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Time To Stop Calling Them Games?
GamePolitics wonders aloud about our use of the term game to describe electronic entertainment. In the author's view, referring to videogames as 'games' is inhibiting their adoption by mainstream society (who relates gaming to children's activities). From the article: "Things have changed, of course. Video game content now runs the gamut from kid-friendly titles like Curious George and LEGO Star Wars to adult-themed offerings such as GTA San Andreas and Black to the highly socialized online communities of World of Warcraft and Second Life or the largely adult-populated casual game scene of Pogo. Over the years, gamers and game designers have recognized the artistic and expressive potential of videogames, along with their power to enlighten and entertain players from four to ninety-four. But there are also millions who missed that particular cultural bus."
Question is, what would you call them? As long as it's not something like 'Infotainment', I don't mind...
We can separate "games" into two categories. The fun stuff that people actually like playing can continue to be called "games". The adult oriented, artistic works of sound and video that are supposed to be admired for the sake of it can then be called "garbage". Sound like a plan? :-P
(Tongue firmly stapled to my cheek.)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I think it is time to change the fact we call them games. I personally still deal with the fact that gaming is a waste of time to so many. My parents sit and watch the tv all night after dinner but they can't see that doing that is no different from me playing my games for the same amount of time. Why doing something on a console or computer is so different than sitting in front of a television I will never know.
how about calling them adult entertainment ..oh wait
MikMik Baby Organics Mikkaworks
Do do you call Comic Books "Sequential art"? Me neither, see how well it worked when they tried the name game?
As impatient as well all are to reshape society, the solution isn't to change the name. New names would only get used by academics and the like. You really have to wait for people to gain their own personal respect for games. Yes, it may take multiple generations, or it may happen as more mainstream oriented and casual games increase the audience, it probably won't happen by trying to give games a new name.
Interactive Billings Wireless Map
Windows Vista Help Forum
A "game of chess"
"Gaming"
"Wargames"
Oh yes, the word "game" has way too much of a childish connotation. :-/
and you can call blogs a "LiveJournal", and it still doesn't change that it's still just a blog filled with yet another silly opinion. :)
This is a sig. Deal with it.
...a GAME of golf today?
Then we can watch the big GAME on TV.
We still on for the poker GAME Thursday night?
The problem isn't the word "game". It's the term "video game". People still associate that with adolescents in dark arcades playing Pac-Man. We need to simply drop "video" when refering to an adult-oriented game and people won't think twice about it.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Perhaps we should use that term. Would take the wind out of Jack Thomspons sails. "These Murder simulators are totally unsuitable for children". "This is disgusting! This murder simulator has sex in it!"
These arguments are kinda weak when applied to somethign not called a game.
Maybe I'm missing something....
http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php
The average player is 30, 43% are women, 18% are over 50 and revenues exceed that of movies.
How much more mainstream does gaming need to be?
I'm also wondering who thinks "games" are just for kids? Not many kids playing Bridge, Shuffleboard, Bingo, etc....
Let's call them "sex" from now on. It's a term with popular appeal, and very few gamers are going to confuse it with any of their other regular activities.
I don't think the word "game" is a huge hindrance. The respectability of theater hasn't been hindered noticably by the term "play," as far as I can tell. And any kind of self-conscious relabeling of games would just be silly and obvious.
Anyway, don't we already have our euphemisms lined up? E3 could just be GE, but they decided "electronic entertainment" sounded more professional than "games". I've also heard "interactive entertainment," "multimedia experience," and so on.
They're all dumb. And frankly, any change to the terminology risks misinterpreting one of the biggest draws of video games: they ARE games, just like Solitaire or checkers or freeze tag. They are challenge and interact with the consumer in a very direct way. That's why they're fun.
"Things have changed, of course. Book content now runs the gamut from kid-friendly titles like Curious George and The Ewok Adventure to adult-themed offerings such as Lolita and A Clockwork Orange to the highly socialized plays of Les Miserable and Romeo & Juliet or the largely adult-populated operas of Mozart. Over the years, books and writers have recognized the artistic and expressive potential of the written word, along with their power to enlighten and entertain readers from four to ninety-four. But there are also millions who missed that particular cultural bus."
Books are containers for written content.
Games are containers for interactive content.
I don't see the problem here other than to separate the "good" stuff from the "bad" stuff to help offset political restrictions.
I disagree, "Game" is perfect, it's exactly what this kind of electronic entertainment is. Sure, you might have add something to it... children's games, adult games, real time strategy games, arcade games... but they are all still just games.
The only ones that might depart from that might be open ended simulation games, like SimCity or a flight simulator. In which case "simulation" is fine.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Some people just don't "get" how much less of a waste computers are compared to TV. When visiting home, my parents always lecture me on how much I use the computer. The last time, I said, "I just learned about the Coasean Theory of the firm, the P=NP problem, and the history of late-19th century Australia on Wikipedia, while you were learning about the latest celebrity gossip. Who's wasting whose time here?" (I think I said it more tactfully though.) I know, that's the internet, not gaming, but the bias applies to all computer-related stuff.
Rank my idea: http://www.sinceslicedbread.com/node/531
I don't see Basketball having problems being called a "game". And plenty of middle aged people strap on their ace bandages and stock up on liniment for regular weekend participation.
Although in some cases you might be tempted to call certain entertainment software "sports", and stuff like The Sims might most accurately be called a "software toy", "game" is probably the most accurate and neutral term to cover most things that are sold in that particular isle of your local computer store.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
We call them G@mes, if for no other reason than to confuse the ignorant.
You know who I mean. All those parents and commentators who open their yappers without ever having actually played one of the G@mes they're bitching about. We can insist on some stupid pronunciation just to make them sound really dumb when they're talking about them... and hopefully, this will cause them to stop talking about G@mes.
Alternate spellings:
Gam3
G4me
Ga/\/\e
and any combinations of the above
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Change video games to "Entertainment Software"? To HELL with that! I like the name as it is, and here's why: 1. "Entertainment Software" is too broad of a definition and can NOT be used to solely define video games alone. Entertainment software can come in the form of movies on DVD, software that builds entertainment (video and 3D editors), and basically anything digital that can be utilized for the purpose of entertainment. Even software that operates the lights and special effects of a concert would be "Entertainment Software". 2. "Adult Games" would not work as a way of separating "mature" games from the rest. Why you ask? Because "Adult" makes the games sound pornographic in nature, and while some games do have sexual content, they are not always sexual in nature. Take Halo and Halo 2 for example. They are M rated, but no one would say they are for "adults" alone. The story and characters are highly develop and the situations and scenarios require a mature mind to understand and comprehend (except in online multiplayer :P ) Calling a game like Halo "Adult" is an insult to the game since it makes Halo seem like porn when it isn't.
3. People seem to assume that games are only played by children. This is NOT true! If it were, then why are men often fascinated by football and sports? Aren't those types of "games" as well? Do people think football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc. are only for children? And what about those who play board and card games? Men and women all over the country get together to play games like poker, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, and more! And let's not forget gambling! Gambling is considered gaming as well (Nevada Gaming Commission if you want proof), and many adults want to play these games as well. This should be enough proof to show that there are games for all ages!
4. Games can be educational and can teach, even those that are highly action based. Games such as Psychonauts, God of War, or Halo have lots of action, but also stories that entertain and keep the player moving through, WANTING to see the end of the game. Other games like Tetris, Bejeweled, Bust A Move, and more help build mental reaction times and complex spatial thinking (there are two kinds of thinking, quantitive and spatial [I think that's right]) Even the most mature of games like GTA:SA have a deep underlying story beneath them that makes it worth the while to see the end.
5. Video Games are games played on a video screen, yes? Electronic games would be games that are electronic in nature, but do not require a video screen, correct? Games such as Simon would fit into this category. :) Video Game seems to be an adequate definition for the medium that people play.
6. Finally, the only other possible name that could be changed to would be "Interactive Media", but even so I have a problem with this name. This lies in the Narrativism vs. Ludology argument. What if a movie was just that; a linear movie? But what if you could choose how the movie ends? Make decisions for the characters that swing the movie one way or another? Like a Choose Your Own Adventure book? It's "Interactive Media", yes, BUT... ...is it also a video game? Would a movie like that really be a game? What about the lack of game mechanics and game rules that make games, well... games!
So to me, "Video Games" is an adequate name based on this definition:
Video Game: a form of digital entertainment that encompasses pre-programmed rules of game play, contains a story, purpose, or goal which keeps the game player playing, and utilizes a video screen for output.
Those that think "Video Game" contains too much of a youth stigmatism for it need to just get over it, because the only people that think games are for kids are those that never played. Give it 20 more years, and the any changes made now will just seem stupid.
~Steve B.
I don't think this society suffers from a lack of gaming or recreational activities. That is why games are almost a secret shame. When you fold in teevee, socializing, time at the club or rec centres -- which are all good, in proportion, how much time does each person spend. I think (that is I'm sure there is a study somewhere, but I'm too lazy to go look, lol) people in our society have a disproportionately large amout of free time than many societies.
Slashdot is news, information, and recreation. Can we really measure how much time we spend performing recreational vs educational activities as we read or participate in these forums.
I like games, I enjoy tv and movies being with friends and family. For recreation, I can just go for a walk, I get a lot of excercize at work, so I don't have to spend time at the gym. I still have to do a lot of stuff at home for preventive therepy.
My point being, If I haven't made it yet, is that we shouldn't be afraid to admit we enjoy games, candy, or to having fun. Knowing the right balance is important.
We should also consider remaming Olympic Games. Maybe something like The Totally Grown Up Althletic Competition of Olymipa, so no one will confuse them with childsplay or wasted time.
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
The problem is that most people have no idea that the term "game" means much more than "something kids do with each other". Ask John Nash, Oskar Morgenstern or John von Neumann. Politics. Economics. All games.
The terms "graphic novel" and "comic book" refer to both format and genre. If someone talks about a "comic book movie," chances are they mean X-Men or Superman and not Ghost World, Road to Perdition, or A History of Violence. This leads to ambiguity in just what the terms actually mean.
I can't bring myself to call anything made up of 22 pages stapled together a "graphic novel," no matter how serious, but a 150-page hardcover or trade paperback? Maybe. I'm more inclined if it's all one long story, especially if it's original. I guess I'm thinking of an individual comic book as a short story, and something like Sandman: The Kindly Ones (which took 13 issues to tell serialized) as novel-length.
That said, I've recently started looking at comics from the 1940s, and there were tons of these 100-page anthologies on newsprint. Those were unambiguously comic books. Same with the 200-300-page hardcover Archive editions DC puts out. Or the 500-page Marvel Essentials or DC's Showcase Presents lines.
Even for people who actually distinguish between "comic books" and "graphic novels," the line is fuzzy.
I've long held the belief that the total complexity of language (which would be a measure of the complexity of the characters, the complexity of the grammar, and the total number of words) would necessarily be comparable for all languages. You've still got to express about the same number of things, all you're doing is shifting where the work is done.
However, this does not appear to apply very well to English. True, it doesn't have a neuter gender and the structure of a sentance is notoriously flexible, but it does have a vast number of rules and special cases. Over time, I've also encountered many cases where a concept in one language simply doesn't have anything comparable in English. This suggests that overall complexity is not as simple as I'd assumed, although I strongly suspect I'm not too far wide of the mark.
(I would love it if someone who specializes in language could draw up a map, showing the various degrees of freedom within a language, and how different languages compare both within any given degree of freedom and overall.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
So let's not call chess, poker, golf, pool, darts, or any of the other things which adults play "games" either! Clearly, we must make up an entirely new word because a handful of people have a giant stick up their asses over the term GAME!