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They also sponsor a bunch of sporting events. They've even done the video game thing in the past (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Army https://en.wik

by parsimo2010 6y ago

They also sponsor a bunch of sporting events. They've even done the video game thing in the past (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Army). I suppose you could argue that Twitch is a little different, but the idea is the same. They are trying to reach platforms that are popular among their recruitment demographic- young Americans. They aren't going to waste their money trying to recruit people with ads on the Hallmark Channel.

alert0 6y ago
I played this game in high school and it is still top of my list as one of the best games I've ever played. The matches could be incredibly slow. You could start a match and go grab a snack and you'd still be alive. On the flip side if you died it could be 10+ minutes to respawn. Sound was really important. I think eventually you could tag enemies on a minimap, but we had a ton of abbreviations for calling out locations in chat. The weapons had their quirks too. The training and qualifications were also hella tedious. Like to get medic qualified you had to sit through this classroom lecture and take a test. The special forces qualification (opened more levels and weapons) was also really tough. I hopped on in a later update and it was just constant respawn like any modern FPS. Anyway, loved that game. Never joined the military but I thought about it.
- parsimo2010 6y ago
  > I hopped on in a later update and it was just constant respawn like any modern FPS Yeah, I think the thing that made it such a good recruitment tool at the beginning was that it wasn't like most video games. I wouldn't quite call it realistic, but if you were the type of person that liked AA, you were probably a good fit for the Army. The revisions gave it more mass appeal but probably lowered the hit rate as a recruitment tool.

alert0 6y ago

I played this game in high school and it is still top of my list as one of the best games I've ever played. The matches could be incredibly slow. You could start a match and go grab a snack and you'd still be alive. On the flip side if you died it could be 10+ minutes to respawn. Sound was really important. I think eventually you could tag enemies on a minimap, but we had a ton of abbreviations for calling out locations in chat. The weapons had their quirks too. The training and qualifications were also hella tedious. Like to get medic qualified you had to sit through this classroom lecture and take a test. The special forces qualification (opened more levels and weapons) was also really tough. I hopped on in a later update and it was just constant respawn like any modern FPS. Anyway, loved that game. Never joined the military but I thought about it.

parsimo2010 6y ago
> I hopped on in a later update and it was just constant respawn like any modern FPS Yeah, I think the thing that made it such a good recruitment tool at the beginning was that it wasn't like most video games. I wouldn't quite call it realistic, but if you were the type of person that liked AA, you were probably a good fit for the Army. The revisions gave it more mass appeal but probably lowered the hit rate as a recruitment tool.