14 DAY TRIAL // Everyone knows that video games can be both fun and educational, but not all games. For instance, you can't say that Counter Strike is an educational game. Or can you....? Well, according to this piece posted up on megagames.com, you can. More than 300 police officers from Tianjin (China's northern port city) participated in a three-day LAN competition of Counter Strike, for the sole reason of extending their day-to-day training to another level.
"The competition is organized to sharpen anti-terrorist skills of Tianjin's police force, as we find the nature of the game very similar to that of our daily practice", said officer and co-organizer Zhang Bin. According to the same report, referees were introduced to ensure no cheating (peeking), during the competition.
"Given its close resemblance to real-life scenarios, the game greatly enhances the terrorism awareness of our officers, and it is very important as terrorism has become a global issue", said Han Zhen, a tactical instructor of Tianjin police. "In particular, it trains our officers in the use of weapons and taking advantage of different terrains, and is also a test of mental strength in a duel with a terrorist, enhancing police forces through technology".
According to the same man, almost half of the Tianjin force have now become regular players of the popular first-person shooter, originally launched back in 1999 as a mod for Half Life. Of course, what's now a standalone called Counter Strike has changed quite a bit.
The "training" took place "after work," according to the report and it is considered "a supplement to their [Tianjin's officers] traditional means of training," which isn't at all false, because the game itself was inspired by what these (this kind of) officers do in real life.
So, while the likes of Jack Thompson and friends will continuously stand by the thought that video games like Counter Strike do nothing more than deform youngster's minds, here's the evidence that a violent video game can be seen just as well as a training tool for eye-to-hand coordination, reaction speed and so on, making it a good simulator for real life scenarios.