The Basics of Video Games

Notes

• 'A game is a construct that organises play through a series of rules, for the purpose of achieving a set of goals, overcoming an obstacle, and/or attaining an objective.'
• Any kind of interactive entertainment is a 'play-thing.' But there are two types of play-thing:
  - A play-thing without a goal is a toy.
  - A play-thing with a goal is a challenge.
• Challenges:
  - Working to complete the challenge with no other active agent/person: a puzzle.
  - Working to complete the challenge with a second party involved: a conflict.
• Conflicts:
  - The participants don't interact or interfere: a competition.
  - The participants do intereact or interfere: a game.
  (Imagine Figure Skating where no performance can interfere with the others, compared to Mario Kart where the participants are interacting the whole time.)
• Participants in a game can be real people, or artificial intelligence (AI.)
• Games have goals, like scoring goals or saving a princess. We achieve these goals by following the rules.
• Games are only games when they want to be played, otherwise it's just work. Voluntary participation is essential.
• Different games work on our games in different ways. Tetris: fulfils the desire to create order. Animal Crossing: fulfils the desire to be the centre of a tiny universe.
• Video games used to be very formulaic but through technological advances and progression, games now appeal to a wider audience. More gamers means lower production/distrubution costs, and the production of a wider variety of games.
• The statistics from this video are outdated. It is even more apparant now how many people play video games, and how it is a part of daily life. So much so, that most major schools and universities offer courses related to games. It is a wealthy industry. There are also the content creators and streamers that make money off playing games.
• Gamification system of motivation through reward systems that coexist with the normal game objectives. This is carried through to impact real life - such as earning badges on an app for walking a certain distance. Achievements.
• "Studies from China and Australia indicate that expert level video game players have a measurable increase in cognitive functions, perception and motor control."
• "A hospital in Florida studied their surgeons who played video games before performing surgery and found that surgeons who played video games for more than three hours in a week made 37% fewer errors. They were [also] 27% faster during surgery over those surgeons who did not."
• "An Oxford University study indicated that playing Tetris can reduce the after-effects of psychological trauma, and might offer relief of PTSD symptoms."
• Virtual reality game Snow World for the Occulus Rift is used for pain management. "Burn victims report less pain during bandage removal and reapplication while playing this game."
• Online game Fold It. 1000s of players help doctors and computers fold proteins and other structures to support drug research. In 2011, players helped scientists to solve a decade old problem in under 10 days.