Are single-player story-based games won, or finished?

[a.stewart]

I'm writing about Video Games as Art, and I am for games being considered a form of art.

Do you think that single-player, story-based games like Mass Effect or Portal 2, for example, are 'won'? Or 'finished'?

I'm asking this because Films are an accepted form of artwork, and games have heaps of similar elements, such as cinematography, graphics, characters, story-line etc. If you finish watching a film, you wouldn't say you 'won the movie'; you'd simply finish watching it. If you were to play a game, however, is this still the case? What if the game had an unhappy ending? It would be a bit strange to say that you 'won', because winning implies a positive outcome.

I personally believe that single-player games are 'finished' as opposed to 'won'. What do you think?

ALSO, perhaps single-player games (especially story-line based games) should not be considered 'games', and instead, 'interactive stories', as the definition of games requires objectives to be filled in order to win.

 

[Bostur]

In a story-centric based game I would say it was finished. In an adventure game I would say I beat it. In a strategy game I would say I won it, unless I lost. In a Flight Sim I would say I landed. ;-)

But I think the 'correct' term for all game types would be 'succeeded', because most games can only be finished through success criteria. Thats also why I think it is hard for games to pull off an unhappy ending. The ending can only be reached through some element of success and that will create a dissonance with an unhappy ending.

ALSO, perhaps single-player games (especially story-line based games) should not be considered 'games', and instead, 'interactive stories', as the definition of games requires objectives to be filled in order to win.

I think interactive fiction should be called interactive fiction, and storybased games should be called games. It's perfectly possible to have both objectives and story in the same game.

 

[Janus Vesta]

Winning and finishing aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[pearcinator]

I say 'finished the game' or 'beat the game'

The only times I say I won is in a race or in an online fps (our team won or I won the race)

 

[a.stewart]

Hmm.. Thanks very much for the responses; they are interesting. I just find it a little necessary for games to have winning conditions.

Garry's Mod certainly isn't a game. Same with flight simulators or the Sims. They're definitely simulations/sandboxes.

What about Dear Esther? It can certainly be finished, but not won, and it's status as a game is quite debated. It doesn't exactly have a happy ending either, and neither does Amnesia: The Dark Descent... is that a game?

I think that things like Racing games and RTSs are definitely games; you can sit down and 'have a game' of Mario Kart, Age of Empires or Smash Brothers, but I wouldn't say you can 'have a game' of Mass Effect 3. I think games need to be quite rule-bound.

Any thoughts/criticism?

 

[KeyMaster45]

Here's how I see it:

• [li]I complete levels/dungeons[/li]
  [li]I beat bosses[/li]
  [li]I finish games[/li]
  [li]?????[/li]
  [li]Profit!!![/li]

 

[Jake0fTrades]

If they can't be the same thing, then playing through a game for the story would "finishing," and trying to get through a game on a higher difficulty would be "winning."

 

[Flames66]

There seems to be a trend for people to say they "beat" a game. This expression really gets on my tripe as it implies that games are challenging the player to a duel of wits or that they are something to be conquered and left. I play my games for engaging story that I can interact with.

 

[malestrithe]

I guess that it could be the specific genre of game which I would use.

I can be done playing fighting games, sports games, party games, strategy games, most sandbox games. I understand that my experience with that game ends when I choose to.

If the story's what's keeping me going, and I make it to the end, then I'm finished feels more apt.

To be more clearer, it would depend on the game which phrase that I would use.

I finished inFamous 1 and 2, but I was done with with GTA 4. I finished Final Fantasy 13 and Nier, but was done playing Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

If trophies were the only reason I kept playing, then I completed that game feels right.

I know that done, finished, and completed are synonyms and mean similar things, but the English major in me says they are not interchangeable. Each word feels right in certain situations. Adventure implies something different than saunter, soiree, meander, quest, journey, etc.

 

[josemlopes]

Games should be finished, but for now they are mostly won

 

[Guffe]

I finish a game.
I win a battle against a friend.

 

[Idlemessiah]

Hmm, interesting. I think it depends on context.

If there is an unambiguously evil threat that you, the unambiguously good guy, have to defeat then I'd say you win them. See Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, Bioshock.

But in games like the AC series, DE:HR and the like, where you fight shadowy organisations that you are probably a part of and have contributed to, and where the villains are a device to move the plot, not finish it, are games you finish.

I think anyway...

 

[PurePareidolia]

Finished. You "win" if you get the ending you want, but any completion of the game is "finishing" it.

 

[a.stewart]

Hmm, thanks again for all the responses. One more question, though. I was trying to get at this before but I don't think I explained it very well.

Do you think that for something to be considered a game, it needs to be winnable?

Saying yes may remove the 'game status' from games such as Assassin's Creed, and restrict it to things like RTSs etc (games where there is a clear winning objective).

 

[monkeymo4d]

I always thought that games regardless of being single player or multiplayer could be "won" because winning implies the possibility of loosing which does exist in single player games e.g if you cannot pass a certain point or a puzzle then the game denies you the chance to finish the story.
"finishing" would also be acceptable especially in single player games.
Just a thought...

 

[Rawne1980]

I just say completed.

Plus, they are ALL games. People can call them whatever they like but, to me and many others, they will always be games.

 

[AngleWyrm]

I'm writing about Video Games as Art, and I am for games being considered a form of art.

Video games are a form of entertainment.

The "Games as Art" card is a ploy, generally used to usurp from the audience the right to form an opinion.