“Serious games” demonstrating everything from flying a jet plane to negotiating a hostage crisis are used to train workers who can’t afford to slip up on the job.

Firefighters can use “HazMat:Hotzone” (http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/hazmat) to learn how to respond to a chemical-weapons attack, George Soros wannabes can learn the ins and outs of currency trading with Forex Trader (http://www.inusa.com/tour/forex.htm), and college administrators can use Virtual U (http://www.virtual-u.org) to wrestle with angry professors and meddlesome state legislators.

Developers say serious games are especially effective for younger workers who have grown up with “Madden Football” and “Grand Theft Auto,” but designers need to incorporate the irresistible appeal of these mainstream hits in order to keep participants engaged. —Video Games Teach More Than Hand-Eye CoordinationReuters/Yahoo (will expire))

There’s nothing really new in this article, other than a reference to Halo2. The “recent conference” mentioned in the article as the source of a quote was held about six weeks ago. Still, it’s good to see these issues being presented by the mainstream media.