ABSTRACT
The six game designers were divided by gender almost as soon as they arrived at the Army National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California. In the language of their handlers, the three “guys” were sent to the “Black Town,” and the three “females” were transferred to another mock Iraqi village, “Junction,” almost an hour away.At first, the designers could not imagine how these live action wargames could present a convincing spectacle. The towns were built out of shipping containers and were decorated with little more than khaki-colored paint and crude porticos.To live out in the Mojave Desert in the only instrumented training facility in the world suitable for live fire training with brigade-sized military forces, the content-creators for the “Enhanced Learning Environment using Creative Technology” or ELECT military-funded series of video games had been instructed to bring their identification, sunscreen, sturdy hiking boots, socks, a water bottle, and a jacket for evenings; the fatigues, cots, and sleeping bags would be provided by their military hosts.
