I'll never understand how anyone can play at being a soldier while thousands of men and women are doing the real thing and being killed or maimed.

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Your understanding is meaningless because nobody is asking your opinion or permission. You don't like games, don't play them.

"I'm not against violent video games in themselves. Playing this one just seems distasteful at this time."

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It's no different than Battlefield2 or most First Person Shooters, expect it's done better than most.

Actually, I'd think the better draw for recruiting isn't the game per se, but how well the game is done.

Those who are against the game need to step back and examine your issues. In the game, your character can die, while this is temporary, it brings home the fact that you can die despite doing everything right. The players know that in real combat they could die, something that not all 17 or 18 year olds have come to understand.

We have a volunteer Army, it's best that they are as informed as possible.

Do you think he performs his art in 1337?

Certainly we have a voluntary army. We also have voluntary smoking and drinking too.

We don't allow advertisers to market the second two products to minors, so why do we allow the first? And if there were the "Joe Camel Smoke-Off Game" which children adored, wouldn't be appropriate for a rational adult to go in and add some cigarette illness and death statistics?

Yes, it may get in the way of game play and the enjoyment of the game, but it's not as if the little "Go Army" buttons add to the enjoyment of the game either.

The letters from gamers who are arguing versions of "this is a game for/by a specific community, not a place for protest/politics" are people who truly do not understand the world we live in. Historically there have been two industries that have pushed the development of visual graphic technology: the military and entertainment. The two are intricately tied, as the funding for this game makes very clear.

I LOVE video games, but to act like they are not related to the dehumanization of modern warfare is like acting your SUV has nothing to do with the nation's energy policy. Its not a direct connection, but no matter how much you deny it, a relation between the two exist. I also know that someone away from the game is annoying, but seriously, does it ruin the entire experience of playing?

The importance of this protest is not disturbing your gameplay, or immediately changing the mind of players. It seems the point is to draw attention to how easily we have come to accept the remote, meaningless-to-us death of Iraqis and US soldiers alike. And any kind of positive change isn't going to happen from yelling at politicians, but from raising awareness of what is happening in what drives the politicians' actions, our larger culture.

If it was just a game, the Military would not be in the business of creating it.

From the game's site: "The America's Army Real Heroes program will allow you to enter a Virtual Recruiting Station (VRS) and have the opportunity to meet and interact with several Combat Veterans of the Global War on Terrorism."

I attended E3 and saw the first demonstrations of this game. It was originally created on the Doom engine and was used internally for training purposes. Now it has been repurposed as a recruiting tool.

Everyone is easily influenced, including myself. In this particular instance I would suggest the influence of the game is the back message. War is a job. War is fun. War is about team spirit. War is about soldiers shooting at other soldiers. War is about jobs, tasks and missions and achieving them.

In reality war is about 9 innocent civilians getting killed for every combatant. It is about indiscriminate bombing. It is napalm soaked children with their skin burned from their flesh. It is about rape and the burning of villages. It is about the theft property and land. You won't see any of these true depictions of real war in this game because that would not serve the recruitment purposes of the creators.

Can gamers understand the difference between game violence and reality? Sure. Are the gamers able to see the real back message that is being applied? In most cases, no.

My personal politics are liberal and progressive.

I was strongly against the war in Iraq.

I believe it was a mistake at best.

I served in the U.S. Army in Iraq.

I am a volunteer.

I am a national guardsman.

I am a commissioned officer.

I went to Iraq, because I was called to duty.

I was sent back to the USA for medical reasons.

They were going to send me all the way home.

Although there was a risk, I went back to Iraq.

This time it was my choice.

We should encourage those whose politics are most against the war to serve in our nation's military.

Yes, read that last sentence again.

It is the military of a democracy, comprised solely of volunteers.

We want the best and brightest, people of good conscience, and moral fiber to be our soldiers, people from all walks of life and points of view.

To have people of only political or moral view as its only members is short sighted, and ultimately dangerous to a democracy.

To change an organization, one must be a part of it.

Where were the people of conscience at Haditha or Abu Gharaib? Where were the people who would stand up for human dignity in the worst of circumstances?

Apparently, one of them is writing dead soldiers names in a video game.

This man's protest is futile and silly.

In his frustration with the conflict, and desire to do something, he is deluding himself into thinking he is making a difference. He is not. He is less significant than someone who runs onto the field at a professional sports event with no clothes on.

I will defend his right to express himself to my death. I may even agree with his viewpoint.

I wish he would use that right better though.

I think he should join the military, or encourage others who think as he does to join as well. So that when the harsh decisions need to be made on the ground, there are people who will maintain the dignity of our nation.