Stranger than fiction

It is the cliché that as the conventional film industry falls victim to ever more repetition and/or sequels, that the computer gaming industry has taken over as the visual medium providing the most stimulating narratives.  It used to be the case that the more plausible the scenario, the more rubbish the game would be as the developers had over-thought the concept and under-thought how it would actually play.  Now though we are allegedly in a golden age where graphics and memory have allowed a one-stage removed version of virtual reality in which to immerse people and big-shot Hollywood vie for speaking roles.  As Dennis Hopper's embittered bomber said in Speed, "Interactive TV, Jack - it's the way to the future."
Now the Atlantic Council thinktank have taken the concept one stage further as they embrace consultation with the makers of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise for wargaming the years ahead.  That this series deals with first a Russian invasion of the American Eastern Seaboard then Moscow occupying Europe is by the by but to cover themselves, the statement read roughly "Who would have thought Russia would occupy parts of Ukraine."  Hmm, Europe, parts of Ukraine - big difference.  So the series creator consulted with military strategists - shouldn't the latter be the ones who should be approached?  It's like asking the team behind Grand Theft Auto their ideas on how to minimise gang crime.
In a fissiparous world of multiple unknown sources of threat, it harks back to the latter months of 2001.  Desperate to know the next major atrocity in the wake of 9/11, the Defense Department enlisted the services of a constellation of Hollywood action screenwriters.  Of course, it was a fool's errand because when the hacks did do their research, it was from analysts already liaising with the Pentagon.  Unsurprisingly, no major terrorist plots were foiled by the cohorts of Hollywood.  Maybe the Atlantic Council is desperate for a bit of publicity (and bereaved that there are no new Tom Clancy books since the author passed away) - look at us, we're coming down from our ivory tower and embracing the mainstream, give us grants - because the end result will be the same diddly squat.