Matt Moncrieff, of Calytrix Technologies, considers the next stage for military simulations in the training environment.

The term 'Serious Games' is finding increasing use in military circles as an attempt to distinguish between entertainment products and those games used for training purposes. In recent years, there has been a trend away from complex and expensive purpose-built military simulations, towards solutions based on commercial gaming engines. In addition to vastly reduced development costs, commercially-based games offer advantages in terms of their support for commonly available hardware and operating systems, the maturity and currency of their graphic engines, and the ability to access the games easily from work and home locations. Game designers also bring a wealth of experience in their ability to develop engaging and creative games that maintain high levels of player interest, which is essential to any training design process. However, there is a danger that this element of 'training' is moving away from a controlled and monitored environment, with built in feedback and error correction mechanisms, to one where the trainees operate entirely by themselves.

Read the full article:

Defence Management Journal: Issue 48 - Page 134