why are simmers down on video games

[beaky]

No snob here... once I get the new rig running, I'll be playing Hit Man 3 more than flying the sim, probably...

[RitterKreuz]

I think simmers are typically more down to earth "grounded" type people than your typical video gamer. of course i can only speak for myself.

I personally enjoy games that have a large basis on reality over those games based on fantasy or sci-fi.

take first person shooters for example: i enjoy call of duty or counter strike over things like halo because halo (though a very enjoyable game) IMHO just seems too far out there and is too sci-fi for my tastes.

i would also rather play Company of heroes over world of warcraft (i was never able to get into WOW) w.o.w. is just too "fantasy" for me with orks and magicians and the like. same goes for final fantasy - as hands on a person as i am i could never get past sitting there in front of an enemy trading blow after blow of magic spells... all i could do after 10 minutes of ANY final fantasy game was -->  ::)

i dont think that simmers have a superiority complex over gamers - i think the tastes in games are just very different. I would rather use as much realism settings as possible to navigate an aircraft across the country than just get in a plane in another game and fly around shooting down wave after wave of fantastic alien ships. the difference lies in the type of challenge the player is looking for... to find out if you are a simmer or a gamer just ask yourself this -

which challenge appeals to me most? the challenge of realism... like flying a jet airplane across the atlantic... or the challenge of fantasy like how many aliens can i blast in 5 minutes?

[Ravang]

The thing I find different about video games (like shooters, and RPG's) and flight sims is that last part of the title for example Microsoft Flight [glow=yellow,2,300]Simulator[/glow]. In a game like Battlefield: 1942 your not gooding to learn any thing that you can use in real life, because there just meant to be played for fun. As with a flight sim while its meant to be played for fun, it can also be used as a training aid in learn to fly in real life, and it teaches you somethings can use in real world flying. Like in Battlefield: 1942 its not going to tell you how to load and fire a M1 rifle or drive a Panzer tank, but in a flight sims you have to learn how to fly the plane and about what systems do what like what flaps do in flight or what stall angle is for the plane your flying. So I think that there is a difference in between a flight simand a video game.

Take a real plane out, and I bet it won't feel the same as it does in Flight Sim.

I first thought this to, until getting to fly a Cessna 150 round for about 30mins, and its similar to flying in FS, but it does have its differences no-doubt, but it realer than flying in a flight game like Ace Combat were it simple flight controls and no instruments, besides a HUD, and its really just for fun. For example  your not going to go to a Air Force school and see students flying on Ace Combat, but as in a GA aircraft flight school you'll most likely find students flying on MSFS (my at local FBO they use MSFS as a training aid) so all and all there is a difference in between a Flight Sim, and a video game.  

[n_richardson05]

the military uses "videogames" more or leass to train taticks. theres more to combat than loading and using weapons.
(thats what basic training is for ) besides isnt it the "R" button
and remember if you look on the side of the box it also says microsoft [glow=yellow,2,300]game[/glow] studios. witch also brings games to the world like halo 1 and 2 ( awsome ), ages of empires, and other very popular games.

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

SPELLING!


A.

[Katahu]

Here is my comparison based on the experience that I have gathered over the years when playing both games and sims.

Games:

First Game - Halo 2 on Xbox Live

What I learned - I suck as a sniper but P@\\\n as a dual wielder.

Second Game - Grand Turismo

What I learned - I suck at drifting.

Third Game - Flight Simulator Series

What I learned - I suck at carrier landings [one good reason why I never joined the Navy]

Fourth Game - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

What I learned - Never, ever, EVER let me use a bow and arrow. I might hit my target [ie: Bjorn].

[Ravang]

the military uses "videogames" more or leass to train taticks. theres more to combat than loading and using weapons.
(thats what basic training is for ) besides isnt it the "R" button
and remember if you look on the side of the box it also says microsoft [glow=yellow,2,300]game[/glow] studios. witch also brings games to the world like halo 1 and 2 ( awsome ), ages of empires, and other very popular games.

What the military ses are simulators not video games, are is a difference:
[b]sim

[n_richardson05]

i just felt the need to highlight game because ravang highlighted simulator.

I do know that there are diffirences but there bolth on computers, simular in entertainment media and are sold on the same shelf. Yes you can learn how to fly airplanes to an extent. but its made for entertainment

in the end we all fly in flight sims and play videogames for 1 reason fun. I dont know about the rest of you but thats why i do it, and weather its accuratly simulating the flight of a 747 or running through a far off land with dragons and magic. its all simulating somthing in one way or another. sci-fi or not thats why its called virtual reality. and im not much for those card games with dice and spread sheets aneway.  ;D

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

GRAMMAR!


A.

[Tweek]

1.      an amusement or pastime: children's games.

Well Flight Sim is nothing but a pastime for me, so that would make it a game, right?

[an-225]

Eh? I do a bit of everything. Mostly for planes though. I personally don't think its n00bish to play games. As long as you do something educational I.E: Flight Sim.

Serious: Flight Sim.

Unwind: BF2. 007: AUF, NF & EON.

See how crap I am: LOMAC. Orbiter.  ;D

[BFMF]

Maybe it's the fact that anyone can load up a first person shooter and start shooting, but not everyone can load up FS and navigate cross country in bad weather. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with playing games like BF2, Half-Life, ect. Ever since I was deployed, I havn't been able to fly the flightsim, so I've had to resort to other games like Madden NFL, BF2, Half-Life, ect. You develop skills for each game.

What i've liked about FS is that there are no restrictions. With the typical war games like Call of Duty (Which I like), you have a set story line, and that's it. Play it enough, and you get good, not just because you naturally do, but you can anticipate that enemy popping out at the same place, every time. With FS, you can make it as easy or as hard as you want. You can fly a B747 on long flights across the ocean on auto pilot, flying at 30,000+ feet, and checking the computer every hour. Or, you can hand fly a small prop aircraft around Alaska, navigating in bad weather, flying low and navigating with a map and compass instead of a GPS. You make your own challenges, and that's what I love about it 8-)

the military uses "videogames" more or leass to train taticks. theres more to combat than loading and using weapons.
(thats what basic training is for ) besides isnt it the "R" button

Using a weapon is a little more harder than video games portray, and yes, you can never train enough on tactics, but a soldier can't use good tactics without knowing how to use his weapon.

I'm not just talking about the functionality of a weapon either. Anyone can load a weapon and pull the trigger, but it's the way you use a weapon that makes all the difference in the world....


I know it's off topic, but I couldn't help it....

[Brett_Henderson]

Software like MSFS is like a blank page. You can decide how you're going to use it, and what you can get out of it. There's pretty much no limit. You can take-off from KSFO in a Lear and see if you can beat your best (or your friends best) time flying inverted under all the Bay Area bridges and getting back to the runway

[Woodlouse2002]

I would have thought that unless you have a full sim-pit then you cannot call FS a simulator. Seriously, how can a simple pc replicate real flight. So, if you have your game installed in a cockpit full of working dials and switches, with realistic force feedback (not the sh!te that gaming joysticks provide) then by all means call it a simulator. If not, then just shut up when someone calls it a game.

[Brett_Henderson]

Well.. like I said..

The FAA allows for a full 25% of your instrument hours to be logged on a desk-top simulator. No simpit, no force-feedback anything..

That's not gaming..