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."

Comments

Good idea!

[AKAImBatman]

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.)

Games still carry the stigma....

[LeeItson]

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.

Re:Games still carry the stigma....

[miskatonic alumnus]

What stigma?

Bridge, poker, chess, pool are all games played by adults.

And if the adults aren't playing the games of football, basketball, hockey, baseball, etc. then they are watching other people play those games.

Games don't carry a stigma. They are at least as old as mankind.

Re:Games still carry the stigma....

[BeanBunny]

What stigma?

You are partly right, but your statement reveals that you have, in fact, never met my father.

I believe he is in good company. To explain: In a way, what you are saying is like saying that sex doesn't carry a stigma. It is at least as old as mankind.

The truth is that certain kinds of sex carry a stigma, and all sex is viewed as having some sort of specific purpose and level of appropriateness for a given situation.

Likewise, you will find that my father does not mind playing Sequence or Skip-Bo during Christmas, but the same man viewed my dozens of hours roaming through King's Quest (during my younger years) as wasted time.

Part of that is because he did not receive the same enjoyment out the activity that I did, but another part is because he felt that there were more productive ways to spend time, each one of which involved more a) physical activity (preferably outside), b) social interaction, c) potential for earning a living, or d) any combination of the above.

I think you will find that most people who are non-gamers (electronic) would share the same view. This is called a stigma.

This situation reflects a social view that is held on almost any subject. Most activity is acceptable under certain circumstances, but not when that boundary of benefit and/or appropriateness is crossed. For example, if you were to gamble at a casino as much as some of us play Counter Strike or WoW, you would be considered compulsive and be recommended to seek treatment. Even a nightly bridge club is considered excessive by many.

Any activity that one does not understand/enjoy/deem-to-be-of-value bears the burden of disapproval. This is a view that we all carry, as the GP proved so eloquently by stating that he views his parents' TV-watching as wasteful.

Re:Games still carry the stigma....

[miskatonic alumnus]

So you are whining about semantics because your parents don't approve of the way you waste your time?

I'm reminded of a time when I was about 10 years old, riding from a gas station/bait & tackle shop with my grandfather. I had just purchased a comic book. He asked, "Why are you wasting your money? Don't you have enough of those comic books?" To which I replied, "You just bought a fishing lure, and you already have a box full of them. Don't you have enough of them?" He didn't say another word to me for several hours.

New name!!

[chrnb]

how about calling them adult entertainment ..oh wait

Comic Books have the same problem

[ObligatoryUserName]

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.

Re:Comic Books have the same problem

[pdbogen]

Do do you call Comic Books "Sequential art"?

"Graphic Novel"?
New name invented to cover an aspect of the genre that felt trivialized by the epithet of "comic book".

Re:Comic Books have the same problem

[argStyopa]

Which is a perfect, perfect example.

"Graphic Novel" = term used exclusively by fans of the genre, particularly signalling something that purports to be more serious and adult-themed.

"Comic book" or "comics" = term used by the other 95% of people to refer to test publications in which the huge majority of page space is pictures, rather than text.

Ironically, the industry agrees wholeheartedly that they should be called graphic novels, because people will spend $10 on a 'graphic novel' when they wouldn't even consider $3 for a 'comic book'.

Personally, they're still comic books, despite the extraordinarily high quality artwork and compelling stories (cf. Neil Gaiman, among many others) that they contain.

But I'm still not paying $10 for a comic book. :)

Re:Comic Books have the same problem

[deltatype0]

Actually "Graphic Novel" came more to the front when Japanese Manga hit the US harder (read: when Tokyopop started spamming the market) and when it came to adults and non-anime people, their classification for it was "comics" or "japanese comics" (or japanese porn as my father used to put it) Fans would always come back hot-headed insisting they were either "Graphic Novels" or "Manga" (then spinning off a debate on how to pronounce Manga)

Names mean things to certain people. Everyone calls a Q-Tip a Q-Tip, not a cotton swab. Kleenex instead of tissue, it's all about what sticks in more people's minds and what becomes accepted in the mainstream. Games are games because people see them as children's entertainment. Thus when something like GTA hits the home, parents suddenly are shocked to learn that games actually encompess more than just Sesame Street Atari games, they include blood and violence, like TV, Movies, and the 6 o'clock local news.

As a GP reader, I read stories everyday of the wonderful world of idiots that seem to confuse reality with games, and the Jack Thompsons and Hillary Clintons that seem to think banning games and stiffling creative entertainment is a solution to the problem that this society has been on a downward spiral of morals since our grandparents generation. Parents simply don't give a damn about what their kids do, until they kill someone, then they point their fingers at those who aren't even responsible for their kids. All this society knows how to do is point fingers at everyone but themselves. I know, I'm 22, I used to think there was someone else to blame for everything (and there was in some cases). However I know the difference between reality and game, and when I do have children, they will not be playing games like GTA until they are mature enough to know those differences. I shook my head when my girlfriend would tell me about parents buying violent games for their little kids, and people bringing their 5 year olds to Underworld: Evolution. What kinda parenting is that?

If anything, Hillary Clinton and the rest of the government needs to start programs for educating people, not shutting people's eyes.

Dominate Media Type

[cpearson]

It is not hard to see that many if not most media types will converge. Games are the current media type that are developing and perfecting the virtual world interface. I predict a convergence of all media and communications into Sims-like game that simulates (optimizes) your day to day life. - yada yada - Games will dominate.

Interactive Billings Wireless Map

Slow news day?????

[Stavr0]

"Card Games"
A "game of chess"
"Gaming"
"Wargames"

Oh yes, the word "game" has way too much of a childish connotation. :-/

Sure...

[DoktorSeven]

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. :)

How about...

[PFI_Optix]

...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.

What's wrong with this paragraph?

[the_skywise]

"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.

MOD PARENT UP

[LeonGeeste]

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.

Re:MOD PARENT UP

[generic-man]

And while 5,000,000 people were buffing their paladins to make the run into Molten Core, I was watching informative TV programs like "Nova." Save your stereotypes for someone else.