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"When is a Game not a Game?"

I was looking at my collection of PC games, Dreamcast games and PS2 games and wondering which ones weren't games. The only one that stood out as clearly obvious was MTV Music Generator 2, that's an application. Something that you use to make something, in this instance to make music.

This is quite natural when you think about it, as music is one of Sony's reasons to be, it's big business for them, so it's not surprising that eventually an application would arrive allowing you to make some on the PS2.

Then there's the Linux Kit, £191.23 will get you all you need to start programming PS2 games on the PS2 itself, as well as the ability to use your PS2 as a regular desktop computer, but in the main it's aimed at Linux hobbyists (presumably Linux hobbyists without a PC who want to use their PS2 as a PC, which probably explains why the Linux Kit doesn't sell alot).

So why doesn't Sony introduce a C/C++ hobbyist's kit? Or a kit that allows you to program your own games in other languages? Surely this would have a wider appeal than just being forced to work with one language? Above all why don't they introduce a programming kit that doesn't automatically assume that you're already into your 2nd year of a Computer Science degree at Oxford?

Thinking back to the days when the ZX81/ZX Spectrum were around, these were truly multi-purpose machines, even though in the end the majority of users just used them for games. But the option to dabble in machine code and BASIC were there if you wanted to explore; surely someone could produce a simple programming course on a DVD which you allows you to interact with some of the PS2's internal components just for a change?

Think also about all the other applications that you could get a few years back, and there were language tutors like French, German, Russian, there were the equivalent of Letts Guides where you could study practically any subject under the Sun, there were programs that allowed you to budget, create schematics with CAD-like applications, design and build, there were even programs on the ZX Spectrum that could do things like run your house, close curtains, turn on lights, control the central heating; that was what was so exciting in those days, there were just so many possibilities open to you with just a simple home computer.

It's true that the PS2 is 'meant' to be 'just' a games console, but there's just so much more that its capable of, both in terms of education and entertainment. There were even a few educational games that made their way onto the old PSOne which could help younger players brush up on their maths without them realising it. (Rayman Brain Games springs to mind).

In today's marketplace, I think it's just a case of the big publishers either wanting to continue to cash in on the phenomenon that is the games industry, or else they really want to bring out applications of this nature but can't find developers willing to take the risk in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Maybe things will change with the PS3, and you'll be able to browse the PS3 'Applications' section of the Special Reserve website, and get to choose from things like "Teach Yourself Russian in 21 Days" for the linguists, "A Quick Course in Coarse" for the fishing fans, not forgetting "Machine Code and Better BASIC" for the retro progamming hobbyists.

All this is currently on the PC, but it's disjointed, it's not all in one place, you have to search around for the good stuff and install it. Consoles have the ability to make things so much easier.

When is a game not a game? when it's work.......

But there have been many very abstract and original concept games over the years, (I'll have a proper think about this and name some).

Games which don't have levels, endings, or even defined objectives sometimes.

A bit like, Vib Ribbon on the Ps1, where your music cd defined the levels, obviouslsy it's a game, but it's also something so different, it was fun just to see what diiferent music would do the game.

Seeing music made visual / interactive, is that a game still?

When Sentinel first came out on the C64 it was seen as a concept, and magazines didn't reveiew it as a game, just admired it as a concept.

A game is not a game when it is made by Jaleco

Pheat wrote:
> That is actually a very good point. why not make consoles more
> multi-purpose than they are. thats the reason i've always liked a PC
> more because you don't have to just play games. The next consoles
> should basically be small PCs without the install time. mabye they
> could have more expansion ports or the ability to plug external addons
> into the back of the system by USB.

Won't that be converting consoles back into computers, like in the early eighties, when the Atari, Intellivision, etc.. consoles were replaced by the Speccy, C64, Amstrad, etc...?

a game is not a game when it is a load of cinimatics or if it has micky mouse in the title

When a game is not a game is when it is a T.V.

That is actually a very good point. why not make consoles more multi-purpose than they are. thats the reason i've always liked a PC more because you don't have to just play games. The next consoles should basically be small PCs without the install time. mabye they could have more expansion ports or the ability to plug external addons into the back of the system by USB. ( you may have noticed the USB ports on the front of the PS2 just below the player one controller port.) mabye a small hard drive like on the saturn to rid the customer of having to use memory cards.

anyway i'm going away from the topic now.

there should be learning programs not these very bad edutainment games which try to make the process fun by dumbing it down and giving time limits. i'm 14 so I know about these sorts of "games".

A game is not a game when the cart or disc is broken. :D

Maybe.

Like you pointed out though, people want consoles to play games. Like the linux thing, I can't see it catching on. Well not with everyone whos not doing or has done computer science.