History Fridge / WarGames

* Why does global thermonuclear war only have USA and USSR as playable nations when there are other nations with nukes? Because WOPR only has data for USA and USSR.

* Joshua supposedly doesn't understand futility, but is programmed to play the (unlisted) TabletopGame/TicTacToe game, and more famously TabletopGame/{{Chess}}. While it's probable the former game is legacy code that [[DummiedOut Falken never bothered to play with Joshua]], chess is rife with stalemates. We have no direct indication that Falken ever intentionally tried for a stalemate, so either Joshua outsmarted him every time Falken tried, or [[WhatAnIdiot Falken never attempted it.]]

* Joshua supposedly doesn't understand futility, but is programmed to play the (unlisted) Tic-Tac-Toe game, and more famously TabletopGame/{{Chess}}. While it's probable the former game is legacy code that [[DummiedOut Falken never bothered to play with Joshua]], chess is rife with stalemates. We have no direct indication that Falken ever intentionally tried for a stalemate, so either Joshua outsmarted him every time Falken tried, or [[WhatAnIdiot Falken never attempted it.]]

* McKittrick gives an elevator speech, and 5 minutes later, Cabot decides to recommend enabling WOPR? In real life, Cabot would already have been well aware of the computer, and endless studies and white papers would have been written about the implications. The analysis alone would have taken years and cost millions or billions.

* Even though acoustic modems were outdated by 1983, modems in general still weren't cheap. An acoustic, likely scavenged from a local university, might have been all David could manage to get a \hold of for his obviously-cobbled-together rig.

** Not that frightening. Remember, we didn't get any information about who was reported other than "patient" and Air Force personnel are human like the rest of us, open to make mistakes such as drug use. The doctor on the tape recording could have been describing anyone who was on the base from General Berenger to the lowliest airman (or a civilian [=DoD=] employee such as Mr. [=McKittrick=]). Also, the doctor did discover the telling signs of the pupil dilation. Most likely the doctor will report the patient up the chain of command and that individual will be drug tested (probably do a Air Force Personnel Reliability Program reevaluation as well, since the individual was at NORAD) and if found to have drugs in their system after testing, will be removed from working at NORAD and possibly punished.
* As mentioned above, tic tac toe is not the unwinnable game the movie treats it as. There are several ways in which to up your chances of victory, mostly ones that involve dominating the corner spaces in order to set up two possible wins; your opponent can choose only one to defend against, leaving the other able to be played. If the movie had treated this a little more realistically, JOSHUA would have learned that nuclear war is totally winnable as long as you back your opponent into a wall and make any means of defense useless.

** Training drills masquerading as real attacks NEVER happen in real missile silos. And what would be the actual point of threatening to shoot the other airman? If he's dead, the missiles can't be launched anyway, as the system is deliberately designed to require both launch keys to be turned simultaneously and held for at least two seconds, and the keys are deliberately far enough apart to be impossible for one person to turn both.

** Not that frightening. Remember, we didn't get any information about who was reported other than "patient" and Air Force personnel are human like the rest of us, open to make mistakes such as drug use. The doctor on the tape recording could have been describing anyone who was on the base from General Berenger to the lowliest airman (or a civilian [=DoD=] employee such as Mr. [=McKittrick=]). Also, the doctor did discover the telling signs of the pupil dilation. Most likely the doctor will report the patient up the chain of command and that individual will be drug tested (probably do a Air Force Personnel Reliability Program reevaluation as well, since the individual was at NORAD) and if found to have drugs in their system after testing, will be removed from working at NORAD and possibly punished.

** Since this is decades before facial and voice recognition was invented, Joshua has no other way to verify who is communicating with it. Since all it knows is information related to national defense and its objective is to "win the game", it genuinely doesn't know the difference between a game and reality. The only reason it stops is that it learns futility after determining that none of the scenarios would result in a winner.

* Joshua assumes that David is Falken in all its interactions except for the last one because he used the backdoor, which only Falken would know. Since this is decades before facial and voice recognition was invented, Joshua has no other way to verify who is communicating with it. Since all it knows is information related to national defense and its objective is to "win the game", it genuinely doesn't know the difference between a game and reality. The only reason it stops is that it learns futility after determining that none of the scenarios would result in a winner.

** Not that frightening. Remember, we didn't get any information about who was reported other than "patient" and Air Force personnel are human like the rest of us, open to make mistakes such as drug use. The doctor on the tape recording could have been describing anyone who was on the base from General Berenger to the lowliest airman (or a civilian DoD employee such as Mr. McKittrick). Also, the doctor did discover the telling signs of the pupil dilation. Most likely the doctor will report the patient up the chain of command and that individual will be drug tested (probably do a Air Force Personnel Reliability Program reevaluation as well, since the individual was at NORAD) and if found to have drugs in their system after testing, will be removed from working at NORAD and possibly punished.

* The doctor's recorded notes state that his patient's condition was consistent with the use of marijuana and/or PCP. ''Inside NORAD.'' Give that a second to sink in.

* Early in the movie, the General says that the launch codes wont work unless they are at defcon 1. When they decide not to NukeEm at the end, why didn't he just change the defcon to 5 so that the computer wouldn't be able to launch the missles?

** Because it's a ReplacementGoldfish

* Why Global thermonuclear war has only USA and USSR as playable nations when there are other nations with nukes? Because WOPR only has data for USA abd USSR
* Even though acoustic modems were outdated by 1983, modems in general still weren't cheap. An acoustic, likely scavenged from a local university, might have been all David could manage to get ahold of for his obviously-cobbled-together rig.
** WordOfGod deliberately gave David equipment which was outdated even then, so as to explain how he had these things. They said that it was TruthInTelevision: as somebody no longer needs some stuff, he'll give them away, and a kid like David would gladly accept it.

* The doctor's recorded notes state that his patient's condition was consistent with the use of marijuana and/or [[{{HSQ}} PCP]]. ''Inside NORAD.'' Give that a second to sink in.

* The two soldiers at the beginning of the movie apparently didn't know they were in a simulation. When one of them wouldn't turn his key, the other threatened him at gunpoint (apparently according to protocol) to follow orders. The follow-up discussion implies the first soldier continued to refuse. We're not told if the simulated nature of their situation was revealed before the second soldier could follow through on his threat.
** Both soldiers were shown in a later scene showing the operators' seats (and other relevant human equipment) being removed in favor of the new WOPR automated parts.

*** Actually, they are Airmen, not soldiers.

* The doctor's recorded notes state that his patient's condition was consistent with the use of marijuana and/or PCP. ''Inside NORAD.'' Give that a second to sink in.