Here is a sneak preview from a study that Grant Buckler is preparing for our Net Generation Talent 2.0 research program about using video games as training tools:

The Net Generation likes interactive learning, and they grew up playing video games. So why not use games as training tools?

Serious gaming – that is, playing games for educational, social or training purposes – has long been a tool in the military, recreational and airline industries, and now other industries are tapping into it. For instance Bankers Trust Company uses Straight Shooter!, a game in which trainees demonstrate knowledge of corporate policies to win clients, and Intel Corp. has a game in which trainees play the roles of IT managers dealing with a range of challenges.

In a survey of IBM’s internal gaming community, including more than 200 gamers, nearly half reported that game playing is improving their “real world” leadership capabilities, and four out of ten said they have already applied MMORPG leadership techniques and approaches to improve their leadership effectiveness at work.

Games let people try new things – and fail – without serious consequences. One expert we talked to argues that “what games are really good for …is to make a mistake and then start over, and do it until you kind of know and will figure out the right path, understand what the key decisions are.”

And games are engaging. If the Net Generation wants both work and learning to be fun, games are one way to deliver that experience.

But often, learning games are neither engaging nor fun…because they are bad games. Sometimes the content simply doesn’t lend itself well to games, but more often the problem is that developers forget that learning games must be real games – not simply training dressed up as games.

To create successful learning games, you must involve experienced game designers, argues Constance Steinkuehler, assistant professor of educational communications and technology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Designers understand how to build games that are engaging, rather than just grafting game-like features onto learning content.

Good games are expensive to develop – from $5,000 for short, Flash-based games to $15,000 and up for longer, 3-D games – so you should use them strategically. Hamilton looks for situations that lend themselves to games; for example, situations that involve challenges and conquests and the opportunity for ranking and rating.

In other gaming news, the Wall St. Journal reports that surgeons are using Nintendo Wii as a training tool (see Dan Herman’s post on the subject) and this article talks about how songs that appear on Guitar Hero  and Rock Band immediately enjoy a bump in sales. Also, in the non-electronic gaming theatre, I’m not proud about how much I enjoyed this article. Roll for initiative!