Gamertell

You’ve heard me talking about my military gamer friends (two are in the photo on the right) in past articles but recently I found a copy of Stripes Gamer and was amazed and happy to see the military now has its own gaming news outlet.

When my friends are deployed they have no clue what is going on in the gaming industry here in the United States. I know when they e-mail me they feel so left behind when I tell them about the latest games that are out. Games they won’t be able to play until their one-year mission is complete. It’s even bad enough that they are not always included in the statistics published about gamer demographics, our troops are often the forgotten demographic.

According to the managing editor of Stripes Gamer, Tony Haugan, those serving in the military are also part of a “video game generation that has grown up and they’re taking their games with them when they deploy,” he explained. “A lot of times they live in extreme boredom or extreme terror. Gaming fills the void. Gaming is a way to connect. [Military servicemen and women] tend to be a little transient, so it’s a nice way for them to play with a buddy or family member from their location. They not really ignoring [the military gamer]. It’s more of a general unawareness. [Soldiers] are a unique group of gamers. They are bound by their service to the community.”

When Stripes Gamer first launched August 2005 in Europe and the Middle East, Haugan said they received an overwhelming response which proved there was a gaming audience among service members. It was only recently that they launched copies in US.

Haugen said the same gamers the gaming industry tries to reach through publications such as Playstation Magazine often exclude the military as well as government civilians and their family members living overseas.

“The military audience doesn’t see mass marketed messages found in these publications. They only see AFN [Armed Forces Network] which has no commercials,” he explained. “Stripes is the only English-language media to reach these people.”

Stripes Gamer is a part of Stars and Stripes, an editorial independent daily newspaper authorized by the department of defense to serve the military community worldwide by meeting the news and entertainment needs of the troops. Stars and Stripes was first published during the Civil War with a mission that carries on today - to bring news of events from home to the troops fighting in the war.

“Our job is to provide objective journalism to the troops that is unbiased and without interference by the command,” Haugen added. “We must provide a paper, but, what is unique about it is that even though we are part of the [Department of Defense] we maintain First Amendment privileges where we can operate as a commercial paper.”

So when the idea to have a gaming publication for these readers came about, “It was kind of a fluke idea to come up with a special section that may appeal to the deployed readers,” Haugen explained. “So when we launched [the first issue] as a one-time deal, the response was so immediate and so strong it took us by complete surprise. We had barely put out the first issue when we got a huge response, and formed a reader panel as a sounding block, that we’re already putting together our second issue. A large quantity of the stories are coming from our service members. The military community is a close-nit family and it is a family. They tend to trust their peers more than the outside sources. And with all that energy combined, we’ve been publishing going on three years.”

He said at the present time due to deployments, the Middle East is their largest circulation at the moment.

“The target of Stripes Gamer very closely mirrors the gaming industry reaching the 18- to 30-year-olds,” Haugan said. “It has a different attitude than the daily. Its conceived in the tone of the gamer spirit.”

But the only difference between a regular gaming magazine and Gamer Stripes is that this magazine caters to a readership that is constantly on the move.

“It fluctuates daily depending on where the troops are going. Activities change where our troops are needed elsewhere and we find a way to set up a print site. It’s a precisely controlled process. The editions are put together in DC and transmitted via satellite to the printers. When you look at it from the outside its an amazing undertaking with five deadlines a day,” he explained and added for every negative stories that we may read about videogames there are positive stories. Such as a recent donation to military hospitals by Nintendo and that’s just a few projects Gamer Stripes is working on for future events. “We’ve been working with Nintendo since the inception and they have been incredibly supportive and generous by donating 20 or so Wiis we distributed to military hospitals.”

Haugan said the reason for donating the systems to the military hospitals is to not only show their support to American’s fighting men and women, but because of the rehabilitation qualities of a Wii system game.

“What they have found for physical rehabilitation,” he said. “Is that [the Wii] doesn’t isolate a patient and that in fact it begs involvement even just by watching. So, for every negative story there is some good. Its up to the media and whoever is buying. We maintain strong relationships and overwhelming response from the readers.”

Haugan said this commitment to the readers includes posting the ESRB rating and making sure the information is available to their readers in every issue.

“We work closely with the ESRB and the ECA. We follow these studies and Congressional involvement is a hot topic in the industry right now and there’s plenty movement to stop legislation that limits videogames. Every issue and every game we profile includes the ESRB rating. We understand that it’s not just the soldier fighting downrange, [there are those living] in areas where we have permanent communities. We are careful and respectful of that. We have learned what types of games the military likes and contrary to what a lot of people think they really enjoy the first person shooters.”

He said one would think they would pick a casual game to escape what they do in real life but, “personally I think it’s the psychological experience, because when you are hit you can hit reset. It’s a safe haven to basically be an extension of their jobs and you’d think they want to get away from that but not at all. It’s not just first-person shooters. It’s the MMOs, camp casual focuses on casual gaming like real arcade types. We’re constantly fine tune the issue to keep up with the industry [and support] our mission… to support our soldiers. But in doing so we enlist the help of whomever it is that will help us. While in service it appears as a fun little thing for soldiers it helps us fulfill our mission to the troops.”

In upcoming months, Gamer Stripes, along with the Army’s MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) will be hosting a Wii Warrior challenge at select military bases.

Site [Stripes Gamer] Site [US Army MWR]