I Think Gaming Needs a Renaming....

[AyreonMaiden]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

They are toys, he isn't joking. A toy is an object that exists to provide entertainment. A video game does just that. That doesn't mean it can't be any of the other fancy things we call them, like "art" and "medium" and "piece of technology", but it is also a toy. And so what? "Toy" is just a title given to it, it doesn't mean anything.

I agree. The term toy doesn't really mean anything to me either. But alot of people will dismiss games as "just a toy" and that is what we are trying to avoid.

Why? What do we care? Why should we care? Whenever anything fun comes along there is going to be haters who hate it. Will make up blatant lies about it to define it as evil. SO you can either take the low road and feed the trolls or you can take the high one and ignore them and let things continue and enjoy it inspite them. Afterall they haven't had any effect on D&D, movies, music, or comics. Everyone of these things not only were called evil and demonized by a small number but evolved and grew inspite them. Everytime a gamer gets their panties in a bunch because someone dismisses games they are just feeding the fire not helping the evolution.

The reason we should care is because the people saying this are people with power. Look at australia. The government thinks games are toys, and bans alot of them. Many parents don't let their kids play games because it would be bad for them and ""just a toy" anyway. These kinds of things are why you shouldn't ignore it, and defend the artistic recognition of games.

In that case, I think what people need to do is get some patience instead of "defending" anything or trying to move a fortress with our bare hands. The generation that hates on videogames will die, and soon the Earth will belong to those who know better. Trust me, the "revolution" will come to fruition, just not tomorrow or next week.

 

[Legendairy314]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

I apologise, I didn't realise gaming had to be super serious and manly and totally not a toy for people to enjoy it. My bad.

By saying it IS a toy you implied it was nothing more. As such you made it sound like video games are nothing but toys and anybody that considers them as a career choice or as more than a hobbie are in-turn playing with toys. People here don't like that.

As for the OP I'd say it's a mixed issue. Video Games sound like a very negative term if you try and justify yourself as someone who plays them or if you're someone who considers themselves a gamer. I think the easiest solution is to create an alternate title that's easier to swallow but not to abolish video games as a whole (because many are just that in the simplest form). Books have novels, movies have film, I think we could come up with something for the more extraordinary games out there.

 

[MisterMaster]

For fuck sake, if gaming deserves mainstream respect and acceptance, don't you think that it should be able to get it on its own? If something deserves respect, then it would get it. If you need to go around and preach about the unacknowledged art that is video games, then you simply deserve to be ridiculed along with the medium you're propagating.

Re-naming it to something as ambiguous as 'Interactive Entertainment' just makes it look pretentious, as many have already pointed out.

And seriously, the word 'gaming' has no real stigma attached to it. At least not anymore. Gaming culture has exploded and it IS accepted and respected as a viable entertainment medium. We, gamers, are the ones that are sabotaging our efforts to have video games recognized. How? Merely by having the mindset, that the mainstream public still views and will always view video games as toys, unless we tell them otherwise.

If you want gaming to be taken seriously, then gamers need to stop being the ''fat guy that calls his comic books graphic-novels''. So yeah.. I don't support renaming it.

 

[squid5580]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

saying such things on a gaming-lifestyle forum seems like trolling to me

toy   
[toi]
?noun
1.
an object, often a small representation of something familiar, as an animal or person, for children or others to play with; plaything.
2.
a thing or matter of little or no value or importance; a trifle.
3.
something that serves for or as if for diversion, rather than for serious pratical use.

read #3 very carefully!

So music is a toy and all sports are toys? Don't you see how ridiculous that sounds

footballs, basketballs ect are and the same with musical instruments. We never said gaming is a toy which is the arguement you are trying to use.

what are you talking about? the reason for this conversation is because it was a response on someone saying that games are toys. Look back in the history, you'll see why you don't make sense right now.

Yes it is a response to your post. I have been following along quite well. You might want to follow your own advice though. Playing sports is an action. Gaming is an action. The things required to do such actions are toys. A ball is a toy. A video game is a toy. Do you follow? Or do you need an english lesson on the difference between a noun and a verb? Or did you forget #3 already?

 

[SammiYin]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

I apologise, I didn't realise gaming had to be super serious and manly and totally not a toy for people to enjoy it. My bad.

By saying it IS a toy you implied it was nothing more. As such you made it sound like video games are nothing but toys and anybody that considers them as a career choice or as more than a hobbie are in-turn playing with toys. People here don't like that.

As for the OP I'd say it's a mixed issue. Video Games sound like a very negative term if you try and justify yourself as someone who plays them or if you're someone who considers themselves a gamer. I think the easiest solution is to create an alternate title that's easier to swallow but not to abolish video games as a whole (because many are just that in the simplest form). Books have novels, movies have film, I think we could come up with something for the more extraordinary games out there.

To me it is nothing more, you interact with it for pleasure, it's a toy, it just has different pleasures for different people, it's like action man, he's a toy, but you can play anything with him from gardening to screwing barbie, but the bottom line he is a toy.
I'm not using toy negatively, I'm using it objectively. We shouldn't be ashamed to call them toys or even pursue careers in them, do you look down on the people that design dolls?. The beauty of games is that anyone can play despite it's toy status.

The thing separating games from books or film is the interactivity, you PLAY with games, sure different ages like different things to play with [personally I hate that stigma, I enjoy games for all ages] but you are still playing for pleasure, which usually includes fun, and if I ever consider myself too old for fun you all have permission to shoot me in the face.

Snip

Basically what I just said, except for this, you shouldn't need to stand up and defend gaming as something more than it is, I'm not being defeatist and sure I care about the industry, but I don't care what other people think about me and my toys. I still have my lego and watch cartoons, does that make me immature? Probably, do I care? Hell no. Maturity can go hang for all I care, it's boring and depressing.
But if you really need some degree of mature toys, look no further than dildos. I don't see the people using them trying to announce them as something other than toys.

 

[nbamaniac]

Nah.. Renaming is so unnecessary.. "Video Game" sounds just fine. Just get over the fact that no matter how 'artsy' and 'engaging' a game could be, it could never be a movie or a book. The nearest point would be it 'simulating' a book/movie. Games were made for interactivity, you control characters and you bring them from point A to B. There are many good games out there that give a cinematic and immersive feel yet I will never have a problem calling them 'games'. People are just getting too serious on the stuff, just to have a sense of being a 'professional'.

 

[Ickorus]

Thing with the word 'gaming' is that it works, just like any other medium.

Moviegoer - Someone who goes to the movies.

Reader - Someone who reads.

Gamer - Someone who plays video games.

 

[NathLines]

Interactive entertainment? Might as well be a sex toy. I've never felt that gaming is in need of a new name. I can't really follow you when you say that gaming can't be taken seriously just because it's called "gaming". It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

conkers? nobody plays that anymore.
Oh I know. Let's call it football. Cause you like, move the stick with your thumb.

 

[TrevHead]

Sigh... There's nothing wrong with the word gaming its totally descriptive like the word gameplay is. There are different sub-genres each with their own descriptive names eg japanese Visual Novel which is a basically an interactive storybook, although some having gameplay elements mixed in, most dont. (maybe the snobs who seem to hate gaming should go and play something like that)

I know gaming has an image problem with the imature COD kiddies, fanboys and how gamers in general act like braindead infants on the web. But not everyone is like that. Those of you who on this site who want to change the name of the genre because youre too embarassed to be publically labelled a gamer, I think you all should grow a pair and stand up for your hobby rather then allow the kiddies to take the spotlight, Itll also help give gamers a political voice rather than allow the big gaming corporations to get away with eroding our basic rights as retail customers and humans because nobody in Brussels or Washinton can be bothered taking the side of gamers since all gamers are just children who like shooting ppl in the head.

 

[Kavachi]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

They are toys, he isn't joking. A toy is an object that exists to provide entertainment. A video game does just that. That doesn't mean it can't be any of the other fancy things we call them, like "art" and "medium" and "piece of technology", but it is also a toy. And so what? "Toy" is just a title given to it, it doesn't mean anything.

I agree. The term toy doesn't really mean anything to me either. But alot of people will dismiss games as "just a toy" and that is what we are trying to avoid.

Why? What do we care? Why should we care? Whenever anything fun comes along there is going to be haters who hate it. Will make up blatant lies about it to define it as evil. SO you can either take the low road and feed the trolls or you can take the high one and ignore them and let things continue and enjoy it inspite them. Afterall they haven't had any effect on D&D, movies, music, or comics. Everyone of these things not only were called evil and demonized by a small number but evolved and grew inspite them. Everytime a gamer gets their panties in a bunch because someone dismisses games they are just feeding the fire not helping the evolution.

The reason we should care is because the people saying this are people with power. Look at australia. The government thinks games are toys, and bans alot of them. Many parents don't let their kids play games because it would be bad for them and ""just a toy" anyway. These kinds of things are why you shouldn't ignore it, and defend the artistic recognition of games.

In that case, I think what people need to do is get some patience instead of "defending" anything or trying to move a fortress with our bare hands. The generation that hates on videogames will die, and soon the Earth will belong to those who know better. Trust me, the "revolution" will come to fruition, just not tomorrow or next week.

Hmm, I geuss you're right.

 

[Kavachi]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

saying such things on a gaming-lifestyle forum seems like trolling to me

toy   
[toi]
?noun
1.
an object, often a small representation of something familiar, as an animal or person, for children or others to play with; plaything.
2.
a thing or matter of little or no value or importance; a trifle.
3.
something that serves for or as if for diversion, rather than for serious pratical use.

read #3 very carefully!

So music is a toy and all sports are toys? Don't you see how ridiculous that sounds

footballs, basketballs ect are and the same with musical instruments. We never said gaming is a toy which is the arguement you are trying to use.

what are you talking about? the reason for this conversation is because it was a response on someone saying that games are toys. Look back in the history, you'll see why you don't make sense right now.

Yes it is a response to your post. I have been following along quite well. You might want to follow your own advice though. Playing sports is an action. Gaming is an action. The things required to do such actions are toys. A ball is a toy. A video game is a toy. Do you follow? Or do you need an english lesson on the difference between a noun and a verb? Or did you forget #3 already?

You can put things so nicely, really a people person. But if gaming is seen as an art (it is official now), instead of a sport, it is different. In sport, yes, a ball is indeed just a toy. With art it is different. A musical instrument is not a toy, a hammer to sculpt is not a toy, and video games are not "just toys", they are more than that. You can say that it is for entertainment, to pass the time, but that is the same with making/listening to music or making/watching paintings.

 

[Kavachi]

To me it is nothing more, you interact with it for pleasure, it's a toy, it just has different pleasures for different people, it's like action man, he's a toy, but you can play anything with him from gardening to screwing barbie, but the bottom line he is a toy.
I'm not using toy negatively, I'm using it objectively. We shouldn't be ashamed to call them toys or even pursue careers in them, do you look down on the people that design dolls?. The beauty of games is that anyone can play despite it's toy status.

The thing separating games from books or film is the interactivity, you PLAY with games, sure different ages like different things to play with [personally I hate that stigma, I enjoy games for all ages] but you are still playing for pleasure, which usually includes fun, and if I ever consider myself too old for fun you all have permission to shoot me in the face.

Snip

Basically what I just said, except for this, you shouldn't need to stand up and defend gaming as something more than it is, I'm not being defeatist and sure I care about the industry, but I don't care what other people think about me and my toys. I still have my lego and watch cartoons, does that make me immature? Probably, do I care? Hell no. Maturity can go hang for all I care, it's boring and depressing.
But if you really need some degree of mature toys, look no further than dildos. I don't see the people using them trying to announce them as something other than toys.

I don't want to be mature either, but there is a difference in being mature and being respected. You say video games are different from movies because they are interactive and you use it to pass the time (to play it for pleasure as you put it). Games are indeed interactive, this is where they differ from other art forms, but that does not mean it is just a toy. Passing time, or doing it for the pleasure is not only done with toys. Don't you listen to music to pass time, for pleasure? Don't you watch paintings to pass the time? You do. If they can do that and have respect, games should have that too.

Also, I don't care what other people think, untill it starts to hurt the industry. Right now it does. There is loads of debating on games, people don't want to give indie developers funding, australia is banning alot of games, and there are kids whose parents wont allow them to play games. This is why I defend gaming, and this is why this forum defends gaming.

 

[linwolf]

It IS a toy...

what are you even doing on the escapist?

saying such things on a gaming-lifestyle forum seems like trolling to me

toy   
[toi]
?noun
1.
an object, often a small representation of something familiar, as an animal or person, for children or others to play with; plaything.
2.
a thing or matter of little or no value or importance; a trifle.
3.
something that serves for or as if for diversion, rather than for serious pratical use.

read #3 very carefully!

So music is a toy and all sports are toys? Don't you see how ridiculous that sounds

footballs, basketballs ect are and the same with musical instruments. We never said gaming is a toy which is the arguement you are trying to use.

what are you talking about? the reason for this conversation is because it was a response on someone saying that games are toys. Look back in the history, you'll see why you don't make sense right now.

Yes it is a response to your post. I have been following along quite well. You might want to follow your own advice though. Playing sports is an action. Gaming is an action. The things required to do such actions are toys. A ball is a toy. A video game is a toy. Do you follow? Or do you need an english lesson on the difference between a noun and a verb? Or did you forget #3 already?

You can put things so nicely, really a people person. But if gaming is seen as an art (it is official now), instead of a sport, it is different. In sport, yes, a ball is indeed just a toy. With art it is different. A musical instrument is not a toy, a hammer to sculpt is not a toy, and video games are not "just toys", they are more than that. You can say that it is for entertainment, to pass the time, but that is the same with making/listening to music or making/watching paintings.

Here is two musical instrument, one I would call a toy the other I wouldn't. For me the game you have on you desk is closer to the toy one as it serves the same purpose.

Spoiler

 

[PissOffRoth]

No. No, no no no no.

We don't need more of this nonsense.

This is why STD is no longer politically correct to say and is replaced with STI.

I will always call it games.

That's because they aren't diseases - they are infections.

Doesn't stop people from saying STD. Even if we rename the game, we'll all still be called gamers. It's too late.

 

[squid5580]

To me it is nothing more, you interact with it for pleasure, it's a toy, it just has different pleasures for different people, it's like action man, he's a toy, but you can play anything with him from gardening to screwing barbie, but the bottom line he is a toy.
I'm not using toy negatively, I'm using it objectively. We shouldn't be ashamed to call them toys or even pursue careers in them, do you look down on the people that design dolls?. The beauty of games is that anyone can play despite it's toy status.

The thing separating games from books or film is the interactivity, you PLAY with games, sure different ages like different things to play with [personally I hate that stigma, I enjoy games for all ages] but you are still playing for pleasure, which usually includes fun, and if I ever consider myself too old for fun you all have permission to shoot me in the face.

Snip

Basically what I just said, except for this, you shouldn't need to stand up and defend gaming as something more than it is, I'm not being defeatist and sure I care about the industry, but I don't care what other people think about me and my toys. I still have my lego and watch cartoons, does that make me immature? Probably, do I care? Hell no. Maturity can go hang for all I care, it's boring and depressing.
But if you really need some degree of mature toys, look no further than dildos. I don't see the people using them trying to announce them as something other than toys.

I don't want to be mature either, but there is a difference in being mature and being respected. You say video games are different from movies because they are interactive and you use it to pass the time (to play it for pleasure as you put it). Games are indeed interactive, this is where they differ from other art forms, but that does not mean it is just a toy. Passing time, or doing it for the pleasure is not only done with toys. Don't you listen to music to pass time, for pleasure? Don't you watch paintings to pass the time? You do. If they can do that and have respect, games should have that too.

Also, I don't care what other people think, untill it starts to hurt the industry. Right now it does. There is loads of debating on games, people don't want to give indie developers funding, australia is banning alot of games, and there are kids whose parents wont allow them to play games. This is why I defend gaming, and this is why this forum defends gaming.

And for all your "defending" you miss one very important factor. People have a right to have their opinions. Who are you to tell a parent how to raise their child? Who are you to tell people they have to accept games? Not all games are art.

Oh and funny story about this forum "defending" video games. They will except when it comes to games they themselves don't accept. Yeah you are all ready to defend games as art and whatever until a Zynga game comes up then all the defending goes out the window. Once Zynga gets a mention the forum sounds exactly like the people you are "defending" games against. Funny how that works huh?

 

[Dr Jones]

Who knows? I mean as Movie Bob said: Renaming comics graphic novels actually helped.
But then again why should we even bother?

 

[Shinsei-J]

i don'r have a strong oppinion ether way but if we were to change
"games" and "gamer" something respectable like "ineractives' or "interves"
might be nice. Interver that just sounds awesome.

 

[SammiYin]

I don't want to be mature either, but there is a difference in being mature and being respected. You say video games are different from movies because they are interactive and you use it to pass the time (to play it for pleasure as you put it). Games are indeed interactive, this is where they differ from other art forms, but that does not mean it is just a toy. Passing time, or doing it for the pleasure is not only done with toys. Don't you listen to music to pass time, for pleasure? Don't you watch paintings to pass the time? You do. If they can do that and have respect, games should have that too.

Also, I don't care what other people think, untill it starts to hurt the industry. Right now it does. There is loads of debating on games, people don't want to give indie developers funding, australia is banning alot of games, and there are kids whose parents wont allow them to play games. This is why I defend gaming, and this is why this forum defends gaming.

Sure you can pass the time with a sorts of things, but it's that very interactivity that makes it a toy, you can't call music, films, books or paintings toys because you have no control over their content.
For example, a dvd can be a toy, you can use it as a frisbee or pretend to be a ninja with it, but the actual film on it [let's say Dirty Harry] isn't a toy, because you can't grab Clint Eastwood and play with him [as much as we'd all like to]
Games however, you can. The disc can be used to throw at people for enjoyment [if it's for example, a JRPG] or you can play it and beat the hell out of homeless people, you're involved you're playing and you're having fun. Toy.

Besides, I wouldn't necessarily say the stigma is hurting the industry, more and more people are coming over anyway, the Wii at least isn't trying to be anything but what it is, sure the quality of games may fluctuate for bad or good, but change is productive no matter, it's a better sign of the industry for fans to rally behind it saying "We no it's childish and we don't care" then by storming the gates of everyone who doesn't take us super seriously.

 

[TrevHead]

If video games are to be called toys then every other form of entertainment can also be called toys, this includes reading, movies, music, sport & art

Im fine calling video games a toy if you have no problem calling all your other hobbies toys

Sure you can pass the time with a sorts of things, but it's that very interactivity that makes it a toy, you can't call music, films, books or paintings toys because you have no control over their content.

What about the ppl creating these things, When I play my guitar does music suddenly become a toy?

Or what about fishing, chess or sport? im sure those who run the olypmic games or the supporters and players of your closest football team would agree with you that what they do is play toys.

I understand ppl who call gaming toys have an point to make, but pls just stop using the word it just makes you look stupid