Virtual Training Simulation

Showing up mostly in Science Fiction settings, the Virtual Training Simulation is Exactly What It Says on the Tin—a training session, or perhaps an exam, set in virtual reality.

It can be done by having the participants put on VR helmets or similar equipment and having the perspective switch to inside of the simulation. Virtual training via Holograms, often made of Hard Light, is also possible.

May get dangerous if a Holodeck Malfunction occurs. If it is dangerous or becomes so on a regular basis, it is also a Deadly Training Area. Can be used for a Danger Room Cold Open or an Unwinnable Training Simulation. See also Cyberspace.

Anime and Manga

 * In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's manga, the title character constructs a virtual training environment inside her head with the help of a Magitek computer and uses it for combat training without compromising her civilian muggle guise.
 * Also, a borderline example in StrikerS: the Riot Force 6 constructs a virtual training environment for the Forwards, however, said environment is made of magical Hard Light, so it is actually very real until dispelled.
 * Early on in Neon Genesis Evangelion (episode 3 if I recall) there's scene where Shinji is training to fire the Eva's assault rifle by shooting virtual Angels. The same scene appears in Rebuild of Evangelion but with some notable changes, mainly that instead of Shinji actually piloting his Eva and firing the gun in the training room, he pilots a simulation body (a limbless Eva unit hooked up to the VR program).
 * Gundam Seed has the Dominion undergo a simulated battle under Natarle Badgiruel's command. While Natarle proves herself more than capable, her crew does not, the Dominion is sunk, and the simulation ends.

Comic Books

 * The "Danger Room" of the X-Men was originally basically just an obstacle course, but in the later issues it was rebuilt into using holographic technology.

Film

 * Die Another Day puts 007 in a VR training scenario where he gets to play Shoot the Hostage with M.
 * The Matrix.
 * Neo and Morpheus are walking through a crowd and Agent Smith suddenly appears.
 * Morpheus testing Neo's martial arts abilities.
 * "Tank. Load the Jump program".
 * Toys. Pretty much the point of the film (namely that it's a bad idea, at least to do it to children).
 * The Last Starfighter. An apparent ordinary arcade game turns out to be one of these, both a training device and a recruiting tool to find promising pilots.

Literature

 * In Artemis Fowl, the LEP are trained with these. Holly Short passed one of her exams by shooting the projector, technically defeating all the enemies.
 * Ender's Game. Mostly.

Live-Action TV

 * The Star Trek universe has the holodecks which, as the name implies, use holograms (of the Hard Light variety).
 * Ditto for the simudeck on the Astro Megaship in Power Rangers in Space. In addition to having most of the same purposes as the Star Trek holodecks, it was also a clever way of using Megaranger footage that would otherwise have been unsuitable.

Video Games

 * The premise of the vertical Shmup Image Fight.
 * Psychonauts features teachers who construct training landscapes inside their minds, then allow students to enter them to learn Psychic Powers.
 * In Star Ocean 3 virtual training rooms (video games) are implied to be quite popular. The tutorial takes place inside one.
 * A big part of the plot of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Other games include VR training.
 * Used in the James Bond game Everything or Nothing.
 * Often used in Spider-Man games.
 * In Ratchet and Clank 3, a VR course teaches the player the basics of using two gadgets.
 * It's part of the Backstory of the first Command & Conquer game that you're a "telegeneral" leading your troops from a computer screen, as if you're playing a Real Time Strategy game, and thet you were first flagged as potential command talent because the GDI and NOD are monitoring online strategy games for that reason.
 * Space Quest V: The Next Mutation, being a parody of Star Trek, starts with Roger in a Kobayashi Maru-like simulation in the StarCon Academy before beind discovered by Captain Raems T. Quirk and kicked out. Unlike the Trek version, though, this is a one-man simulation.
 * In Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier, Roger uses a holo-cabana onboard the SCS DeepShip 86 to load a training program for the Vulgar nerve pinch.
 * Red trains using these halfway through Solatorobo. The scenarios within are based on his subconscious, so they recycle parts of his adventure thus far, as well as.
 * Much like The Last Starfighter, Ryusei Date's storyline in Super Robot Wars Original Generation starts with his being recruited to become a mecha pilot based on his performance with a video game created to train and scout prospective recruits. Military-grade simulators are also referred to in several cutscenes.

Web Comics

 * In Bob and George the heroes train in a holodeck style room - which malfunctions frequently. In fact pretty much every time they use it.

Web Original

 * The heroes of The Motley Two participate in one of these as part of army training, and those who do badly face demotion. It's sort of patterned after typical Competitive Multiplayer First Person Shooters, with two teams against each other; one of the "game modes" is an "escort the VIP" objective, while in another an outnumbered team defends themselves until they can use an air strike.

Western Animation

 * Virtual Training Simulators are present in Futurama. They can even malfunction and turn the holograms real.
 * The Powerpuff Girls has training simulators for situations of varying severity levels.

Real Life

 * Truth in Television, as both civilian agencies and the armed forces use a variety of simulators to help prepare them for things they might encounter in Real Life, though generally not of the VR Goggles or Matrix variety.
 * A big argument against video games made by people like Senator Joe Lieberman was that First Person Shooters are too much like the Real Life simulations used by the military. Someone with the actual knowledge and experience with the simulation countered the argument, saying that it is nothing like a video game. If you die in the game, you can just re-load from a save and try again. In the military simulation, getting "shot" means you failed the test, which has Real Life consequences. After all, you can't afford any mistakes when facing the enemy. Also, instead of a mouse or a controller, soldiers use guns that have an actual kick.
 * The best you can learn from an FPS is how to take advantage of the terrain and layout, and how to do coordinated attacks with other people. Any actual shooting skills or dealing with a living enemy who cares about dying requires some actual military training.