Where do games and game design fit into the world of entertainment?
I will approach this from a chronological(time-based) point-of-view.
Back before anyone really knows about there was just stories told between people. This would have been the age of the storyteller.
Sometime later paper and pen, and a bit earlier stone carving created the art of writing.
Writing enabled the preservation and preparation of stories.
Painting and drawing would be simultaneous with writing, and probably came a bit earlier.
At this stage illustrated stories/graphic novels are becoming possible.
A lot later there is photography, and later still moving pictures.
Photographs and drawings/paintings became source material for movies.
Thus there was animation/cartoons and live-action films.
Relatively modern discoveries in science and mathematics ultimately resluted in the rapid development of computers.
All previous entertainment media could be channeled through computers and most importantly computers became increasingly interactive.. faster interaction too.
Video Games began with the development of computers.
Infact the improvements of media within computers was a microcosm of the slow human development of these things, with text then pictures then movies.
Board games, playing cards, sports and others have been around for great lengths of time. So I think that what a game is, despite all this knowledge is really uncertain. Perhaps you know it when you see it.
Fundamental to games is interaction. That is the ability to affect the state of the game. Can games be summed up as interactive entertainment then? I guess so.
The latest technological leap is undoubtedly radiowave broadcasts and even more recently the internet which effectively allow collaborative viewing and interaction forms of entertainment.
Nintendo are apparently not concerned with focusing on internet, but not to worry.
In japan, without the passive entertainment of manga what would anime be about?
Addiction is always harmful, just for being addiction. In the same way that abuse is harmful just for being abuse. Video games are a great source of entertainment but also entertainment is a vast thing and there is more to life than being entertained, and even to creating entertainment.
So in conclusion, don't forget to make the most of life.
