Versus Series 1: Games vs. Toys

We're back after a hiatus caused by my limited access to the Internet.  During that time, I wrote more posts that I'll be posting on a more than weekly basis.

"Video games," "gamer," "gamertag," "Games for Windows," "GameStop," "Game Spot," "G4."  Anyone taking a casual survey of the "gaming" industry would say that its primary focus was making games.  You couldn't blame this casual surveyor, then, for being the blind man who judged the elephants of the gaming world according to how favorably they compared to non-electronic games.

That is, until your favorite "games" started coming up short.

Home arcades and the death of a game

In the gambling industry, spokespersons tend to call their business "gaming."  While the euphemism may be an affront to anti-gambling advocates, not only may "gambling" be rightly called "gaming," it may even be said that something may not be called "gaming" unless it is "gambling."  Game theory ensues.

Versus Series #0: A bad tail and a good leg

People think in metaphors, and to understand what someone really thinks, you must know the metaphor they are using when they think of something.  The trouble is, most of the time people don't realize they are thinking in metaphorical terms--they think they are just stating a point of fact.

To those of us who have had debates over whether the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is either a shining example of the genius of man or if it is some kind of sick joke foisted upon us by a cruel god, reconciling opinions may seem like an intractable problem.  Maybe it is to a point, but understanding the point of view of your friend/enemy goes along way towards an agreement of some sort. 

I don't like video games

I want to get this post out of the way so everyone knows where I'm coming from, for better or for worse. Basically if you compare the subject matter of this journal with the title of this post, you'll start to understand my complicated relationship with video games.

To be fair, I came up with the title to arouse titillation in an effort to draw you in. The facts: I own video games; I play video games; I plan on buying new video games in the future. Am I a masochist? Well...no. Sure, I might spend twenty to sixty dollars on something that I spend most of my time grinding my teeth in front of, but I never start playing a game because my teeth need grinding.

Searching for purpose

I love talking theory. "What kind of theory?" Any theory. Theory of relativity, theories on art, theories on mankind. If the conversation is about theory, I want to be a part of it.

Why I'm so attracted to theory is an interesting enough question, but I want to keep this journal focused. Therefore, at least at first, I'm going to dedicate this space to the discussion of video game theory. Of all the theory in the universe I could be discussing right now, I'm choosing video games. I realize how absurd or juvenile it looks to most people to take up valuable time discussing theories about video games, but I think that sentiment demonstrates the lack of serious discussion about games rather than the lack of significance found in video game theory.