From Sun Tzu to Xbox

From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games

Author	Ed Halter
Language	English
Publisher	PublicAffairs
Publication date	31 May 2006
ISBN	978-1560256816
Website	www.fromsuntzutoxbox.com

From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games is a book of video game history written by the journalist and film critic Ed Halter, published in 2006.

Description

The book describes the evolution of video games from military-related technologies and contemporary video game related projects by the American military such as America's Army and Full Spectrum Warrior. The book also relates pre-video game relationship between war and games, such as the evolution of chess into kriegspiel.

Reviews

David Fear of the magazine Time Out found that Ed Halter provided a thorough analysis of the topic, but also attached some personal point of views to the story, which sometimes makes it off-topic.[1]

Quotes

The technologies that shape our culture have always been pushed forward by war.[2]

Video games were not created directly for military purposes, [they] arose out of an intellectual environment whose existence was entirely predicated on defense research.[2]

A more realistic form of America's Army, for example, would be one in which your soldier might lose a limb or get brain-damaged in combat, then come home to a Sims-style scenario in which you have to manage the rest of your life that way. Or maybe a game where you don't get into combat at all–you just camp out in the desert, running exercises.[3]

See also

• List of books on computer and video games
• Military–entertainment complex

References

1. David Fear (6 July 2006). "From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games". Timeout.com. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
2. Corey Mead (19 September 2013). "Shall we play a game?: The rise of the military-entertainment complex". Salon.com.
3. Christopher Grant (6 June 2006). "From Sun Tzu to Xbox; a new book on war and videogames". Engadget.com.

External links

• Official website