Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: War Games at Work: Production of the U.S. Army Video Game Project

华盛顿大学研究生罗伯逊·艾伦（Robertson Allen）将在米里亚姆·卡恩（Miriam Kahn）博士的指导下，对美国陆军电子游戏“美国陆军”背后的生产网络进行人种学研究。视频游戏的制作和交付涉及几个不同的实体，包括军事代表、视频游戏编程单位、视频游戏制作单位、士兵、民间娱乐公司和消费者。这项研究的框架问题是，随着军队将电子游戏技术用于训练、营销和招募，战争和游戏之间的界限正变得越来越模糊。此前对军方制作的电子游戏的研究主要集中在玩家体验上。很少有研究考察游戏背后的制作文化。研究将集中在陆军游戏项目上，这是一个负责设计、出版和发行美国陆军官方电子游戏“美国陆军”的组织。自2002年以来，该游戏已在其网站上免费提供下载，并已扩展到世界各地的用户，他们加入其中，在一款流行的第一人称、小队战斗电子游戏中扮演美国陆军士兵。“美国陆军”的连续版本和更新包含了作为陆军士兵的教育和训练工具的修改，并且游戏的应用模拟了正在开发的未来武器技术。这项研究将研究这些游戏制作文化，从经验出发，观察日常工作环境、经历和相关人员的目标。研究者将在几个签约机构进行研究。他的数据收集方法包括：1)参与式观察；2)与选定的与项目相关的个人样本进行深入访谈；3)陆军游戏项目产品《虚拟军队体验》的制作和公众接受情况的案例研究。通过采用这些方法，本研究将在不同的层面上探讨战争与游戏、工作与娱乐、教育与娱乐、虚拟与真实、士兵与平民等二元类别之间的模糊现象。这项研究很重要，因为它将有助于推进关于这些类型模糊的社会意义的讨论。从理论上讲，这项研究将对社会科学理解政府与民众互动方式的变化做出重大贡献。这项研究还将支持研究生的教育。

University of Washington graduate student, Robertson Allen, supervised by Dr. Miriam Kahn, will undertake an ethnographic study of the production network behind the U.S. Army video game, "America's Army." The production and delivery of the video game involves several different entities, indcluding military representatives, video game programming units, video game production units, soldiers, civilian entertainment companies, and consumers. The framing question of the research is that the lines between war and play are becoming blurred as the military uses video game technology for training, marketing and recruitment. Previous studies of video games produced by the military are focused on player experience. Few studies have examined the culture of the production behind the games.Research will focus on the Army Game Project, a group of organizations responsible for designing, publishing, and distributing the official U.S. Army video game, "America's Army." Available as a free download from its website since 2002, the game has expanded to a worldwide audience that join to play as U.S. Army soldiers in a popular first-person, squad-based combat video game. Successive versions and updates of "America's Army" contain modifications that serve as educational and training tools for enlisted Army soldiers, and applications of the game simulate future weapons technologies under development. This research will study these cultures of game production, proceeding empirically and looking at the everyday work environments, experiences, and goals of individuals involved.The investigator will conduct the research at several contracting institutions. His methods of data collection will include 1) participant observation; 2) in-depth interviews with a selected sample of individuals associated with the project; and 3) a case study of the production and public reception of one Army Game Project product, the Virtual Army Experience. By employing these methods, this research will explore, at a variety of levels the idea that a blurring is occuring between the binary categories of war and game, work and play, education and entertainment, virtual and real, and soldier and civilian. The research is important because it will contribute to the advancement of discussions regarding the social significance of these types of blurrings. Theoretically the research stands to make significant contributions to social science understanding of the changing ways that governments interact with their populations. The research will also support the education of a graduate student.