Not Games

The Not Games article makes a good point, and I agree that more developers should explore different genres of games. However, I found what they were saying to be a bit over-the-top, i.e. “Despite a few noble attempts, overall, videogames are empty systems that only serve the purpose of wasting time.” This might be because the presentation was written in 2010, but I feel like a lot of what they are complaining about is already changing. There are a lot of indie games and even Triple A titles nowadays which seem to be exploring a lot of the ideas that the Not Games authors were urging people to explore. Obviously there is still a lot of shovelware and generic first person shooters being released, but in the recent years there have been many new explorations into other types of games, making the article seem a bit dated.

Also I find statements such as “videogames are not games” seem to be kind of used for shock value. The authors claim that because we obsess over video games and spend hours on them they have become more engaging than other non-video “games.” But this isn’t exactly true. The authors mention Chess and Go as actual “games” in contrast to video games, yet some people do devote their lives to learning all the in’s and outs of these games and becoming champions at them. In trading card games such as Magic: The Gathering, this obsession and devotion is also apparent. The same goes for physical games such as sports, and the process of becoming athletes. In these cases, these individuals “obsess” over and devote hours to their respective games of choice just as video gamers devote hours to their video games of choice. Also, some video games and some video-gamers  don’t devote hours to playing games. Some people like to play quick 5-10 minute games which may or may not have replay-value, or mobile games, which also are generally very quick to play at a time. So, since there are non-videogamers who devote a lot of time to video games, and videogamers who don’t devote a lot of time to videogames, I don’t really think their distinction between “non-videogames” and “videogames” is really that accurate. There are a lot more blurred distinctions than the authors would make it seem.