The Militainment Phenomenon

%embed1%

The Smithsonian American Art Museum in DC is currently hosting an exhibit called "The Art of Video Games" and hosted a panel last week called "Video Games at Work" that featured Navy Capt. Russell Shilling. Shilling, who works as a consultant at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, served as an advisor on the America's Army video game developed by the Army as a recruiting tool.

Host Brian Crecente asks Shilling how he feels about the crossover between military training simulators and commercial games, a phenomenon he calls "Militainment." The question leads to an interesting discussion of whether game studios need to pay more attention to issues like PTSD and civilian casualties. Check out the 10-minute discussion above. If you're interested in the entire 90-minute panel, which hits a lot of topics not necessarily military-related, you can watch the whole thing here. (via Kotaku)