Is it just me, or does the term "video games" sound downright childish. I think it does represent our medium as a serious and respectable form of entertainment. I have been thinking about this a lot myself, but I lack the creativity to create a good alternative to "video games." What do you guys think, and sound off if you have an idea.
Interactive Entertainment! Nah, I'm not sad and picky, I can live with "Video Games". I enjoy the things I enjoy because I like them, not based on what others might think of it =D
@ZeForgotten: Interactive entertainment is what I keep coming up with, but it's not catchy enough, and I've sort of gotten used to calling them "Video Games."
@grhud5194: It's the same thing I keep coming up with but it just sounds so boring but I had to say it anyway. But I've been calling them Video Games for decades, I can't stop now, damnit!
@HandsomeDead: Exactly. I keep thinking about how the terms movies, or books started, and try to use that thought process to come up with one for video games.
Have you ever thought about the term "Movies"? That sounds pretty dumb but we still use it. I move that we change console names before we change the name of the hobby. Playstation? Really? Now that sounds like something a 70 year old man came up with.
Well, 'movies' got its name because it is just moving pictures. So, since video games are essentially the same thing, then I guess we can call them movies as well? Like you can say "Let's watch a movie" or "Let's play a movie".
Can't think of anything else. I am not very fond of the term 'video games'. When somebody says it it just kinda makes me cringe. I just call them 'games'.
I've heard my friends say "Videons" before, but I don't really like that. Sometimes I just say games, but usually I just say video games, because they're games that have a video component to them.
Vid-ja-games? I think the title needs to change as well. I like the shortened form of "games," myself, although I believe that title doesn't apply to the interactive fiction we are going to be seeing in the future.
I use VidGames, partially ironically. I think SWERY was onto something. It does have the similar features as the term "movie" in comparison to "moving pictures".
It needs two syllables and helps to be a portmanteau.
HERE Chris DeLeon explains that "video games"are not games at all. Games are defined (loosely) as goals governed by rules that must be adhered to. In video games the rules can not be circumvented so it is more of an experience. (Please read the article on the link instead of trying to argue with my paraphrasing).
I completely agree and have been working on this issue for a while. Trying to come up with something that might lend a little more credence to these experiences. I'm a Disabled Combat Veteran, Ranger and Scout Team Leader and "video games" have been and continue to be extremely important to me. They are more than just games to me. They are not silly time wasting distractions without any serious usefulness. They are social, inspiring, horrifying, clever, frustrating, inventive and imaginative ways for me to experience things I could never have without them. At least not since my injuries. Movies have the word "Film" which has evolved in to a very elegant connotation with strong artistic implications. In reality "video games" are just as deserving of the same respect and in my personal opinion much more creative and expressive. Just like cartoons have "animation" I believe "video games" deserve a term which carries more integrity instead of just the absolute simplest way of defining their most basic function.
Of course making this argument in a place where people are more apt to make fun of their peers than they are to support or converse with them doesn't help. Obviously some communities need to be judged on their own merits and hopefully we can separate the medium from the automatic inclusion of those communities. It's time the industry had it's own identity away from the immaturity often associated with the term "video games" (and let's face it, many gamers and gaming communities don't help but it's time we weren't all lumped together under that banner). I believe a new name would go a long way to making that happen.
HERE Chris DeLeon explains that "video games"are not games at all. Games are defined (loosely) as goals governed by rules that must be adhered to. In video games the rules can not be circumvented so it is more of an experience. (Please read the article on the link instead of trying to argue with my paraphrasing).
I completely agree and have been working on this issue for a while. Trying to come up with something that might lend a little more credence to these experiences. I'm a Disabled Combat Veteran, Ranger and Scout Team Leader and "video games" have been and continue to be extremely important to me. They are more than just games to me. They are not silly time wasting distractions without any serious usefulness. They are social, inspiring, horrifying, clever, frustrating, inventive and imaginative ways for me to experience things I could never have without them. At least not since my injuries. Movies have the word "Film" which has evolved in to a very elegant connotation with strong artistic implications. In reality "video games" are just as deserving of the same respect and in my personal opinion much more creative and expressive. Just like cartoons have "animation" I believe "video games" deserve a term which carries more integrity instead of just the absolute simplest way of defining their most basic function.
Of course making this argument in a place where people are more apt to make fun of their peers than they are to support or converse with them doesn't help. Obviously some communities need to be judged on their own merits and hopefully we can separate the medium from the automatic inclusion of those communities. It's time the industry had it's own identity away from the immaturity often associated with the term "video games" (and let's face it, many gamers and gaming communities don't help but it's time we weren't all lumped together under that banner). I believe a new name would go a long way to making that happen.
A new name would be good, but I think so many people (gamers and non-gamers alike) are so used to the term "Video Games," that it would be really hard to change.
@aiomon: This is something very close to my heart. I believe that action pictures can convey information better than any other media. Because people learn best when they think they figured it out themselves.
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