The Army's Killer App

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But video games can't--or can't yet--convey the human cost of combat. They pass along the adrenaline rush, the thrill of the fight, and leave out the rest. Games are supposed to be fun, but war isn't. "The violence, the combat--we recognize that's the part of the game people want to play," says Major Chris Chambers, deputy director of the America's Army development team. "We treat it openly and honestly. We have a death animation. We don't sugarcoat it. It's real--" He stops and corrects himself. "It's not real; it's simulated. But we're simulatingreality." But it has to be fun too, right? "Bottom line, it's gotta be fun," Chambers agrees. "If it's not fun, you don't have a game." •