Video games: what are they?

A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or an input device such as a gamepad, controller, keyboard or a device for detecting movement to generate visual, sound and haptic feedback. This feedback is displayed on a video display device, such as a television, monitor, touchscreen or a helmet virtual reality.

Video games are often supplemented with audio feedback delivered through speakers or listenersand sometimes by other types of feedback, including haptic technology. Computer games are not all video games. For example, text adventure games, chessdo not depend on a graphical display.

A medium with blurred borders

The label “video game” casts an absurdly wide net over a lot of different things. There are a million different types of video games out there, and each of them kind of functions as its own form of entertainment media. As we don’t have concrete labels for all these individual types, only genre descriptions waves, we’re just saying it’s all a video game. It’s confusing, even for those of us who are called gamers.

If a person were to evolve solely within video games and later discover all the other forms of entertainment that we consume on a regular basis, they would probably not understand why we consider cinema and television to be separate types of media. Compared to the extent of all that is considered video gamesfilms and the rest of the audiovisual sector are difficult to distinguish.

Video games are both sports which take place on a computermovies interactiveboard games digital and card games or rough simulations of daily life. Some video games are works of artistic expression while others are created specifically for the purpose of pitting players against each other in a competitive manner. But these are all video games.

Is everything a video game?

In recent years, the use of the term “game” has been a point of friction causing endless debates online over whether this thing that is undoubtedly interactive entertainment but involves no skills is really a video game.

Even within the same video game, there is very often more than one type of video game. Series call of duty features both a linear, story-driven, single-player game and a competitive multiplayer mode. Often, it also includes a third cooperative mode which involves fighting zombies or aliens. All of these games are considered to belong to the same genre of video game, but they are actually separate products that cater to different types of gamers.

“NBA 2K”, also a franchise annualis even richer in different modes, including those where you just play basketball, simulate team management and even collect a card game.