Research Steps 1

The question of what is a videogame is a tough one. Something so main stream such as videogames often seems to go without concise definition. The suggested readings provided a number of hypotheses as to what a videogame is. The many different websites and articles given in this assignment each give their own perspective on videogames.

The first article by Frasca, gave some good input as to what may differentiate types of videogames. This article gave a rather simple definition of a video game as a form of electronic based entertainment involving one or more players. Emerging from a number of psychological perspectives including some from the famous developmental psychologist Piaget, Frasca explained video games in terms ones with without competitions and ones where a clear winner exists.

The Wikipedia article was analogous to the Frasca article. This particular article examined the Videogame under layman's terms relating videogames to any game played with a controller that gives visual response on a video screen. In addition this article spoke as videogames a large part of the economy. Another main point made was that videogames can be a very social item. Speaking of the arcade as well as console's multi player capabilities.

My favorite article was "Towards a Definition." This article was a amalgamation of numerous posts. The discussion wavered back and forth between the differences of videogames and computer games. I thought Andrew Boyd put it best stating that computer games have a large depth of control where as console games are less complicated. In this case it is settled that videogames require less control. I most certainly agree with this. I believe that video games are played either on a console or in the arcade format. The video game has very basic roots where pong was an arcade game computer games grew from a more complicated text format. To this day I feel that computer games are more complex in depth of control than videogames, which involve less thought.

The digra.org article provided a simple explanation of a videogame. By using basic terms it encompasses many videogames but also computer games. Here I must say that this definition is too vague and dry. To me a videogame has stronger similarities to this definition however computer games also easily fit into this definition.

It was interesting to check out gamespot.com because it shows how professional and business oriented the videogame field can be. We are still dealing with videogames but this website is for real. There are full-fledged advertisements and a professional website, and alot of information. I was very interested in amount of articles on this website it indicates a rather thorough and dedicated staff. This is the real deal for videogames.

These articles were without a doubt eye-openers yielding a new perspective for me. I was surprised to see how many opinions are out there debating something I have always taken for granted. It is also funny that the more I read the greater the urge to play videogames became. An interesting correlation.

What is a video game?

I would define a video game as an digital interactive environment. They are used mostly entertainment but can be used for more. Often a video game can be a passtime, or a challenge, something to do. Most video games seem to include a set of challenges for you- the character, to conquer. In many games you become personified as a digital character, which you control. This personal association between character and self is what can make the video games so addicting, and why people can react so strongly to what is happening in the game.