Targeting the Player. Computer Games as Propaganda for the Military-Industrial Complex

摘要

The historical roots of the technology and design of computer games can be found inPentagon-supported research in 1960s. Many computer games had their origin as simulatorsand training equipment for the armed forces. It can be argued that the content of computergames concerning real wars reflects the ideological interest of the military-industrial com-plex or the military-entertainment complex, as Robin Andersen has redefined it. Selectedgames such as ’America’s Army’, ‘Army of Two’’ and companies such as ‘Kuma War’are analysed critically within the framework of the fight for ideological hegemony in theGlobal War on Terror. It is argued that when computer game are read as text, they can alsobe read as propaganda.