In the 36 localized versions of Windows around the world, Microsoft would rather communicate like a native speaker than a bumbling tourist. To help, people inside the company who speak those native languages are playing a video game to ensure the accuracy and simplicity of the dialog boxes and prompts inside each version of the operating system.

It's just one example of how Microsoft envisions using video games in the workplace.

The Language Quality Test game emerged from an initiative called 42Projects, which explores management innovation, workplace behaviors, and issues of multiple generations in organizations. Ross Smith, director of the Windows Security Test Team, and Robin Moeur, a former Microsoft employee, helped launch 42Projects.

"Gaming has a tremendous influence on people, and yet, is virtually non-existent in traditional business processes," Smith said.

The size, scale and impact of the Windows localization process made it an ideal candidate to enhance with gaming. The first pilot of the game began in January, followed by a version deployed more broadly across Microsoft that is still running.

The game uses a SQL Server database of images, rendered using Microsoft's Silverlight interactive technology. Dialogs are augmented with metadata about the language and usage of the image in question.

Players use a mouse or digital pen to circle the errors that range from layout issues -- such as a run-time button being partially obscured -- to subjective judgments about language quality.

"We run tools to check for known offensive terms, but new terms can happen fairly quickly and it takes time for the tools to catch up, whereas the community will point out an issue right away," Smith said.

The team throws known defects into the dialog mix to access the reliability and validity of individual players. Validation and data quality assessment shows 71 percent of dialogs were correctly identified. Across all 36 languages, 170 actual bugs have been identified by players.

Not offering prizes isn't so much an economical choice as it is a strategy to minimize cheating. Traditional game elements of levels and rankings encourage friendly competition and participation.

The absence of playing games in the workplace is due in part to the reputation of work and play as opposites. Smith and Moeur recognize the generational shift and influence of Generations X and Y -- the Gamer Generation -- will continue to grow as managers and leaders emerge from these two groups. 

"Our work in 'productivity games' applies gaming elements to our business processes to, essentially, better suit the target audience – the gamer generation worker," Smith said. He and Moeur are currently co-authoring two books on serious and productivity games, and maintain a blog on productivity games here.

Roni Ayalla -- a student in the University of Washington's Master of Communication in Digital Media program -- is a contributor to TechFlash. See all of her posts here.