Some philosophy on games

The most obvious aspect of a game is how different it is from ordinary reality. Playing is about pretending to be someone else or about substituting the chaos of reality with very precise rules, which must be scrupulously respected. French philosopher Paul Valéry noted[citation needed] that entering a game must be a voluntary act and there is no room for skepticism. And a game is enjoyable if that entry -- known in Latin as in-lusion or illusion-- is indeed a conscious choice. A game is the opportunity to experience powerful emotions brought on by the sheer randomness, the desire to win and the stakes at risk. At first glance games are without consequence in so much as winning a game is not about humiliating one's adversary. Caillois insists, "Every new game is a totally new beginning, since a game can neither produce nor found anything. The essence of a game is to cancel out its results."

Games obey a logic that is diametrically opposed to that of profit-making. According to German philosopher Friedrich Schiller[citation needed] games were born, much like art, from an overabundance of energy when compared to actual societal needs. So games are nothing more than an opportunity to spend excess energy. This of course doesn't seem to take into account money-making games. But globally these games produce nothing, since, as Caillois notes, at most they make certain players rich at the expense of others. If so then a true game by definition must break even. Dutch Historian Johan Huizinga[citation needed] points out that wins are not a salary. Today the simple act of making a salary in a game immediately transforms a player into a professional.

Playing a game is therefore an activity that is distinctly apart from useful or productive activities. This is close to Huizinga's observation that, like sacred space, games can only exist within precise space-time boundaries such as boards and stadium fields. Thus a game may be seen as a powerful expression of creative freedom and triumph over the burdensome determinism of things or social status, all within perfectly circumscribed limits. In his novel The Gambler, Fyodor Dostoevsky's player considers the risk of gambling as some kind of ghostly being, foreign to any real laws; this being can both give and take everything one has and for whom everything is possible.[vague] A throw of the dice does not kill chance, it kills necessity.[vague] The game itself does not annul laws[vague], but instead makes them clear and unequivocal. Gambling actually opened the doors to the study and calculation of probability because it offers the opportunity to analyze risk by looking at it in a very artificial, closed and homogeneous system. This systems is based on numbers and repetition, whether it's a card game or roulette. Game rules end up being an extreme standardization of reality.

Video games

Main article: Video game

Video games are computer- or microprocessor-controlled games. Computers can create virtual tools to be used in a game, such as cards or dice, or far more elaborate worlds where mundane or fantastic things can be manipulated through gameplay.

A computer or video game uses one or more input devices, typically a button/joystick combination (on arcade games); a keyboard, mouse and/or trackball (computer games); or a controller or a motion sensitive tool. (console games). More esoteric devices such as paddle controllers have also been used for input. In computer games, the evolution of user interfaces from simple keyboard to mouse, joystick or joypad has profoundly changed the nature of game development.[citation needed]

It has been suggested that any game can be emulated as a computer game.[citation needed] Because computer games are simulations, every conceviable tool, environment or rule can be created.[dubious see talk page] Whether or not the computer emulation possesses the same gameplay as the original game is an open question.[citation needed]

In more open-ended computer simulations, aka sandbox-style games, notably those designed by Will Wright, the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of the virtual universe. Due to the lack of goals or opposition, it is disputed whether these programs are games or toys. (Crawford specifically mentions Wrights SimCity as an example of a toy.[2])

[edit] Role playing games

Main article: Role playing game

Role-playing games, often abbreviated as RPGs, are a type of game in which the participants (usually) assume the roles of characters acting in a fictional setting. The original role playing games -- or at least those explicitly marketed as such -- are played with a handful of participants, usually face-to-face, and keeping track of the developing fiction with pen and paper. Together, the players may collaborate on a story involving those characters; create, develop, and "explore" the setting; or vicariously experience an adventure outside the bounds of everyday life. Pen-and-paper roleplaying games include, for example, Dungeons & Dragons and GURPS. Modern independent RPGs, however, often blur the line between RPGs and board games or border on story-telling.