Reviews
The
Village Voice
"Steeped in a deep history of gaming and simulation, Halter's expert
tome is primarily about a long-standing American obsession with
technology, which he illustrates by examining the adoption of
video-game culture by the military. The U.S. military is enthusiastic
for things which are transformational, such as tactics and training
billed as capable of making it over into something it isn't: an
instrument for winning wars without fuss...[Halter] describes how
America's Army was an online blockbuster, a thrilling experience for
its makers and gamers, unattached to the reality of the war on terror."
Time
Out New York
"Outraged parents have been complaining for decades that video games
turn kids into numbed killing machines; according to Ed Halter's
far-ranging sociological exploration of the medium's military-themed
entries, it's something that the armed forces are counting on...But
Halter is after a bigger philosophical picture befitting of the
subject's moral grey area, and he tackles the queasy coupling of the
entertainment industry and Warfare Inc. with impressive intellectual
rigor"
Tom
Moody
"After exploring the intertwined histories of combat and play, from
chess to modern 'war game' exercises, Halter probes the nexus among the
US military, academia, Hollywood, and the gaming industries that led to
the development and promotion of such popular games as Full Spectrum
Warrior and America's Army. I almost wrote 'unholy nexus' but that's
probably not the phrase Halter would use. He has a deceptively calm
'just the facts ma'am' style that lays out all the information and
leaves it to readers' heads to explode."
Filmmaker Magazine
"Erudite and entertaining...Exploring games from Halo
to Bad Dudes vs. Bin Laden--and
battles from our current Iraq invasion to future combats existing now
only in Pentagon simulations--Halter unveils the deep, dark ways in
which our most profitable form of entertainment gets us ready for war."
The Escapist
"A richly detailed, fascinating history of war and gaming, filled with
analysis for the pundits as well as tidbits that delight the military
historian and videogamer both."
GameCulture Journal
"Ed Halter’s From
Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games is something of a
minor miracle. He has written a well argued, in-depth study meant for
mass consumption that never feels watered-down...Should not be missed!"
Neural
"An estimable work, a milestone of research in videogame studies, that
should be even more useful contributing to fill the lack of awareness
in the current media-induced absence of distinction between wars
appearing on the screen and wars taking place in reality."
GamePolitics
"Deserves a place on the politically-aware gamer’s
bookshelf...Those who follow the political hurly burly on GamePolitics
may be surprised to learn that game controversies are nothing
new...Such is the hidden brilliance of From Sun Tzu to Xbox."
Rochester
City News
"Although Halter asks tough questions that have few answers, From
Sun Tzu to Xbox is no radical diatribe against the evils of
the military machine. Instead, the book
is a thoughtful, measured approach to one of today's most intriguing
political and philosophical quandaries: where does war
end and entertainment begin?"
BadLit
"An extremely engaging, well researched and fascinating treatise
bursting with intriguing ideas about war and gaming in general. It is a
scholarly book and Halter obviously knows his shit. But his writing is
punctuated by just the right amount of irreverence."
Evergreen
Review
"Halter draws attention to many of the corporate entertainment/military
alliances that currently interlace the game world, noting,
surprisingly, that it is often the military that demands the most
cutting edge technological innovations...Halter doesn't give us much to
look forward to, but he is to be applauded for opening our eyes to this
grim future in his sober and sobering account."
Interviews & Features
KPFA Berkeley (audio)
KPFK Los Angeles (audio)
Book talk with Tom Moody (audio)
Small World Podcast (audio)
The Alex Jones Show (video) (audio)
Itaú Culural (Portuguese)
Pre-release chatter
Rhizome announces
the party
...and NEWSgrist blogs
it
...and Eyebeam re-blogs it
More notice from Gamesetwatch
...and Kotaku
...and Techdirt
...and GamePolitics
...and Joystiq
...and Instapundit
The War Games lecture:
From Sun Tzu to Xbox evolved from a multimedia-enhanced lecture Ed Halter gave at various spots in 2003 and 2004 at venues like Images, Cinematexas, Impakt, and Ocularis. Some responses to the talk:
Meer TV interviews Ed in Utrecht (video)
Liam O'Donnell reviews the Toronto talk
Aphra Kerr at GameDevelopers.ie reviews the Dublin talk
