A video game is anything that people regularly do for entertainment. If playing computer games is your hobby, then that’s great. However, if this is not your hobby, perhaps you should look into the different types of online games. Most hobbies are games, which means there are plenty of professional games to choose from.
There are three major categories of video game definitions: computer games, console games and online games. Computer games are pretty obvious. These are games that are played using a personal computer, including laptops and desktops. Console games refer to video game consoles, including the Xbox, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Wii.
While most computer games can be purchased, console and online board games are not always available. A good example of a console game would be Tomb Raider. This was one of the first games developed for the PlayStation 2, and it still remains one of the best. Of course, we are talking about a game here, which means it’s not quite a sure thing that it’s going to come out on a new board game format any time soon.
Online board games are great examples of online games. An online board game refers to a game that is played over the Internet using a personal computer program. One classic example is Scrabble, which is played online today. The rules of this game are the same as those of an actual board game. Of course, when you play a Scrabble game in real life, you are playing against someone else who has also installed the Scrabble program.
Video game studies tend to fall into two basic categories: defining games and measuring games. Defining games refers to identifying and describing games. Measureing games is more of an academic definition of what makes a game a good or bad game, based upon how it affects the player. For example, most people would say that Tetris is a bad game, but it actually has a very nice design that actually causes the player to think strategically about placement of the bricks. Other popular games include Super Mario Brothers, Pac-Man, and Duck Hunt.
As you can see, there is an essentialist definition and a traditionalist definition. While I believe that games are valuable and should continue to exist, I also believe that we should have both definitions so we can better understand games. That’s why I decided to write this article, as a way of introducing neophytes to games, comparing traditionalists with essentialist game definitions, and giving neophytes an overview of some popular games that they may not have heard of before. Please feel free to use this as a primer in game studies.