://www.army.mil/] has invested in the development of a drunk driving simulator to help soldiers adjust to the stresses of returning home, but Mothers Against Drunk Driving isn't too happy about it.

In October 2007, Professor Jim Parker and students at the University of Calgary Globe and Mail [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/77609-Drunk-Driving-The-Videogame]. "Some people believe that if you just focus, you can drive really well."

After releasing the project, Parker and his team began seeking support for the project to help fund improvements while still keeping it available to schools and anti-drunk-driving campaigns. Help eventually came from what was probably an unexpected corner: The U.S. Army. As many as 27 soldiers have been killed in drunk driving incidents in each of the past five years, and while all soldiers will have access to the game, Parker said he was told the Army wanted it primarily as a "re-education tool" for soldiers returning home from Iraq, many of whom turned 21, the legal drinking age in the U.S., while overseas.

"They come back and they also haven't driven a car in two years. So they can drink, they can drive, and bingo, they get into trouble," Parker said. "The goals are pretty pure here. They're trying to keep their guys from getting hurt."

"The concept itself is very interesting to us, and we find it has what we believe is very strong potential in reaching out to our young soldiers in an interactive format that strengthens those types of skills," added Jim Yonts, a former Army Colonel who's now the public information officer at the U.S. Army Combat Readiness and Safety Center.

But while the Army hopes to do some good with Booze Cruise, another high-profile group has expressed surprising disdain for it: Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada [http://www.madd.ca/] says it has no interest in making use of the simulator, which it claims teaches players to how to drive blotto. "We've spent decades telling people not to drink and drive, and this simulator, one of the skills it teaches is to drink so much, and then drive," said MADD Canada CEO Andrew Murie.

via: GamePolitics [http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/01/16/madd-canada-objects-game-designed-discourage-drunk-driving]


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[level250geek]

Let me get this straight:

MADD has spent years trying to educate people on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Here is a tool that makes those dangers much more real than a set of statistics.

MADD doesn't like ti because they think it's practice for driving drunk?

...right.

 

[shadow_pirate22]

They really are MADD.

 

[Neko Niisan]

I could just be missing the point entirely here but the CEO of "Mothers" Against Drunk Driving is named "Andrew" Murie.

How does that work...

 

[mokes310]

I agree that drinking and driving is awful, but I cannot support MADD in any way shape or form. They are against drunk driving, yet support politicians who are against public transportation. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

MADD is a fucked up organization. This is a more a good idea than a bad one.

 

[Dogstile]

MADD have always been screwed

 

[stompy]

Riiight... I'm going to lump them with PETA.

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

...Seriously, you spend years for campaigning for something, someone comes along with a tool which could help you stop drink driving incidents and they reject it? I bet they think of it as a toy, not understanding the good it could do.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

Almost any organisation calling itself "Mothers Against" a given topic, is usually somewhat crazy due to the fact there is never any solid logic or science behind their actions - they are inevitably comprised mostly of upset mothers with criminal children (or otherwise connected to youth crime, i.e. aunts of the aforementioned criminals) who will stop at nothing to blame everyone except themselves for the actions of youth. Their actions and even their NAME speaks of nothing but an emotional response to problems, directed at entirely the wrong people. MADD has always reeked of "Blame Canada"ism, and this takes the cake.

If the simulator/game actually had a victory condition where players could progressively improve and do less damage over time by concentrating, then I'd be worried. This is clearly a program for showing you, regardless of your level of inebriation, you WILL do damage, you WILL be caught, and you WILL be fined, so don't do it! This is what happens when you do it! Most people, especially soldiers, learn by practice, not by lecture... and this shows them, in practice, how harmful and dangerous drunk driving is.

 

[hexakali]

Thanks everyone for seeing our point in making this game. My name is Lori Shyba and I was lead artist and concept developer on the Booze Cruise game. One of the primary reasons that it was given a go ahead by the rest of the team *and* our Calgary Police Service partners is because of its innate message of how idiotic it is to drink and drive. The scoring system was designed to escalate insurance costs, dole out driving demerits and even put drivers in jail for bad driving. There is no positive reward for drunk driving. That was clear from the get go. One of the reasons I was keen to create and develop this game was that the young life of a close family friend was snuffed out in a drinking and driving motorcycle accident and I felt that if one life was saved due to a young driver playing the game it would be worth all our effort and more.

I am bitterly disappointed that Andrew Murie, as a representative of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, has come out against the game. As Brian Crecente of Kotaku so succintly put it, "Way to remain obstinately uneducated MADD."

 

[Combined]

I think MADD should rename itself to BADD, as in "We're BAAD at this."

...Oh, God. I'm sorry.