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Dublin: 17 °C Wednesday 19 June, 2013

Russian defence ministry criticised for spending $1m on Tetris, Battleship

Ministry planned to counteract contemporary gaming in which Russians are the ‘bad guys’.

Anyone for Battleship? A still of the game from the Russian Ministry of Defence site.
Anyone for Battleship? A still of the game from the Russian Ministry of Defence site.

QUESTIONED HAVE been raised in Russia after it emerged that the defence ministry spent $1 million in developing simple computer games for its website.

Russia Today reports that the games had been planned to counteract some of the more popular contemporary computer games in which Russians are the ‘enemy’, such as Call of Duty.

However, people were surprised to discover that instead of promoting a game of similar calibre in which Russians were the WWII heroes, the ministry website instead offers camouflage-coloured versions of the classics Tetris, Battleship and Minesweeper. The blocks in Tetris, originally a Soviet-developed game, feature tiny military-themed symbols.

The defence site also offers a ‘test for rank’ in which a series of multiple choice questions determines your military rank.

The ministry says that the games are part of a wider web project, but its $1 million spend had sparked suspicion of corruption given the low-quality of the games on the site.

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Comments (4 Comments)

  • I did the “test for rank” and came up as a Major – not bad considering I don’t speak/read/understand a word of Russian. Here’s the result translated by google:

    You – Major. A senior officer. The Army will be for you not just an exciting year of learning, and the present work. Under your command will be training company or you will take the post of deputy commander of a battalion. Have to simultaneously manage a large number of people and technology. And all this new technology, the most modern. We’ll have a lot to learn and constantly update their knowledge to successfully perform combat tasks that command will be set during the exercises.

    Reply
  • kyp154 11/01/12 #

    In Soviet Russia, Games play you!!

    Reply
  • Well, Call of Duty could do with some competition… I’ve seen it described as it the “crack cocaine of American propoganda” and would be inclined to agree. Addictive, and a key part of a multi-billion dollar industry.

    Reply
  • Anyone know where and who created Tetrus? Google it and enjoy the irony.

    Reply

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