Could the United States’ next General Patton be a 13-year-old currently playing Halo 3:ODST?

That is not as far fetched as it may seem, according to Washington Examiner columnist Peter W. Singer.

Singer notes United States Army officials’ testimony in Congress that video games including America’s Army are more effective than “any other method of contact” at recruiting potential soldiers. A 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Study found that 30 percent of Americans aged 16-24 had a more positive impression of the Army because of that particular game.

This week’s PlayStation Store update features a game of destruction called Smash Cars for $14.99 for the PlayStation 3. The game offer real-time physics, stunts and next-gen graphics to make this experience fun with a choice of single or multi-player car racing with twists, turns and don’t forget serious stunts while earning trophies.

This week’s PlayStation Portable download features Warriors Orochi for $14.99 for the PSP. In this game the Serpent King Orochi shattered time and space to kidnap the greatest warriors from Dynasty Warriors and Sumari Warriors and brought them together for the biggest showdown in history. Players can choose to play alone or in wireless co-op mode to unleash their powerful moves on nearby enemies.

The Army has a history of using computer games for training simulations. Due to the technology being a bit outdated, the Army is looking to revamp the game technology and system so that it can utilize more possibilities to so that the soldiers can be better prepared to survive real-life occurrences. According to BizJournal, this revamping as well as development of more training computer games will cost the army $50 million. While the simulation can be helpful, some manners of training actually work better than others.

Game-based training is not new. America’s Army, for example, came out partially as a recruiting ploy and also a game showing the rigors of service. Full Spectrum Warrior is based on an actual urban training game for light infantry groups. There are other such games for…

A US Army press release sent out earlier this week (January 17, 2008) is crediting Paxton Galvanek, twenty-eight, with saving a life last year because of skills he received while playing America’s Army, a first-person shooter based on and funded by the US military.

On November 23, 2007, Galvanek witnessed a sports utility vehicle loose control while driving west on I-40 in North Carolina with his family. Galvanek was able to remove two men from the wreckage and administer first aid to one of the passengers who had lost two fingers. America’s Army project director Colonel Casey Wardynski had this to say ((IN THE PRESS RELEASE?)) regarding Galvanek’s actions that day:

Because of the training he received in [the] America’s Amry virtual classroom, Mr. Galvanek had mastered the basics of first aid and had the confidence to take appropriate action when others might do nothing. He took the initiative to assess the situation, prioritize actions and apply the correct procedures…Paxton is a true hero. We are pleased to have played a role in providing the lifesaving training that he employed so successfully at the scene.

This causes a few interesting conjectures to drift through the brain, should the parties in thought be willing…

The US Army has set up a new project office for videogaming, indicating it is very serious about using gaming technology for training purposes. Don’t think, however, that soldiers will be partaking in countless hours of causal gaming. Col. Miller, director of the newly established Training and Doctrine Command’s Project Office for Gaming, made it more »

More and more gamers are laying down their lives so we can have the freedom to say or do what we want stateside. (Told you there were gamers in the foxholes.) While these brave gamers are overseas dodging bullets, cautiously looking out for improvised explosive devices as well as their buddies’ backs, a few find more »