While video games can let students pretend to be soldiers running up a beachfront, the games aren't accurate representations of combat or the wars they depict, according to a study by an ASU doctoral candidate.
"The way you play in these games is pride without problems — you don't feel remorse, there's no blood, nothing about how you should perform," said Aaron Hess, a communications doctoral candidate who authored the study.
The study was published this year in the National Communication Association's publication, "Communication Currents."
The study focused primarily on the 2003 video game "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun," which uses documentary-style depictions to give the player a more educational and realistic feel, Hess said. The game is available on a number of different consoles, including Microsoft's X-Box and Sony's PlayStation 2.
Many games don't take into account the history of the events because they play off a memory of the past, yet they do not provide information on how history came to that point, Hess said.
For example, a game may depict Pearl Harbor during World War II and show the bombing of the harbor, but it doesn't show the events and decisions leading up to that bombing, he said.
Also, even though many war games try to depict battle as accurately as possible, it's impossible to provide a violent and real-enough experience to give the player a taste of authentic combat, he added.
"The difference between reality and video games is stark, so in a way, video games aren't violent enough," Hess said.
While most people understand that war simulation games aren't real indicators of actual war and combat, it's important to understand the real history behind the games, he said.
"It's important to recognize the complexity of war, because simulations fall short," Hess said. "I don't think at all that people shouldn't play these games, but I think they should be aware of what history really is and realize that the games are incomplete because they have a lot of details omitted from history."
Drew Nelson, a chemical engineering freshman, said he strongly doubts conflict simulation games are accurate depictions of wars.
"Games like 'Medal of Honor' might be pretty realistic, but they still have so many things that wouldn't happen in actual war," Nelson said.
Since "Medal of Honor" is a first-person shooter game, the player goes out by himself or herself in the game, whereas in real-life, the soldier would probably go out in a team, he said.
Also, in war simulation games it's possible to be shot five or six times without dying, yet in reality a soldier could die from just one shot, Nelson said.
Reach the reporter at: amanda.chan@asu.edu.
