Calling "Games" something else...

[Goremocker]

I wouldn't change it.There is no reason to,seriously,if we can over come the adversity of being called such a title.Doesn't that mean we have truly arrived at our spot of excellence?If we can over come the small hump of our name as gamers,and give it a new meaning than we truly have earned our spot among the artsy fartsy types...but I don't foresee that happening any time soon.So suck it up and keep on truckin'.

 

[twaddle]

digital virtual reality simulator

 

[SimuLord]

Except "interactive media" has a nasty habit of failing to live up to the standards of a game.
Games generally have objectives, rules, winning conditions, that sort of thing.

Even Will Wright refused to call SimCity or The Sims "games"...correctly pointing out that they're toys---the difference between his stuff and games is the difference between a tennis ball and the sport of tennis.

If designers want to create something that isn't a "Game" in the traditional sense, by all means let them call it what they want...and let those of us who would rather, well...play a game...do so.

Fuck the arthouse snobs. Roger Ebert is still right. And when you try to make games art, they cease to be games.

(edit: Also, "murder simulators".)

 

[gibboss28]

I'll just keep calling them games thanks.

 

[Robin_Lyon]

No.

Games DESERVE to be called games, because they ARE for the most part "trivial, fun little things that pass the time and are of no great importance".


You take a sincere look at the scope of gaming and say it adds a valuable aspect to the artist world; you take Devil May Cry and tell me it's a story with a notable moral to teach.

You take Borderlands and tell me it promotes equality and discourages stereotypes (kill everyone wearing a mask) and that that should be given merits as a source of enlightenment.

You take any one of the space marine FPS's, simulators and sandbox games and you tell me that they serve a value to mankind; that they broaden our mental and emotional horizons, and lengthen our understanding and acceptance of other people, or that it stirs our very soul and inspires us to bound for new heights in our lives.

And I'm not even getting INTO the ENTIRE GENRES of gaming that are PROHIBITED outside Japan, such as Rape games like Rapelay, and Gigli's (though I'm not sure if they're banned but I'd imagine they would.)


My point remains thus, YES there are games out there that tell us an enriching story told in a way that movies or books cannot compare to, but those few are a small small fraction. Gaming on the whole DESERVES to be called gaming; "trivial, fun little things that pass the time and are of no great importance"



*DEEP BREATHE*

 

[Zhukov]

...but there is no escaping, escapists, that the very word "game" denotes trivial, fun little things that pass the time and are of no great importance.

That's actually a pretty accurate description of many games. Probably even most games.

Anyway, regarding the actual topic...

Games don't need a name change. As someone else pointed out, if something with the name "movie" can get respect then so can "video game".

What games need is to diversify beyond endless iterations of guns, metal bikinis and juvenile power fantasies. Because, to be blunt, I can see exactly why a lot of people dismiss them as puerile entertainment for 14 year old boys.
Imagine if the vast majority of mainstream movies were romantic comedies. Endless iterations of guys meeting girls, contrived misunderstandings and sexual frustration. How much respect would you have for the medium? Because that's about where games are right now.

Besides, saying "I'm going down to the store to pick up that new interactive audio-visual media" sounds bloody ridiculous.

EDIT: Wow. Ninja'd hard. God damn you Robin_Lyon.

 

[incal11]

Well, movies are considered art... mostly.
You go watch a movie, you interact with a g...err


The sophisticated persons, the real connaisseurs, they don't watch a movie, they go to the Cinema.
Cinema is a deformation of the Greek word for movement.
The greek word for interaction is ... αλληλεπιδρὠ
alilepiδ'ro, I think ;
but "I'm going to play an alilep" "alil"? "al" ? doesnt seem to work, sounds funny though.

When you think about it, "movie" is a contraction of "moving pictures".
So maybe we could start from "interactive pictures", except "I'm going to do some interactivies" does not work either ; or replace that with Interaction, but "I'm going to interact" sounds awkward (and hilarious, for some reason).
It may work if the expression is contracted again: "inter" ?
"I'm going to play some inters"
...
who knows...

That may not be enough as some people seem to think that manipulating something is less dignified than watching it passively , It's true some movies are more intelectually involving than others, but the same goes for g... alileps
Even if it's just a tiny fraction of them.

 

[Eyelicker]

Video games.

If movies can be called artsy with the title "movies", why can't games get the same? Not going to pander and change the name just because some people happen to think they're too childish for the branding.

Thats pretty much exactly what the dude said at the beginning.

And the point is to think of another name to side step this prejudice.

 

[TBR]

Depends. Movies went through the same transformation, from just moving pictures, to something we now call cinema. HUGE difference.

 

[Marter]

I don't think that games should be treated any differently than movies, so the name sounds just fine.

 

[Bloodstain]

Deffinately something to do with interactivity, but it need to roll of the tounge better than say...

Interactive cinematography?

Interactive audio-visual entertainment media.

... These two.

(Sorry dudes, not taking a shot at you but its not particularly snappy is it)

Bloodstain's suggestion makes it sound educational & PTA-approved. Heehee

Thank you, that's what I wanted to achieve

Everyone pretty much only calls them vidcons these days anyway.

Never heard of it. But it's kinda neat.

EXCELSIOR

Here, mother, let's go play some EXCELSIOR. There's this new EXCELSIOR out that features rather stunning visuals and complex characters.

Yes, that'd work.

That's somehow...awesome!

Besides, saying "I'm going down to the store to pick up that new interactive audio-visual media" sounds bloody ridiculous.

It was just a suggestion, my contribution to the topic.
Personally, I don't think that video games should be called differently, either. Although it may work. Someone (Scrumpmonkey) gave the example of calling comic books "graphic novels", which worked as well.
How about making "interactive audio-visual media" the official name while colloquially calling it games? That way the higher-ups might take games more serious.