1. When I first visited the America’s Army gaming website, I wasn’t completely impressed with the entire layout that it provided. It reminded me of many of the military recruiting websites that I have stumbled upon while surfing the internet. However, I realized that the similarities to the recruiting websites were a strong form of rhetoric. The website is dedicated to a popular computer video game; when one considers that fact, it becomes a little obvious that the video game has intentions to try and recruit non-military personnel into the army.
The layout itself has a background that is gray, pixelated, and a little bland. It’s not completely appealing unless a visitor to the website ignores the background. What adds depth to the background are images of the video game that are blended well into the background. Without the images, the site might not have caught the attention of a younger audience. A young audience can identify with video game images rather than a bland background. On the other hand, someone who is well acquainted to the army might associate the gray color with army uniforms; also, he or she might associate the pixelation as camouflage, which is also associated with the army.
The different links on the home page help the website to appear more like a gaming website; although, when one reads further into the links, he or she may realize the vast amounts of rhetoric that are put into them. For example, the Real Heroes link offers testimonies, biographies, and quotes from actual army personnel. The link explains that “heroes are individuals of distinguished courage or ability, and admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities.” This is a large form of rhetoric; the link gives the idea that individuals in the army are the perfect epitome of a hero. Many children have probably grown up identifying with heroes, whether they were comic book characters or actors on TV. The website is almost using the army heroes as another recruiting tool in the sense that it is saying that anyone can become a hero as long as they are part of the army.
The rest of the links offer different types of support for the game. The Game Intel link provides visitors with game training, missions, the history of the army and the game, and other operations. The Community link offers different forums to discuss the game, an internet chat, and a virtual competition. The site has found different ways to bring gaming individuals together; that is a good way to recruit a mass number of people, or at least a small group out of a whole. The Support link offers game FAQS and a game manual, two things that any gamer is accustomed to while playing a video game. The link provides something that will make sure that people will continue to play the game despite the difficulties they will face. The Media link is probably intended for a younger audience as well as individuals who are into good graphics when it comes to a video game. The link offers screen shots, desktop wallpapers, and video clips. Many people are attracted to visuals rather than words; the items in that link are a good way of drawing more people into the game depending on how they perceive the graphics or the game play. The one link that stuck out to me the most was the Downloads link. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was providing until I read the description; the Downloads link a deploy client for the video game that allows the game to download faster. The client allows little excuse for individuals to NOT download the game since it can be accessed at a reasonable speed. The website blends real life with the video game, allowing visitors to get an idea of army life on two different levels. The website is persistent in its recruiting, but it masks its intentions behind the video game it’s promoting. Still, when the intended audience is mostly children above the age of ten and under the age of eighteen, the recruiting might not be as successful. Amazingly, the entire website is filled with rhetoric; it's design is based on recruiting individuals or getting people to play the game. It was difficult to pick out every single piece of rhetoric considering that there is so much offered on the website.
2. The America’s Army website is intended for a broad gaming audience and individuals interested in the military; the main audience is probably a young to young adult generation that can identify with video games and action very. The website is full of images of the video game, screen shots, and video clips. The visual media is one thing that usually guarantees that visitors will be drawn to the site, and the younger gaming audience is more attracted to the graphics and the appealing look of the game rather than the content. Also, the website is not extremely complex in its explanation of the game. A slightly older audience might read into the content and would be more attracted to the gaming features, especially the improved Game User Interface, the different weapons, and the new artificial intelligence. For anyone that is interested in the military, the website is not too different from a recruiting website. It is similar in appearance and still incorporates real life army information that corresponds with the game. A final and less obvious audience is PC users. The website explains the video game is only compatible with Windows XP and Vista; someone who wants to play the video game would have to invest in getting a PC since it wouldn’t work with anything else.
3. The video game indoctrinates very little ideologies of war. It's is mainly focused on the life and recruitment of an individual into the army, but it does include some aspects of war, infantry, and military intelligence. The images provided on the website show scenes that are similar to the media portrayal of war-torn Iraq; however, the majority of the screen shots depict an army recruit in training. The game focuses on the training aspect more than the actual combat; that’s a good way to draw in a younger audience since it is not completely exposed to war and fighting in the video game. Although, I do not disagree with the training that the game is built around. Its focus is clearly on the soldiers and building their character rather than preparing young individuals for war; the Army training does not have to be related to the Iraq War. The game does not really represent the Iraq war the way the media does; in fact, the game doesn't even address the Iraq War as a whole. Most of the media spews reports of the fighting, the stress, and the trauma that the soldiers and civilians face in light of a never-ending war, but the video game seemingly ignores the combat for training that a young teen is supposedly capable of doing.
4.
I’ve played many violent video games in my life, and never have I been influenced to hurt someone else because a video game gave me ideas. America’s Army will only be violent to a person who is easily influenced by the content of a video game. Compared to other games, America’s Army appears tame. Its game play is largely based on real life, training simulation, while many video games have plots that are unlikely to ever be experienced outside of a console. While I commend ESRB for taking care of ratings for the general audience, violence in a video game is slightly subjective. I will admit that Grand Theft Auto is a violent vidoe game, however it will never be as gruesome to me as some others may perceive it to be.
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