US Army Using Official Microsoft Halo 3 Tournaments For Recruiting

A press release from Microsoft's game division hit my inbox today with a seemingly harmless title:

Microsoft and U.S. Army Present First Ever "Halo 3? Championship Tournament on Xbox LIVE

Ok that's fine and dandy that the Army decided to sponsor the event but read a little further into the PR and you'll see how far the rabbit hole really goes.

"To further ensure that players are trained to the top of their games, the Army is also hosting a Destination Experience blade on Xbox LIVE. When the program begins, gamers will be able to access the blade via their Xbox LIVE dashboard, gaining access to multiple videos and a Tips and Tricks section dedicated to providing the best combat strategies and advice the Army experts have to offer."

Well what do you know, the last paragraph of a fun press release about an upcoming Halo 3 tournament shows the true intrusive intentions. You of course have to sign up for this tournament and only then will the blade appear but I'm sure many will sign up regardless and then be greeted with the large unwanted "Army Blade" when it's released. Doesn't this feel like those checks you get in the mail for $4.99 that automatically sign you up for an expensive monthly service when you cash them?

Merry Christmas from Microsoft and the US Army!

[Baba1906]

make love, not war!

[ruibing]

The US Army seems to be getting more and more aggressive at recruiting all the time, especially now that they seem to air their ads on TV and gaming sites quite often. Targeting these kids and making them think war is all about glory, since when has the army been simply able to "finish the fight"?

[HaKeRsCanRotINHEL]

"Little Boy." ;)

[cr33ping_death]

legion if you like the fact that TRUMAN dropped the bomb on hiroshima and nagasaki....then you are on sick f*ck.

[BIGBAER]

"...if you like the fact that TRUMAN dropped the bomb on hiroshima and nagasaki....then you are on sick f*ck."

No one I know LIKES what happened to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. They "like" what happened to Pearl Harbor even less....

BUT!--they do like the results of the tragic Nagasaki/Hiroshima action: the ending of a bloody and ruthless war in the Pacific Rim that was initiated by the Imperialistic Japanese.

Bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima saved far more lives, both Japanese and American, that would have been lost had the U.S. Armed Forces been forced to make a land assault upon Japanese soil in order to end the war.

If YOU wish to ignore the reasons and deny the fault of the assualt, or wish for more dead Japanese and Americans then YOU are one SICK F*CK!

[razer]

lame.

MS you better check yo'self before the people paying $50 a year start to turn on you because you are using this more as a marketing gateway than a game machine.. You are walking that thin line ever so carefully but you seem to continue to be more and more blatant.

[Rhezin]

ya seriously come on, your not gonna be fighting people with energy shields. one or two shots in the right places, that's it buddy, your toast.

[Ghoul]

god i hate the us army

[Skerj]

I better not ever see another "violent video game corrupting our youth" debate from politicians, throw this crap in their faces and see what's what.

[Noodlecup]

That's disgusting what you said, what the US military did in WW2 is worse than any terrorist attack, in fact it WAS a terrorist attack. To sushifx, I think everyone hates the US government not the army, though it does have it's fair share of d!cks.

[BIGBAER]

"...what the US military did in WW2 is worse than any terrorist attack, in fact it WAS a terrorist attack..."

Ask the surviving relatives of the Phillipino and Chinese people who were slaughtered enmasse by the Japanese Imperialist Military what they think.

------------

My Father-in-Law and two of my Uncles were at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. THAT was a true terroist attack.

[cr33ping_death]

apparently big BAER....cant even spell right...... is a big patriotic idiot who wants people to see the world through his f@ckin eyes. you know what? go join the army and do us all a favor a fight for what you believe in instead of replying to posts on a gaming site with your so called patriotic BS.

[BIGBAER]

QUOTE: "apparently big BAER....cant even spell right...... is a big patriotic idiot who wants people to see the world through his f@ckin eyes. you know what? go join the army and do us all a favor a fight for what you believe in instead of replying to posts on a gaming site with your so called patriotic BS."

First, expand your vision beyond your petty prejudiced narrow-minded and pseudo self-righteous idiotic misconceptions.

I'm a senior gamer with two tours in the Marines and have seen things I wish I could forget... So guess what Junior, the REAL WORLD is NOT what you see on TV or learn about in your candy-coated classrooms. It's an ugly, mean place far tooo often.

Patriotic? Hell yeah and with good reason. Maybe someday you'll grow up and gain some wisdom. Maybe.

For the record---as you already know---I didn't "bring politics" into a gaming site; you and others did first. I simply responded.

Spell right? Except for the occasional typo, I do. BAER is my name and BIGBAER is my business. http://www.google.com/searc...

[JokesOnYou]

the Army has been promoting and advertising in all kinds of forums forever, you see stuff at high schools all the time and this is nothing new, NOBODY joins the Army because of a videogame, they join because of family history, looking for a challenge, some want to leave their small town, some want to travel the world, some want eduction benefits, some want a sense a pride, honor & respect and so many other reasons that young *males in particular join the Army, NOT because of videogames, this is just the Army's way of just getting those that are *already* interested in military service to maybe walk in to their local recruiter and ask for more information and then the Army is hoping the recruiter can convince him to take the next step. Sure many of you who don't know any better hate the Army/military, sure we would all love to live in peace and not worry about thinking that there are anti-American groups/governments who want to do us harm, but reality is they do exist and without a military who else who do the job of defending our country, it sure isn't going to be any of you arm chair critics. I dont promote or say anything is good about Iraq but the men and women of our military are good people so any hate for their effort is misdirected. If you have no desire to join the military thats fine, alot of good people make the US strong by contributing to America in all different kinds of jobs, but dont for one second talk sh!t about those few that actually make a committment to serve in the military and protect and defend our way of life.....so I dont give a damm if you are American or a anti-American loser, stfu because I know a few service members, I have friends and have heard from those who spent time with their boots on the ground and you kids only know what you are TOLD on TV. fcking haters=

JOY

[Senbo]

the patriot are using video games to train the "perfect solder" comes to mind

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

I don´t think that bubble shields are going to be used in real combat.

And it´s pretty low to draw attention with a game.

[jinn]

who needs the US tactics anyway