Videogames are a complex thing...

What are videogames? Surely a form of entertainment, but how do they compare to other forms of entertainment?

For the most part, games have been always seen as little more than toys: things for kids and possibly nostalgic adults, which you play for some time, then get bored, or find a new toy, and forget about them.

Certain games also get elevated from the toy status and become something more serious; because of the strict rules they can impose to players, competitive games with a good balance in challenge may gather enough interest from the public to be used in tournaments, just like 'sports' (or rather board games like chess and Bridge, but even so games may require good reflexes). Professional videogamers exist, which proves that games are not only fun to play, but can be fun to watch too.

There are also games which incorporate a large number of artistically significant elements, which, depending on the quality of content, could compete with entertainment media such as books or movies.

Videogames are a very complex thing: because of their flexibility it's not really possible to lump them all into a single category.

I'm currently waiting for Dragon Quest V DS to come out. Yes, it's off topic, but I don't know what to write anymore.

See previous post

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What had made me think (again) about 'gamers' and their public image was the announcement of a reality show about videogames, where the 'cool' aspect of gaming is shown. I'm against the trend of creating a 'gaming subculture', since it's bound to lock a lot of people out of the videogame world: a world which is much more varied than what the most popular 'cool' games make it to be.

For this I mainly blame Microsoft, which has, since the introduction of the Xbox console (or was it since the Xbox 360?), tried to make stronger ties between videogames and... I don't know what it's called today, whatever's the leading trend now on MTV. But Sony and Nintendo (the two other console manufactorers) may have their share of the blame: Sony having a good number of ads for their PSP that focus exclusively on a young male demographic, and Nintendo, despite their claims of trying to reach everyone, has made some marketing choices which tend to alienate long-time gamers and kids (I didn't think ill of Wii Music, but I was baffled by the significant backlash it had generated since its announcement).

Videogames should be for everyone, just like any other entertainment medium.

No, I don't need a pic for this post, it doesn't deserve it.

Of 'Gamers' and image

'Gamer' is usually the term which applies to any person who plays videogames; such a classification is made because playing videogames nowadays is still not a very common form of entertainment, except for kids. The industry is expanding continuously however, so maybe in the near future the word will be forgotten, and playing a videogame will seem just as normal as watching a movie.

Yes, 'normal'. An adult person habitually playing videogames wasn't considered very normal some years ago, and to an extent it still isn't. This situation is bound to pass with time, as long as videogames still get made, but there's a related phenomenon which bothers me more: the 'image' of a gamer. That is, explained in a few words, the stereotyped, typical person who plays games, a 'nerd' if you wish.

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