ABSTRACT
We have noted that there is a surprising confusion among consumers, producers and scholars of videogames as to just which experiences or products constitute ‘a videogame’. Part of the problem doubtless arises from the enormous variety of game types that come under the broad umbrellas of ‘videogames’, ‘computer games’ or ‘interactive entertainment’. Prima facie, it is difficult to spot immediate similarities between a game with no graphics, no sound and text-only input played on a home computer and a flight combat game like Sega’s R360 in which the player is strapped into a mock-up fighter plane cockpit, clutches a force feedback joystick, and is literally thrown around as the entire game cabinet turns side-to-side and upside-down in correspondence with the action in the gameworld. The dissimilarities between a ‘bemani’ (‘beatmania’) game in which the player is required to physically input dance steps on a pressure-sensitive playmat/dancefloor and a word puzzle game played on a mobile phone seem far more obvious than the similarities. As Aarseth (2001a) has asked, is Furby a computer game? It is certainly computer-controlled and we play with it. What about Tamagotchi? Or Sony’s AIBO . . . ?
