Without their training, no, not at all the same.
That said, I think that there is one huge, real life benefit from simulation games. Now, if you read a book about submarines (I'm currently rereading the excellent War in the Boats), you actually understand what they are talking about. You "get" the situations you never would have before.
As a kid, my area of interest was WW2 aircraft, not subs. I read every book I could get my hands on, and loved them—but until I became competent in games like WarBirds, I had never really "gotten" the gist of it. After those games, I actually visualize what is going on in RL descriptions, and even see the pitfalls of some things telegraphed...
Simulations are a huge boon to understanding history intuitively.
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