thedrifter
07-05-05, 06:48 AM
Games to help train real spies
Intelligence gathering will get real-world treatment
BY MIKE SNIDER
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
"Shhh." A true spy game is afoot.
Video game maker Destineer, which created the Beirut, Lebanon-based tactical game "Close Combat: First to Fight," used by the Marines for training, is developing game-style 3-D virtual training simulations for U.S. intelligence agencies.
No, your teens won't be running CIA- sanctioned scenarios from the basement anytime soon. But Destineer (www.destineer studios.com) plans to eventually create realistic spy games based on what it learns making the simulations.
In-Q-Tel, a private, not-for-profit venture capital firm created by the CIA, made the deal with Destineer. "Video games have gotten so sophisticated that if you take the map and create a 3-D view of an environment, you get much better situational awareness and put much better information in front of the soldier, firefighter or first responder," says Gilman Louie, CEO of In-Q-Tel. "That realism saves lives in the training and mission ops side of our business, and it sells on the game side."
Work on the project already has begun but only recently was announced. Those involved can't say exactly how much taxpayer money is being invested in the project; a typical investment for In-Q-Tel, which was created in 1999 and gets $40 million to $45 million annually from the CIA, is $1 million to $3 million.
Nor can they reveal what classified tactics Destineer might learn in the process, because if they told us ... well, you know.
The CIA and other organizations want "to find commercial technologies that have use in our nation's security," says Peter Tamte, CEO of Destineer. "We're not building video games for the government. It's strictly rooted in instruction."
Covert operations have been addressed fictionally in games such as "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell," "Metal Gear Solid" and James Bond titles such as "GoldenEye" and "Nightfire." But so far, intelligence gathering hasn't gotten the kind of real-world treatment that military operations have in video games.
Pandemic Studios (www.pandemicstudios. com) developed the popular game "Full Spectrum Warrior" for Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2 and Windows PCs after working with the U.S. Army on a military training simulation. A sequel, "Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers," will be released later this year.
And the Army has its own game, "America's Army," available online (www.americas army.com) with a sequel in the works. Originally created as a public relations and recruiting tool, the game is now used for training other agencies, including the Secret Service.
"I would never say this is going to replace live-fire training. However, the opportunity for that is rare and expensive and sometimes very dangerous," says retired Maj. Michael Woodman, the Marine Corps' project manager on the development of "Close Combat." "By using the sims, we can go through scenarios over and over, modify them to expose the Marines to different situations, and test their decision-making."
Ellie
Intelligence gathering will get real-world treatment
BY MIKE SNIDER
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
"Shhh." A true spy game is afoot.
Video game maker Destineer, which created the Beirut, Lebanon-based tactical game "Close Combat: First to Fight," used by the Marines for training, is developing game-style 3-D virtual training simulations for U.S. intelligence agencies.
No, your teens won't be running CIA- sanctioned scenarios from the basement anytime soon. But Destineer (www.destineer studios.com) plans to eventually create realistic spy games based on what it learns making the simulations.
In-Q-Tel, a private, not-for-profit venture capital firm created by the CIA, made the deal with Destineer. "Video games have gotten so sophisticated that if you take the map and create a 3-D view of an environment, you get much better situational awareness and put much better information in front of the soldier, firefighter or first responder," says Gilman Louie, CEO of In-Q-Tel. "That realism saves lives in the training and mission ops side of our business, and it sells on the game side."
Work on the project already has begun but only recently was announced. Those involved can't say exactly how much taxpayer money is being invested in the project; a typical investment for In-Q-Tel, which was created in 1999 and gets $40 million to $45 million annually from the CIA, is $1 million to $3 million.
Nor can they reveal what classified tactics Destineer might learn in the process, because if they told us ... well, you know.
The CIA and other organizations want "to find commercial technologies that have use in our nation's security," says Peter Tamte, CEO of Destineer. "We're not building video games for the government. It's strictly rooted in instruction."
Covert operations have been addressed fictionally in games such as "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell," "Metal Gear Solid" and James Bond titles such as "GoldenEye" and "Nightfire." But so far, intelligence gathering hasn't gotten the kind of real-world treatment that military operations have in video games.
Pandemic Studios (www.pandemicstudios. com) developed the popular game "Full Spectrum Warrior" for Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2 and Windows PCs after working with the U.S. Army on a military training simulation. A sequel, "Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers," will be released later this year.
And the Army has its own game, "America's Army," available online (www.americas army.com) with a sequel in the works. Originally created as a public relations and recruiting tool, the game is now used for training other agencies, including the Secret Service.
"I would never say this is going to replace live-fire training. However, the opportunity for that is rare and expensive and sometimes very dangerous," says retired Maj. Michael Woodman, the Marine Corps' project manager on the development of "Close Combat." "By using the sims, we can go through scenarios over and over, modify them to expose the Marines to different situations, and test their decision-making."
Ellie