From Simulation to Imitation: New Controllers, New Forms of Play

This paper, by Jennifer Jenson and Suzanne de Castell, argues that the recent proliferation of new game controllers, such as the Wii remote, plastic guitars, microphones, dance pads, and the Nintendo DS touch screen, marks an epistemological shift in digital gameplay from simulation toward imitation. The authors contend that traditional simulation games translate arbitrary button presses into on-screen actions, whereas imitation-based controllers require players to physically mirror real-world movements, such as swinging a tennis racquet or strumming a guitar-like controller. They position this distinction as a critical conceptual tool for understanding digital game-based learning, drawing on actor-network theory, educational theory, and philosophical accounts of mimesis from Aristotle, Adorno, and others.

The paper reports on a small pilot study conducted in summer 2007 with four young adults, two with prior musical training and two without. Participants played Guitar Hero II and American Idol-style karaoke games, and the researchers examined how prior knowledge related to game competence and subsequent performance. The authors found that musically trained players picked up the games far more quickly than untrained players, though they acknowledge that a sample of four cannot support generalization. The study is framed as exploratory, and the authors call for further research into whether skills acquired through imitation-driven play transfer to real-world activities.

The authors conclude that whether digital games are beneficial for education depends on the system, context, and educational goals. Simulation games may suit learning propositional knowledge, while imitation-driven play may better support embodied competence and performance, with the transfer-of-training problem reframed accordingly. The paper's scope is conceptual and theoretical rather than a large empirical survey, and its primary contribution is a framework for distinguishing simulation from imitation in the design and study of educational games.