If college has failed to teach me anything, its the process by which one should deal with problems. As you might have noticed, this has been a sort of trend in recent editorials. Following the peace and understanding route of relativity, I figured why not celebrate the Fourth of July with the exact opposite method – battle.
When I finally got an Xbox 360 a year ago, a full multiplayer copy of “Halo 3” came with my system. I played with friends just for fun, but I never thought I would get into the online experience of competitive shooting.
Halfway through the summer I noticed my K/DR (kill/death ratio) was abysmally low, and asked a friend who happened to be skilled player what I might do to improve my odd and internet stature. His reply was simple – “Slow down, stop rushing into battle, and play on the fact that you are probably smarter than your enemy.”
The latter part may seem snide or elitist, but categorically speaking its true. As a 22 year old man, I am in the prime position to excel in shooters. I have grown up with video games and have been able to roll with the p. Older generations, with techies exempt, traditionally have a hard time adjusting the the new frontiers of gaming. Conversely younger gamers take for granted “Next-gen” consoles and games, for its all they have ever known. Being in the middle of the two, I can either use dexterity gained through years of playing to outgun the oldsters, or old school stealth and logic to outwit the prepubescent young guns who populate the pregame chats and contribute to premature deafness by delivering 110 dB of pure treble right to the cochlea.
By no means should this appear as a boast of personal skill. Quite the opposite, I still am negative 3000 kills on “Modern Warfare 2,” but as I play longer I realize I’ve internalized these lessons and can defeat others with much greater precision.
Which leads to why I would waste half a column waxing militaristic – there are life lessons to be learning in this pixellated carnage. For years the United States military has used shooters as both recruiting and training tools, as no doubt other nations have. Since recruiters from the NCAA to the USMC are traditionally not allowed to pursue anyone under 17, by hosting tournaments and talking with younger gamers in a non-professional manner recruiters may side-step these technicalities and plant a seed for future careers in soldiering. To dispel any doubt, check out the Frontline film “Digital Nation,” specifically the segment “Waging War,” for further insight.
My point is not a polemic against military indoctrination. Actually, I contend that such games should be used in lieu of real-world skirmishes to decide political disputes. Quixotic, yes, but also pragmatic if one values human life over glory. Instead I would emphasize the utility of these lessons which the armed forces use to recruit and train soldiers in everyday life.
Let’s face it, to be curious about guns and their proper usage is a practically a red-flag nowadays. Therefore the role of games such as “Call of Duty,” which emphasize the marriage of real-life weapons tech and battle-earned “perks,” becomes that of a happy medium, where gamers and gun-nuts can go and duke it out all day with no judgments, save for those of a 12 year old who will gloat at how he just “pwned” or “raped” you.
At the same time, just learning about what different weapons do is not much help for real-world problems. Lessons learned from shooters are adaptability and precognition of another player’s actions, which come from hours and days of grinding out matches. One lesson to learn is that eliminating a person through gunplay is not a real life solution. There are no respawns, but there are consequences for murder.
The most important thing to be taken away from FPSs, though, is the realization of how quickly a life can be lost in visceral battles. Sure, it may be humorous to u spawn and die five seconds later, but in real life those are individuals dying for a cause. I read earlier about Audie Murphy, the most decorated man in U.S. military history, who killed almost 250 men in WWII. My thoughts are simultaneously “Killionaire!” and “what a genocidal lunatic.” Two wrongs and all that. While battlefield bloodshed is an age old dispute-resolver, one must appreciate the bigger implications of violent resolution.
While I will probably go home and burn a few hours storming favelas and irradiated zones, I can’t help but think today, our Independence Day, how little has changed in 235 years. Our toys are made of plastic and aluminum instead of tin and wood, but the games are all the same. Give it a few more centuries and children will be fighting Buggers on computers from lightyears away. Bet on it.
– Jake Lane is a senior in creative writing. He can be reached at [email protected].
