Gaming, Simulation/Gaming, and Simulation & Gaming

Abstract

This issue ends the second year of Simulation & Gaming under the guidance of Timothy C. Clapper, Willy C. Kriz and myself. During this time, we have seen the journal reestablish its specific position as a channel in the contexts of medical and business simulations, in operational gaming, and within game studies. Given my own background, I am particularly happy about the last of these, as game studies was in many ways reinvented in the context of recreational gaming near the turn of the Millennium. It has taken almost two decades for game studies and simulation/gaming research to properly come together, under, if not a single banner, then at least in fruitful discourse. Similar developments have also been seen in fields such as gamification studies and design gaming. These developments, in my opinion, strongly underscore the importance of this journal as a separate channel. It is one of the oldest active game research journals in the world, pre-dating most others by over 30 years (we believe that only our sister journal, Simulation is older by a few months). It is also a journal in which traditions merge, especially for the goal of understanding instrumental uses of games and playable simulations. This is important in two ways. First, as the study of play, games and simulations increases in other journals, such as the high-profile New Media & Society, and many prominent business studies journals, it is essential to have a journal that fosters dialogue between research communities and carries the traditions and ideas first presented in early books on gaming. Likewise, it is important to have a channel that primarily focuses on the use of games, rather than their player bases, playability factors, or market potential. In this way, it serves as a reminder that these concepts are valuable, and together with the other journals on games and new media, illustrate the scope of ways in which games are valuable and important to society. In being a wider part of communities of research, and occasionally crossing also into the topics usually discussed in our sibling journals, and vice versa, we all grow stronger. The seven contributions of this issue illustrate both variance and focus

Project SIGE-21 (Sustainable Integration of Gamified Environment for 21st Century Learners): An aid for enhancing student engagement in the new normal education

“…On the other hand, two-thirds of adolescents said they played "action" or "adventure" games, some of which are rather violent. Generation z like Action/Fighter, Casual Action, Adventure RPG, and Building/Simulation games, according to Harviainen (2017).…”

Research of the Active Substance of Gaming Simulation

“…It seems that this ambiguity is already part of the DNA of the past and ongoing scientific and practical discussion about gaming simulation, as for example after 50 years we still have no commonly agreed definition what gaming simulation is and not even a shared terminology (see Harviainen, 2017, Gaming, Simulation/Gaming, and Gaming & Simulation). In addition, there is no unification in the answer to what the active substance of gaming simulation might be.…”