Gameplay | Discountedgame goes for history of games

Hi everyone and welcome to discountedgame.

This is created for us all games and toy lovers.
I was just sitting around thinking about games this morning and it just occured to me- why and how games were created??? Hmm... interesting right?

So my first post would be like the history channel. ( :

I think you might be wondering the same thing sometimes.

Below is the cool information I got from wikipedia. Enjoy! I wil update often so don't forget to gameplay | discountedgame again.


A game is a structured or semi-structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes also used as an educational tool. Games are generally distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work or art.



Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interactivity. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational or psychological role.


Known to have been played as far back as the 30th century BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.



Definitions

Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein was probably the first academic philosopher to address the definition of the word games. In his Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein demonstrated that the elements of games, such as play, rules, and competition, all fail to adequately define what games are. He subsequently argued that the concept "games" could not be contained by any single definition, but that games must be looked at as a series of definitions that share a "family resemblance" to one another.


Caillois
French sociologist Roger Caillois, in his book Les jeux et les hommes (games and Men), defined a games as an activity that must have the following characteristics:

fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character
separate: it is circumscribed in time and place
uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable
non-productive
governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life
fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality

Chris Crawford



Computer game designer Chris Crawford attempted to define the term games using a series of dichotomies:

Creative expression is art if made for its own beauty, and entertainment if made for money. (This is the least rigid of his definitions. Crawford acknowledges that he often chooses a creative path over conventional business wisdom, which is why he rarely produces sequels to his games.)

A piece of entertainment is a plaything if it is interactive. Movies and books are cited as examples of non-interactive entertainment.
If no goals are associated with a plaything, it is a toy. (Crawford notes that by his definition, (a) a toy can become a games element if the player makes up rules, and (b) The Sims and SimCity are toys, not games.) If it has goals, a plaything is a challenge.

If a challenge has no “active agent against whom you compete,” it is a puzzle; if there is one, it is a conflict. (Crawford admits that this is a subjective test. Some games with noticeably algorithmic artificial intelligence can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used to evade ghosts in Pac-Man.)
Finally, if the player can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with their performance, the conflict is a competition. (Competitions include racing and figure skating.) However, if attacks are allowed, then the conflict qualifies as a games.

Crawford's definition may thus be rendered as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity, active agents to play against, which any player (including active agents) could interfere one another, and which is designed to make money for the creator.

Crawford also notes (ibid.) several other definitions:

“A form of play with goals and structure.” (Kevin Maroney)
“A game is a form of art in which participants, termed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal.” (Greg Costikyan)
“An activity with some rules engaged in for an outcome.” (Eric Zimmerman)

-----A game is an Escapist Theory---gameplay | discountedgame----- (:




Paul Cézanne - The Card Players, 1895