Like everyone else has said, my condolences for the loss of your father.
As to the subject of the article, I'm massively torn on this issue. Should games be used as lighthearted entertainment, or as a teaching tool. Can they competently be both?
Games are responsibility free simulations where a person can just close the game and walk away at will. War is a brutal ugly and inhuman place where the most unimaginable horrors are witnessed, and sometimes perpetrated by, everyday people just like the rest of us. Those horrors change everyone who encounters them. And the worst part is that most of the survivors end up eventually going back to their normal civilian lives and have to get on like nothing ever happened. Often surrounded by friends, even loved ones, that will never truly understand the horrific events they've been through.
While I agree there does indeed need to be more military veteran game writers, or at least consultants, I'm not sure anyone could ever properly convey the true horror of war in a video game. I'm also not sure they should try as I feel it cheapens the very real sacrifices made by very real soldiers.
As to the subject of the article, I'm massively torn on this issue. Should games be used as lighthearted entertainment, or as a teaching tool. Can they competently be both?
Games are responsibility free simulations where a person can just close the game and walk away at will. War is a brutal ugly and inhuman place where the most unimaginable horrors are witnessed, and sometimes perpetrated by, everyday people just like the rest of us. Those horrors change everyone who encounters them. And the worst part is that most of the survivors end up eventually going back to their normal civilian lives and have to get on like nothing ever happened. Often surrounded by friends, even loved ones, that will never truly understand the horrific events they've been through.
While I agree there does indeed need to be more military veteran game writers, or at least consultants, I'm not sure anyone could ever properly convey the true horror of war in a video game. I'm also not sure they should try as I feel it cheapens the very real sacrifices made by very real soldiers.