America's military elite have swapped their rifles for joysticks by turning to a British computer game to fine-tune their combat training.
Operation Flashpoint, a game set during the Cold War, has so impressed military planners that the US Marine Corps has struck a deal to be supplied with a specially modified version.
Produced by UK manufacturer Codemasters, the game was released on to the market over the summer and has become an instant best-seller because of its hyper-realistic imagery and complex rules. It came to the attention of the Marines when an officer in San Francisco downloaded a version from the Internet. He was so impressed he contacted the firm to arrange a demonstration. "We went over there and showed them how the game worked and they wanted their own version," said David Solari, US marketing manager for the firm.
The deal with the Marines is the latest step in an extraordinary tale of success for Codemasters. The software company was founded by entrepreneur David Darling and his brother, Richard, in the mid-1980s while they were still at school. The firm was originally run out of their grandparents' shed, but now employs more than 300 people and makes millions of pounds in profits.
US Marines will play the game as a way of running through combat scenarios with the most serious risk being only blisters on their fingers. Missions in the game range from individual firefights to commanding a squad in a tank battle. Designers even envisage networked systems being set up on aircraft carriers so Marines can hone their skills before they go into battle.
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