What is a video game?
This article attempts to define the nature of a video game and distinguish it from non-video games. This seems like a trivial task, since it's a compound word combining "video" and "game," so, if we simply define those two words, we can assume a video game is anything that fits into both categories. However, the problem is, neither of those words are easily defined. Because it is worthy of its own article, I'll tackle the question of what is a game? later. For this article, I'll focus on the word "video" in the context of video games. My goal is to come up with a definition that includes everything I think of as a "video" game, while excluding everything I think doesn't fit, like purely mechanical games (e.g.: board games, foosball) and electro-mechanical games (e.g.: pinball, Skee-ball).
The problem with the word "video" is that there have been many different types of video display technologies used over the years including cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and even some more esoteric forms like vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), Nixie tubes, and even displays made from a bunch of incandescent light bulbs. There will most certainly be new display technologies in the future, so, whatever definition I make should not only include all past displays, but be future-proof to include new forms as well.
The definition I've come up with is:
- A game where a goal is achieved by viewing a device which generates or manipulates light in such as a way that it is capable of simulating motion.
Below, I will justify each of the terms in this definition.
I use where a goal instead of "where the goal," because a game that uses both a video display and something else (like physical pieces) is still a video game. For games which mix video devices and mechanical game play, a good way to determine if the video display is truly necessary, is to ask yourself, if the display device stopped working, would it still be possible to achieve the game's goals? A pinball machine might have an high-quality display screen built into it, but, if you can finish all of the game's goals without ever looking at it, then it isn't a video game.
I use viewing a device instead of "viewing a screen" because a game which uses a 3D technology like a holographic projector would still be a video game.
My initial definition only used "generates light," but I switched it to I use generates or manipulates light. Without light, you don't have much in the way of a "video," and display technologies like CRTs and LEDs, all generate light. However, liquid crystal displays don't generate their own light. Modern LCD devices instead rely on an LED backlight, but earlier LCD-based game consoles like Game Boy didn't have backlights, and I think a definition of "video game" which excluded the Game Boy would be wrong. The addition of "manipulates light," was added because LCDs do use a variety of polarizing filters to manipulate light resulting in light or dark regions. This made me question whether things like Game & Watch are technically "video" games. However, Game Boy isn't much more than a more pixel-dense Game & Watch, so, I concluded that they must be. However, this then made me wonder how many "pixels" of LCD are necessary to count as a video display, and I concluded the exact number doesn't matter, it's whether it has enough to simulate motion.
I initially wrote simulating motion because, while video certainly appears to be in motion, it's really just a series of still frames played back at a high rate which gives the illusion of motion. True motion, that is, an object physically moving from one place in space to another, occurs in many purely mechanical and electro-mechanical games, but not in a video display. Of course, whether a video display simulates motion is dependent upon its refresh rate, and, to some extent, its resolution. A refresh rate that is too long can't simulation motion, and neither can a resolution that is too low, but I don't think it's possible to draw a clear line. I further expanded this section to capable of simulating motion because not all video games, especially the early ones, attempt to simulate motion. Early games like 3D Tic-Tac-Toe and Video Checkers, and even later games like 2048 don't animate anything, but offer static displays when the player must infer all the motion in their heads. However, each of these games is played on a device which has the capability to simulate motion, so I still contend that they are video games.
My first attempt also included the word "electronic," as so many definitions in dictionaries do, however, I removed it since electricity isn't technically necessary. If someone were to create a game which used a CPU which ran on pressurized fluids and a display which used pixels of fire, it would still be "video" game for all intents and purposes.
This definition includes games on all of the expected consoles, handhelds, and computers, but it also includes future consoles that use new forms of display. However, it also excludes games like older pinball machines which don't generate or manipulate light, and even those which have a lot of lamps, they aren't used to simulate motion, and, even those that do, but are necessary to achieve the a goal in the game. However, it does include video game / pinball hybrids like Baby Pac-Man because it's display is necessary to achieve the game's goals. This also includes very early LED games like Mattel Electronics's Auto Race.
Under this definition, the following are considered video games:
Auto Race, a handheld game which uses LEDs.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and LCD game.
Baby Pac-Man, and video game/pinball hybrid.
