Editing America's Army (section)

=== ''America's Army 2'' ===
On November 6, 2003, version 2.0 of ''America's Army'' was released, with the full title of ''America's Army: Special Forces''. In a booklet produced by the MOVES Institute, an article by Wagner James Au explains that "the Department of Defense wants to double the number of [[Special Forces (United States Army)|Special Forces]] soldiers; consequently, orders trickled down the chain of command and found application in the current release of America's Army".<ref name=Salon2002>{{cite news |work=Salon.com |author=Wagner, James Au |title=Weapons of mass distraction, A new breed of computer games is teaching today's teenagers how to wage, and win, in combat.|date=2002-10-04 |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/10/04/why_we_fight/print.html |access-date=2008-10-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229203550/http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/10/04/why_we_fight/print.html |archive-date=2008-12-29 }}</ref>

As the game became more widely distributed, it generated additional media interest. In December 2003, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' columnist said "''America's Army'' isn't just a time-wasting shoot-'em-up. It's full of accurate information about military training and tactics, intended to prepare a new generation of potential recruits. Amidst all the shouting drill sergeants and whistling bullets, some real education is going on. ''America's Army'' is a 'serious game', part of a new wave of computer simulations that provide entertaining lessons about real-world activities."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=December 9, 2003 |last=Bray |first=Hiawatha |title=New Take On The Game of Life |url=https://archive.boston.com/business/articles/2003/12/09/new_take_on_the_game_of_life/ |access-date=October 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323231648/https://archive.boston.com/business/articles/2003/12/09/new_take_on_the_game_of_life/ |archive-date=March 23, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the game proved successful, the lack of the Army's acknowledgment for the contribution by the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] led to tension and political fights over the project.<ref name="dukenukem">{{cite web |title=America's Army -- Behind the Scenes |date=March 2005 |url=http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2005/03/americas_army_b.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050316051635/http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2005/03/americas_army_b.html |archive-date=March 16, 2005}}</ref> Eventually, the project was withdrawn from the Naval Postgraduate School due to allegations of mismanagement in March 2004 and the development team was moved to two new locations.<ref name="Webb">{{cite web |author=Webb, Gary |title=The killing game |date=2004-10-14 |publisher=Sacramento News and Review |url=http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=31755 |access-date=2008-10-28 |author-link=Gary Webb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206095118/http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=31755 |archive-date=2008-02-06 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Granetto, Paul J |title=Development and Management of the Army Game Project |location=Arlington, Virginia |date=2005-08-24 |publisher=Department of Defense: Office of the Inspector General |url=http://www.dodig.mil/Audit/reports/FY05/05103sum.htm |access-date=2008-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415034415/http://www.dodig.mil/Audit/reports/FY05/05103sum.htm |archive-date=2012-04-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

One month after taking over production, the army signed an exclusive long-term contract with [[Ubisoft]] to reach a wider and younger audience. ''[[America's Army: Rise of a Soldier]]'', a different version of the game for the Xbox, was produced by Ubisoft in collaboration with the U.S. Army.<ref name="Webb" /> Despite a 10-year publishing deal, the control over all communication and advertising remains with the army.<ref>{{cite web |author=Burns, Enid |publisher=The ClickZ Network |title=U.S. Army Invades Video Game consoles |date=2005-08-29 |url=http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3530631 |access-date=2008-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029043045/http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3530631 |archive-date=29 October 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Xbox version was released in November 2005. It was also due to be released on the [[PlayStation 2]], but was later canceled.<ref>{{cite web |title=GameSpy: America's Army: Rise of a Soldier |url=http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/americas-army/ |publisher=GameSpy |access-date=2008-10-28 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081012064915/http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/americas-army/| archive-date= 12 October 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> A version of the game was also made for mobile phones by Gameloft.

About this time America's Army 2.5 Assist started out as a fix for a no longer working server list for Mac OSX based computers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Assist History |url=https://aao25.com/wiki/index.php?title=Assist_History |access-date=2020-02-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622210052/http://aao25.com/wiki/index.php?title=Assist_History |archive-date=2016-06-22 }}</ref> It is still working today as America's Army 2.x deploy client that people can use to play the game.<ref>{{cite web |title=Assist - America's Army 2.5 community |url=https://aao25.com/wiki/index.php?title=About |access-date=2020-02-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611053518/http://aao25.com/wiki/index.php?title=About |archive-date=2016-06-11 }}</ref>