The US Army, in an unprecedented alliance with Hollywood and a major university, is providing funding and technical advice for video games that aim to hone the skills of the next-generation of military field commanders.
The Institute for Creative Technologies, which is jointly operated by the US Army and the University of Southern California said on Thursday it would develop two combat video games, with financial and tactical backing from the Army.
The Los Angeles-based institute said it will partner with FCS -- itself a joint venture of studio Sony Pictures ImageWorks and video game developer Pandemic Studios -- and Quicksilver Software to develop two games to be released over the next two years.
"C-Force" will be released for next-generation consoles, while ICT and Quicksilver will partner on "CS-12" for PCs. Both games will have as executive producer Rob Sears, who produced the combat titles "Mech Commander" and "Mech Warrior 3."
The army will provide funding, but its Training & Doctrine Command bureau will also be involved in game development, ICT said.
"They will both be available in a consumer shrink-wrapped version and also another version that will be delivered to the US Army," said Jim Korris, the creative director of ICT.
The games will allow players to control entire groups of soldiers, ICT said, with CS-12 allowing the player to take the role of a company commander and C-Force putting the player in the role of squad leader.
"While offering unique training aids for potential squad leaders or captains, these products will also teach game players everywhere about how to leverage human resources and information -- skills that will benefit them enormously in their professional lives," said Richard Lindheim, ICT's executive director.
The institute was formed in 1999 with a US$45 million grant from the army as a partnership among academics, video game makers and creative talent in Hollywood to design advanced "virtual reality" and simulation training systems for the military.
The Army reviewed and approved the game before its release, a Simon & Schuster spokesman said.
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