Virtual maneuvers: games are gaining ground, but how far can they go?

When it became clear that insurgents would interfere with reconstruction efforts in Iraq, Pentagon technophiles thought it would be a good idea to develop a videogame to help guide soldiers through the messy business of rebuilding war-ravaged communities.

Thus came "Stability Operations

Winning the Peace," modeled loosely on the commercial games "Tropico" and "Sim City." Players assume the role of local military commanders of a stability operation, and are exposed to the political, military, economic, social and intelligence levers they can pull in a particular situation, while they learn the consequences of their actions.

"It helps the player understand the many tradeoffs required in contemporary stability operations," says a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency news release. The agency hired the firm Games2train to develop "Stability Operations."

Although games by no means are considered valid substitutes for real-world military training and live-fire drills, they increasingly are gaining acceptance as "alternative training methods," says Julia Loughran, president of ThoughtLink, a consulting firm that advises the Defense Department on military technology trends.

The fighting in Iraq only proves that "we need agility and adaptive training," she says. "Large-scale exercises are not suitable for fighting this enemy."

Videogame technology can fulfill many military training needs at a much lower cost than the traditional large-scale simulations, says Loughran. But it will be a long time before the military services begin to push this technology to its full potential, she adds. "We are trying to steer the Defense Department toward smaller simulations ... It's a cultural change."

Much of the training that enlisted troops and officers receive today is either face-to-face seminars and tabletop games, or billion-dollar large-scale simulations. That leaves a "gaping hole" in the middle, says Loughran. "There is no alternative for small-team training, part-task training."

The Army, to be sure, is ahead of the other services in trying to capitalize from advances in gaming technology, Loughran says. "The Army understands the need to include these alternative methods." The service also has made a large financial commitment, including a $45 million investment in the Institute for Creative Technologies, a think tank and production studio created to develop advanced games for Army soldiers.