es


Simulation Games for Computers

Since the beginning of computers, engineers and programmers have been working on creating on simulation games to train pilots, educate students and entertain consumers. No genre of computer games has a deeper legacy and no genre offers such diverse gameplay options. Simulation games have survived every trend of computer gaming, from The Early Days The very first computer "games" were simulators that ran on hardware-specific technology. The first known "computer game" was a CRT missile firing game developed in 1947 by Thomas Goldsmith and Estle Mann. Flight simulators intended for training also appeared in these early years. The legacy of these "games" exists today in the form of military training sims, flight sims, space exploration sims and a whole host of other professional training technologies. Economic simulation games developed out of database and financial management software that was never intended to be fun and didn't get integrated into the gaming world until the 1980s. Interestingly, today, management sims are amongst the most popular available in the genre. In some sense, any database system that gives users new data based on user-generated information could be considered a primitive simulation game (though most at the IRS would probably argue that playing "database games" isn't particularly fun). However, these early "games" were hardly games at all and until recent decades, their influence was difficult to chart. In the mid 1970s, mainframes at universities hosted the most simulation games. Star Trek simulation game had appeared a few years earlier. Spaism was another early mainframe space simulator. However, the genre remained relatively quiet on the entertainment front well into video game's Golden Age.

Development as an Entertainment Medium

The earliest simulation games for personal computers were various ports of the early Star Wars mainframe games. However, in 1982, Utopia became the first full-fledged Sim game. In the following years, four other major games marked the touchstones for the genre well into the 1990s.

Perpetual Evolution

Modern Strategy Genres and Games

There are dozens are strategy games released every year and it seems new genres are forged every few months. The 2000s have seen a rash of fantastic simulation releases and the tradition continues today. Perhaps because of its games immensity, the strategy genre has produced the most consistantly solid computer games this decade. Expect "Genetic Simulations" to be the hot new genre in 2007.

Management Simulations

Historical/Strategy Simulations

God Games

Vehicular and Other Simulators

See Also ...

* Driving Games for PC * * Computer Role Playing Games * Tactics Games