I filed this story/photos for Wired News about an unusual publicity stunt staged by the US Army at last week’s E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles.
On a sweltering afternoon, the line between video games and reality was temporarily erased at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For about 45 minutes, one downtown street was transformed into a scene from a military first-person shooter game — complete with helicopters, machine guns and face-painted soldiers leaping off tall buildings, while the jaws of shocked onlookers dropped.
To promote America’s Army: Overmatch, a free game created by the Army as a recruitment tool, a group of Army Special Forces personnel staged an urban tactical assault exercise outside the L.A. convention center where the E3 gaming expo was taking place. It may have been a staged promotional event, but judging from the panicked expressions on pedestrian faces, some may have thought it was the real thing.
In Hollywood terms, the effect was Black Hawk Down, directed by Fellini. Unsuspecting local workers clutched lunches and scurried off for cover. Bullhorns blared the voice of an America’s Army spokesman who delivered a play-by-play, encouraging attendees to download the free online game for more hot combat excitement. A charging soldier affixed a mobile camera to his helmet to record home videos of the stunt for his family. One trade show attendee who appeared to be of Arab descent walked toward the convention center doors, halted at the spectacle, and said to no one in particular, “It’s all brainwashing.”
Link to story, and links to more E3 snapshots from Xeni: one, two