Josh,
Those aren't simulators, those are games.
Congratulations on taking the step of learning to fly. It's expensive, but I believe you'll find it rewarding. I started when I was fifteen years old, and I'm glad I did. What I thought was something interesting (and exciting) I'd try, ended up being a lifelong career.
Learning in the airplane is expensive. It's the only way to really learn, but as you may know (but will soon find out), the hardest part of learning to fly is paying for it. This means that you don't get to spend much time in the airplane.
Something I always did with my own students is insist that they spend time in the airplane on the ramp. Close your eyes, sit in the cockpit, and run through each flight lesson in your head. Grab the controls, visualize what occured, over and over again. Even sitting in a rocking chair with props for controls in your hands will help...but running through that lesson over and over, between lessons, makes a difference. Sounds strange perhaps, but it does.
The "simulator" games out there can be fun, and if you enjoy them, by all means, keep playing them. Later you may even find it useful to see an instruent approach at an airport where you've never been, by using one of those games. For now, the learning you need to concentrate on will be what's taught by a live instructor in the actual airplane. Learning done in the airplane transfers well to a simulator or game...but not necessarily the other way around.
The exception to this is a modern day true simulator, which simulates a specific aircraft. Level C and D simulators have full cockpits with full controls, and they move, make sounds, and act so realistically that they'll even make people airsick. Many nights at cruising altitude when it's really calm, I've often reflected that it feels like sitting in a simulator; I half expect for someone to call a coffee break, for all of us to get up and go to a cafeteria for a while, before coming back to do some more.
True simulators can be increadibly realistic. So realistic, in fact, that today a pilot can get a type rating (a FAA certification to fly a specific type of airplane) without ever having seen or set foot in the actual aircraft. It's all done in the simulator. As good as they are, however, what really makes the sim realistic for the pilot is transferring his or her own piloting experience to the sim. Coming from real life, to the sim, makes the sim realistic and meaningful, whereas the reverse may not necessarily be true...especially as often simulators are designed to be more sensitive and quirky than the real airplane. Some simulators are programmed to emphasize things by giving larger than life presentations...these aspects don't represent the actual aircraft's reaction as much as emphasize things to make a point.
Take the flight lessons, and continue to practice with the various gaming. Allow your flight lessons to make your gaming more interesting, and to give you insight when gaming, rather than the other way around.
Good luck with your flying!
