We have all heard the rhetoric about how video games are teaching our children to behave in a violent manner but does the argument have any merit? At this time there is no definitive answer to this question but can we learn from video games? It is common knowledge that there is a never-ending supply of video games that are geared towards small children and there are even a large variety of video games that are internet based to improve the human’s ability to hone their mental skills. These games are mere small lily-pads in a large body of water, the United States military has gone one step further and have started using video games simulators to train their soldiers how to react in multiple war scenarios, giving the title “War Games” a new meaning. These simulators started out with a simple marksmanship trainer called the Weaponeer which was commissioned over 30 years ago and has been replaced by the EST 2000. These are not simple machines, the EST 2000 is scalable up to 15 shooting lanes, has customized configurations: mission scenarios, different languages, and a variety of weapons, realistic weapons simulations which replicates the effects of crew-served, individual, tether-less, and nonlethal weapons. Another great feature of the EST 2000 is it gives soldiers constant feedback on how they are shooting, which allows them to make adjustments after each shot or shot grouping. The contracted company for this system is Cubic Defense Applications which was founded in 1951 is the parent company of three major business segments; their primary mission is to design, develop, manufacture, integrate, and sustain high technology systems, products, and services to multi-government agencies (US and Allied) and commercial customers. Another system that has been in use with the military for multiple decades is commonly referred to as MILES gear or Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (Laser Tag for the military). The application of this is not so much a video game but a real-life simulator that gives soldiers the chance to engage real targets with no loss of life or injury. It is a multi-platform system that can be fitted to nearly any type of vehicle, weapon or fighter that is on the battlefield today; with its GPS units integrated within each system it gives the instructors or observers real-time feedback of the battle situation.
Cubic continued their advancements by creating an Air Combat training System which again is multiplatform giving pilots for various vehicles such as the: AH-64 Apache, F/A 18, F-16, F-15