[MUD-Dev] DGN: Reasons for play

[Lydia Leong]

On Sep 10,  1:17am, "Sean Howard" wrote:

> We aren't discussing why the game industry exists. We are
> discussing why more people don't partake in its many fruity
> flavors. Some suggest that the flavors aren't quite as fruity as
> we think, and some suggest that there are people out there who
> only eat squash.

I think we need to think beyond what we traditionally call "games",
into the broader field of interactive entertainment. That includes
"software toys" as well as forms of digital entertainment that are
just emerging or don't yet exist.

Multiplayer games are participatory entertainment. Television is
becoming, obliquely, more participatory thanks to the Web, online
chat, etc.; conversely, games are becoming more and more
cinematic. I think we will eventually see an era where our
entertainments heavily blend "game" notions with "theater"
notions. Digital interactive entertainment will eventually support a
range of interaction levels -- from relatively passive to very
active, both interaction vs. the environment and interaction with
other players.

Games also exist within a context (particularly those games that
involve interaction with other people), and thus far, arcade and
home videogames have existed within pretty narrow contexts. The
videogame contexts are broadening, but they are still pretty limited
when compared to the sheer breadth of contexts that previous game
forms have existed within.

I don't believe we're anywhere close to having discovered all the
genres of games that will eventually exist.

	-- Lydia
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