Is the term 'Game' holding back the medium?

[sune-ku]

When we talk about video games now we use that to cover pretty much all forms of interactive computer entertainment.

Really the term 'game' is kind of a hangover from the origins in arcades and 8-bit consoles of gaming history where they literally were just a set of rules you obeyed in order to win (in the same way as a board game) Now that's evolved hugely and things like story and context can play a large part, but the word game still brings it's own connotations - i.e surpassing some kind of challenge in order to win.

So I was wondering, now that there is more than ther simple challenge of winning in the equation, do games need to in fact be... games? I myself am a sucker for a good story and love several Final Fantasy games purely because of the story/characters/context and can't really stand the whole grind and tun based combat. Wouldn't it be interesting to see interactive entertainment that was there simply to allow you to access a fiction without challenge, in the same way a film or book requires no challenge to get through. Surely for one thing it would open up the medium to people who are put off by the challenging and competitive nature of games as they are.

Anyone else agree with me, and can you think of any games that are already pushing that boundary? Could new technologies like Natal encourage a less gaming orientated form of entertainment, or would taking the game out of gaming kill it?

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

DELETED

 

[ConstantJoe]

If I understand what you mean (and I may not), the result product could end up basically as a movie where you move people around. And lazier game developers would make the interactive part all quicktime events.

Done right it would be pretty awesome, though.

 

[Ace of Spades]

In a word, no. If a game does not have any challenge, then it suddenly loses a lot of its appeal. Just watch a movie.

 

[TheSunshineHobo]

What would you have us call them? Interactive entertainment stories? "What're you playing?" "Mass Effect." "Whats that?" "Its an interactive entertainment story." And in every game, you try to win. Every game. There is a story, but that story can be boiled down into, go here, do that, win.

Wouldn't it be interesting to see interactive entertainment that was there simply to allow you to access a fiction without challenge

So...you want games with no challenge? Where is the fun in that?

 

[A Weary Exile]

We should do what comics did to gain more respect instead of calling them "comics" they are now "Graphic novels" so I suggest a new name for video games. How about "Interactive World Simulators"?

 

[minoes]

Interactive Fiction. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction ]

 

[Marcus Dubious]

It isn't the term that's the problem, it's the way the genre is perceived by people who have no understanding of modern video gaming.

To them, at best it's nothing more than space invaders, at worst it's murder simulators.
Until many more people have an understanding of what modern gaming is, we will always be dismissed by ignorant and missinformed people who think they know better.

 

[Pink_Pirate]

i'd say we should just call it interactive media. It transcends the description of being just a game, although many are still of course just games.

But yeah this is why im really excited about heavy rain. Im not sure I agree with you that a game should be just effortless though. One of the advantages of the medium is in its ability to make you invest yourself personally into it, much more so than with a movie or book. As someone who i cant remember said about FF7

Spoiler

when Aeris dies you only really care if you've been using her, if you haven't used her in your party you haven't become emotionally invested in the character, and thus when she dies is had no implications on the gameplay, and thus no effect on you

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I don't think it makes much difference whatever you call it, you still "play" it.

 

[Pilot Bush]

Video games are toys, as it will always be.

 

[sune-ku]

Isn't the point of interactive entertainment to be "interactive?" Or "entertaining?"

What you described is a movie. If you don't like games, watch movies.

No no, I love games far more than movies - I'm just throwing out a concept. But the point is that games are so embedded in us now we can't imagine a type of interactive entertainment that isn't a game. I'm not talking about movies or cut scenes, but some other way to move on without the need to press the right button at the right time, or use the right item e.t.c Where each action would be treated differently without simply being successful or unsucessful.

Interactive Fiction. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction ]

Exactly! Imagine works of interactive fiction with the mainstream graphics and technology available today.