Introduction:
As a younger person, I was given an Intellevision. My parents loved that damn thing and I didn't much know how to play given that my Dad was always playing Astrosmash. It was fun to see us crowded around the TV playing a game. It was different from the Hi-ho Cheerio that I was used to. Or, Cootie. As I grew, my parents, reluctant to let their child into the world, constantly gave me games to play, of all types.
Why Video Games are Different:
A Board Game is a unique experience. Do you want to play Monopoly with Sorry Pieces? Sure! Go Ahead. Would you like to play Trvial Pursuit without the actual game portion? Sure! Hell, you could go all out and take Apples to Apples and use your cards to best answer Trivial Pursuit. Video Games, however, are a bit different.
Video Gaming is a form of entertainment through which millions, if not billions of people around the world take part. The interesting thing about Video Games as opposed to Board Gaming or Paper Gaming, the player has very little with which to deviate from the initial idea of what that game is. I can't take Mario and throw him into Grand Theft Auto unless Nintendo creates a game similar to it. I can't take Jumping Flash and place him in Q-Bert. I, the player, am trapped in a world of Intellectual Properties and System Design.
System is a strange thing inside a video game. Essentially, the way a person felt that a video game was supposed to be and the way it is designed is the way you play it. There are no real house rules, there are no alternate ways to play, there is a path, and you take it. The tools within a game allow for a modicum of method with which to approach an issue, but in the end the player ultimately accomplishes the task. Gameplay ends up being the way we accomplish it.
The thing that has seemingly replaced the idea of playing a game in an alternate way is the strategy that works for successful players. It limits us further. We can't just go out and play a game the way we want, we have to find the best way, as most video games are competition, to compete. And, even those strategies typically end up being the strategies the designers had in mind. Or, it exists to tip the balance toward the person who found a way to skirt that whole gameplay paradigm. The player has little to no actual input into the way their game of choice is going to be designed in its sequel. That is, if it sells enough to warrant a sequel.
What say the player has:
The player has, really, one, maybe two, inputs into their agreement with the way a game is made and or the system that game exists on. One, sales. Games are popular and successful in the same way that most things get popular, clever characters, unique aspects, and clever marketing. The second seems to be trends in how game companies feel that gamers want games to be made.
Outline for the next (will probably change):
Players do not have input in any other way than sales
Trends have gone on for a while, complicated is most times better
Trend of getting away from gameplay and concentrating on graphics
Trend of trying to combine game play and graphics
Where the wii fits in
What the PS3 and 360 do
Where is gaming going?
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