I don't mean to sound pretentious by asking this but I do think this it is an important question and I would be very interested to know what you as gamers think. Do you agree with Yahtzee who says games are art? Or do you think that storytelling should be left to books and movies and that games are about gameplay, player skill and that games are in fact closer to sport than art?
I myself think the term 'Game' is misleading and that the unabbreviated 'Video-Game' is a far better way of describing them. 'Video-games' are essentially the combination of video like a film or TV and games like chess or darts in the same way those choose your own adventure book are a combination of book and game. Imagine taking away the video element of an FPS, using controller you are moving a crosshair over targets and hitting them, of course this is very much simplified but is in essence the process you repeat over and over in many games but with the video this becomes more than a 'game' you are suddenly enveloped in a virtual world, playing a good video-game is like (though not entirely) taking control of the main character in a film.
There are many examples both good and bad of these two elements being combined, take for instance killzone, you play through an area shooting many enemies with little variation when the section is complete a cut scene plays, a strict structure of game-video-game-video, as a result it is very un-immersive compared to a video-game like Half Life where you are in full control of Gordon Freeman throughout the game to the extent that when you play you feel like you are Gordon Freeman, Alex is talking to you rather than a character you are controlling. One sure-fire way in my opinion of being able to tell a good game is knowing that it couldn't exist in any other art form, imagine a movie of Bioshock or a book Portal it couldn?t happen without key elements being lost , replaced with different ones and being at a loss for it.
There are those that see games as just that, saying that ultimately game-play is the most important element, I think this point of view damages video-games for everyone. You know that view the stereotypical parent has: Video-games are a pointless, distracting, brainless hobby with none of the merits of films, music or books well if you see Video-games in the same light as say chess or football then they are right, how can you honestly defend 'training' on CSS? If it can be considered a sport then it is a pathetic one, think of the skills involved compared to say Tennis? I think that Video-game is an important term that is not to be forgotten, they are not simply modern games, the combination has created something completely distinct from both videos and games.
Well, those are my thoughts but what do you think?
I myself think the term 'Game' is misleading and that the unabbreviated 'Video-Game' is a far better way of describing them. 'Video-games' are essentially the combination of video like a film or TV and games like chess or darts in the same way those choose your own adventure book are a combination of book and game. Imagine taking away the video element of an FPS, using controller you are moving a crosshair over targets and hitting them, of course this is very much simplified but is in essence the process you repeat over and over in many games but with the video this becomes more than a 'game' you are suddenly enveloped in a virtual world, playing a good video-game is like (though not entirely) taking control of the main character in a film.
There are many examples both good and bad of these two elements being combined, take for instance killzone, you play through an area shooting many enemies with little variation when the section is complete a cut scene plays, a strict structure of game-video-game-video, as a result it is very un-immersive compared to a video-game like Half Life where you are in full control of Gordon Freeman throughout the game to the extent that when you play you feel like you are Gordon Freeman, Alex is talking to you rather than a character you are controlling. One sure-fire way in my opinion of being able to tell a good game is knowing that it couldn't exist in any other art form, imagine a movie of Bioshock or a book Portal it couldn?t happen without key elements being lost , replaced with different ones and being at a loss for it.
There are those that see games as just that, saying that ultimately game-play is the most important element, I think this point of view damages video-games for everyone. You know that view the stereotypical parent has: Video-games are a pointless, distracting, brainless hobby with none of the merits of films, music or books well if you see Video-games in the same light as say chess or football then they are right, how can you honestly defend 'training' on CSS? If it can be considered a sport then it is a pathetic one, think of the skills involved compared to say Tennis? I think that Video-game is an important term that is not to be forgotten, they are not simply modern games, the combination has created something completely distinct from both videos and games.
Well, those are my thoughts but what do you think?
