While games such as Modern Warfare 2 provide a great source of entertainment for many gamers, one United States colonel feels that "the video game generation is worse at distorting the reality of [war]. They don't have that sense of what really going on."

The unnamed colonel spoke to Washington Examiner writer and defense expert Peter W. Singer, who inquired about the U.S. armed forces receiving a "free ride off of the video game industry."

Singer draws a statistical comparison between those playing Modern Warfare 2 and those who chose to join the Army last year, noting that roughly 70,000 enlisted with the armed forces while 4.7 million handed over their money to play, "many of them not even realizing they were doing so on Veterans Day."

The topic then turns to the use of video games as a tool to aid in recruitment, as demonstrated by the military-developed America's Army, which requires users to connect to the Army's recruitment website and turn over your information before being able to log on. And so far, it has worked, with it being more effective than "any other method of contact."

Singer says the colonel has been impressed in the past with the amount of skill that those who have "trained up" bring to such positions as piloting a Predator drone squadron. "Naturals" was how he described them, though he still has other concerns about introducing America's youth to the military through video games:

"The video game generation is worse at distorting the reality of it [war] from the virtual nature," he said. "They don't have that sense of what really going on." He would add that the virtual nature of gaming made it harder for some to weight the consequences of their acts, saying "It teaches you how to compartmentalize it."

Spong notes that "maybe years of not being allowed to broadcast the return of dead soldiers could be more of a link?"