when does a game stop being a game?

[Lazzi]

Ive noticed alot of people saying games should have moral messages. Actully ive noticed that many people say this about entertainment in general.

When a game starts to serve a high meaning I belive its stops being a game. I belive games (and infact all form of entertainemnt) should exist for simply the sake of existing.

Id like to to hear every ones OPINION about this.

And can we please keep this clean, I dont want any trolls or flame wars here. Remeber were just discussing opinions so no one is correct becuase this is enterly subjective.

 

[Panayjon]

A game never stops being a game. Just because some message may be gleaned from it or a emotion wrenching bit might inspire, it doesn't stop it from being that medium. Just because something is a game doesn't make it less valuable as a source of knowledge or wisdom.

Rather, the right sort of thinking, as my opinion would hold it... is that you shouldn't think too much about the matter of conveyance. Animals in the wild "play" all the time, but this isn't merely just a time killer but rather a form of education and exercise important to their very survival. Any holy text is made to guide and teach people, regardless of how much "truth" is in them; they are first and foremost made to help, not hinder or be a distraction.

Certain games meanwhile are little more than a distraction but there is wisdom to be had in there too at times. For instance in Team Fortress 2, you certainly learn the importance of teamwork, regardless of how mind numbing (or in some cases, because of it) you'd expect the player base and indeed your own experience.

 

[Llasnad]

Game is too diverse a classification to be broken down easily. If you are aiming at Video Games, then that is something that can be worked with, but games as a whole covers far too much ground.

No matter what you put into it, or take away after playing, a video game is still a video game. Façade, if anyone has ever "played" it, is the closest thing I have ever seen to a video game that is not a video game, more a social exercise (in futility), then anything else, but its medium is still that of a video game, so it retains its classification as being a video game. The medium dictates "what" it is, a book is a book, no matter what the book says, how it is read, or what message it conveys, it is still a book.

 

[Inriri]

Games stop being games when they're no longer fun

 

[Robert_evrae]

I enjoy a film more when it makes me think. For me to like a film, all it needs is plenty of gratuitous explosions. For a film to be in my 'Frickin' Awesome' category, it needs to make me think. The only film that I have seen that lies in the Frickin' Awesome range is Bladerunner. Books have a similar requirement for me. I enjy mindless adventures, but I also like the heavier stuff, and points in between. I can't think of any specific books for my 'Frickin Awesome' category, possibly because there are quite a few. Music has less stringent requirements, and changes quite a bit. 'Frickin Awesome' currently consists of Carmina Burana.

Now, games. I feel that games take too long in a way. Most books I can read in a day or two. Films take a couple of hours. A game will take me far longer. The story tends to lose a little in that sort of situation. The closest I have to a 'Frickin Awesome' game is Mass Effect. The reason for that is the way it affected me when I tried to play through with Sheppard as a Renegade. It surprised me the way that I found it hard to actually select the options to do some of the things I did. After choosing to execute a woman, I don't think I would choose to again, no matter the reward.

I definitely feel that a good game should make you think. Whether that means having a moral message or not is another thing. Perhaps being left to think and develope your own message is best.

 

[tiamat5]

Games are no longer games when they become so head bangingly hard it is no longer any fun. Ninja Gaiden for instance is fun until enemies attack you from off screen and they start adding minions with boss battle e.g. when I was fighting Rachel's sister for the first time in a hard mode . She was hard enough fighting her at that angle but they had to add in enemies that come up from the ground to bother me while she throws pillars at me.Or that level where I have to fight three of these worm creatures that spew electricity. I could barely handle two. But three?

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

According to most philosophers, a game is only an instrument for play, and play is an activity that is done for no other purpose than for play. I'm not sure what that says about this discussion, but I do believe a game can still be a game while also being something more.

 

[Robert0288]

Games stop being games when I get a repetitive stress injury from doing the same action over and over, This can apply to many differnt games

 

[mark_n_b]

Fun is not enough to define a game. Fun and play do not intrinsically define something to be a game. This is why the Sims does not count as a game in its strictest sense.

A game needs a defined rule set that has a point or goal and no real life consequences.

This is why Russian Roulette can not be considered a game.

People have jokingly posted about how games aren't games when they aren't fun or cause injury. But to a degree that is true. To an addict gambling at the VLT's is not a game.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

When someones loses an eye, lol jk.

I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean. A game is always a game as long as it's interactive, if you mean the spirit of games, which is to have fun, I would have to disagree as having a message or point to make doesn't mean a game won't be fun.

 

[curlycrouton]

a game is any form of entertainment where the user is required to interact with the material.

 

[Casca_O]

Fun is not enough to define a game. Fun and play do not intrinsically define something to be a game. This is why the Sims does not count as a game in its strictest sense.

Who decided that?

A game needs a defined rule set that has a point or goal and no real life consequences.

This is why Russian Roulette can not be considered a game.

People can and have died playing football. Is that no longer a game? Is freeform roleplaying no longer a game? What about Calvinball? (I freekin played that don't judge me)

And anything in which stakes or gambling is involved it is a game according to Oxford, Webster and Random House.

If you wanted "strictest sense" by which I assume you meant "most defined" because if were to be strict about what's a game and what is not in a dictionary sense a lot of crap would be eliminated. A game is 1. An activity engaged in for diversion or amusement 2. a contest between parties 3. any activity which involves tactics, struggle or skill or 4. an activity based on chance for stakes, gamble.

If we're going to get technical the Sims is a perfect example of a game and Russian Roulette is a dangerous game but no less a game. A struggle between you and a rival to avoid the chance of getting shot. Sounds like three out of four definitions to me. And I imagine it diverts your attention from anything but that activity.

 

[NeedAUserName]

When a game becomes a movie, it stops being a game

*glares at MGS4*

*Grabs head and turns it towards DMC4*

 

[Casca_O]

More in the sense of the OP however, a moral message doesn't exclude it from being a game. It does however make it more than a game.

I believe that games can be art. And I believe art can be art without good artistic value. If someone shoehorns a pseudo-philosophical meaning into a game you get art. Art with little artistic value but art. There are much better ways to make art from a game though.

 

[The Spilly]

Whenever you start planning your day around the game and letting it control what you do on a day to day basis (Raids). When you spend more time with people online than in real life especially when they live in the same town yet you havent seen them in weeks IRL. Basically, a game stop being a game when it has "World of" in its name.

 

[birdbrain18]

a game stops being a game when it can't be played

or if it's wii music (joke)

 

[meatloaf231]

When a game becomes a movie, it stops being a game

*glares at MGS4*

*Grabs head and turns it towards DMC4*

*Holds mirror up in front of DMC4 that angles towards Final Fantasy*

 

[Death Magnetic]

If it's not played. Then it's purpose of it's creation is denied and then it just becomes nothing but a disc in a box.

-Ricky