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Define Serious Games and Simulation Games as they relate to the game industry and public perception.

Xavier Scott, Blogger

April 6, 2022

3 Min Read

Define Serious Games and Simulation Games as they relate to the game industry and public perception.

A serious game is meant to help with learning and training for a specific job or career. Usually used by the government or fortune 500 companies for training purposes. It can but does not necessarily use entertainment to assist with furthering government or corporation training in education, healthcare, or other public fields such as and including construction categories like welding and mining (University of Houston Clear Lake, 2022).

A serious game simulation is meant in the same aspect to help with learning and training. An example of this would be the flight sim 10 from Microsoft, this simulation is designed well enough that it is used at Boeing as well as other companies for training purposes in the flight simulators to train pilots as well as allow veteran pilots to maintain their flight hours without actually being in the air ("key difference between serious games and Gamification in eLearning," 2017).

Compare entertainment-based games with serious games.

Serious games are designed with the primary goal being training specifically in one field or area but can potentially still have an entertainment aspect to the game. A good example of this would be the popular sim game/ serious game Microsoft flight simulator x (10) or whatever the most current version of this game would be.

I guess a good comparison for this would be between flight sim X and games such as MechWarrior 5 (the newest release in the MechWarrior saga) while Flight sim X uses the technology to simulate a cockpit and flight environments and can be considered a game as well as a training tool. In some ways MechWarrior 5 could fall under this category as well due to the simulation of being in a 50-ton, 200-foot machine build and used solely for war and protection. Though these machines will not be around in our lifetime at least not as what they are portrayed in the game the simulation can still be applied in the real world and I have a feeling this game will become a “Serious Game” in the centuries to come.

Describe techniques to make serious games entertaining.

The best way to make a serious game entertaining, at least in my eyes especially if it comes to a simulation such as flight simulator x is to add a physical interaction aspect to the game. A few years ago, the makers of MechWarrior, which is wizards of the coast, had actual simulator pods in a business in Seattle that physically mimicked every aspect of the cockpit of a mech. Down to the last detail and button or switch. It even had a vibration and impact aspect so when you took a step you would feel every aspect of the motion or when there was an impact from a shell collision the cockpit would ring and shake. This made the simulation fun and entertaining. I know the same can be said about the flight simulators whether it be flight sim x or another version. Making the interaction with the simulator as realistic as possible will add entertainment value to the game whether it be for that purpose or training purposes.

I can see a few reasons to consider MechWarrior 5 a serious game.

References

University of Houston clear lake. (2022). Serious games and simulations B.A. The University of Houston-Clear Lake. https://www.uhcl.edu/academics/degrees/serious-games-simulations-ba

Coreaxis. (2017, May 23). The key difference between serious games and Gamification in e-learning. CoreAxis - Customized employee training programs. https://coreaxis.com/insights/blog/key-difference-serious-games-gamification-elearning#:~:text=Serious%20games%20are%20games%20that,to%20increase%20engagement%20and%20effectiveness

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