Editing Video game (section)

==Terminology==
The term "video game" was developed to describe [[electronic game]]s played on a [[Display device|video display]] rather than on a [[teletype printer]], [[loudspeaker|audio speaker]], or similar device.{{sfn|Wolf|2007|pages=3–7}} This also distinguished from [[handheld electronic game]]s such as ''[[Merlin (console)|Merlin]],'' which commonly used LED lights for indicators not in combination for imaging purposes.<ref name="wolf medium chp1"/>

"Computer game" may also be used as a descriptor, as all these types of games essentially require the use of a computer processor; in some cases, it is used interchangeably with "video game".<ref name="vg theory reader intro">{{cite book | title = The Video Game Theory Reader | first1 = Mark | last1 = Wolf | first2= Bernard | last2= Perron | chapter = Introduction: An Introduction To The Video Game Theory | date = 2003 | publisher = [[Routledge]], [[Taylor & Francis Group]] }}</ref> Particularly in the United Kingdom and Western Europe, this is common due to the historic relevance of domestically produced microcomputers. Other terms used include digital game, for example, by the [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-15 |title=Film, Television and Digital Games, Australia, 2015-16 financial year |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/technology-and-innovation/film-television-and-digital-games-australia/latest-release |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |language=en}}</ref> The term "computer game" can also refer to [[PC games]], which are played primarily on [[personal computer]]s or other flexible hardware systems, to distinguish them from [[console game]]s, [[arcade game]]s, or [[mobile game]]s.<ref name="wolf medium chp1" />{{sfn|Wolf|2007|pages=3–7}} 

Other terms, such as "television game", "telegame", or "TV game", had been used in the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly for [[video game console|home gaming console]]s that rely on connection to a [[television set]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wills |first=John |title=Gamer Nation: Video Games and American Culture |date=2019 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins Press]] |isbn=9781421428697 |page=5 |oclc=1088892215}}</ref> However, these terms were also used interchangeably with "video game" in the 1970s, primarily due to "video" and "television" being synonymous.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Michael Z. |title=Atari Age: The Emergence of Video Games in America |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=9780262035712 |location=Cambridge, MA |page=45 |language=en |lccn=2016028476}}</ref> In Japan, where consoles like the Odyssey were first imported and then made within the country by the large television manufacturers such as [[Toshiba]] and [[Sharp Corporation]], such games are known as "TV games", "TV geemu", or "terebi geemu".<ref name="geemu">{{cite journal|first=Martin|last=Picard|title=The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games|journal=International Journal of Computer Game Research|date=December 2013|volume=13|issue=2|url=http://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard|access-date=19 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624050100/http://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard | archive-date=24 June 2015|url-status=live }}</ref> The term "TV game" is still commonly used into the 21st century.<ref name="geemu" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005}}</ref> "Electronic game" may also be used to refer to video games, but this also incorporates devices like early handheld electronic games that lack any video output.<ref name="vg theory reader intro" />

The first appearance of the term "video game" emerged around 1973. The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] cited a 10 November 1973 ''[[BusinessWeek]]'' article as the first printed use of the term.<ref>{{cite news | title = A red-hot market for video games | work = [[BusinessWeek]] | date = 10 November 1973 | pages = 212 }}</ref> Though Bushnell believed the term came from a vending magazine review of ''Computer Space'' in 1971,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/404/vcg-interview-nolan-bushnell-founder-of-atari | title = VC&G Interview: Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari | first = Benj | last = Edwards | date = 12 December 2007 | access-date = 3 August 2020 | work = Vintage Computing | archive-date = 23 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200723130632/http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/404/vcg-interview-nolan-bushnell-founder-of-atari | url-status = live }}</ref> a review of the major vending magazines ''[[Vending Times]]'' and ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' showed that the term may have come even earlier, appearing first in a letter dated July 10, 1972. In the letter, Bushnell uses the term "video game" twice.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-etymology-of-term-video-game.html?m=1 | title=The Golden Age Arcade Historian: The etymology of "video game" | date=3 April 2015 }}</ref> Per video game historian Keith Smith, the sudden appearance suggested that the term had been proposed and readily adopted by those in the field. Around March 1973, Ed Adlum, who ran ''Cashbox''{{'}}s coin-operated section until 1972 and then later founded ''RePlay Magazine'', covering the coin-op amusement field, in 1975, used the term in an article in March 1973. In a September 1982 issue of ''RePlay'', Adlum is credited with first naming these games as "video games": "RePlay's Eddie Adlum worked at 'Cash Box' when 'TV games' first came out. The personalities in those days were Bushnell, his sales manager Pat Karns, and a handful of other 'TV game' manufacturers like Henry Leyser and the McEwan brothers. It seemed awkward to call their products 'TV games', so borrowing a word from ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s description of movie jukeboxes, Adlum started to refer to this new breed of amusement machine as 'video games.' The phrase stuck."{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Adlum explained in 1985 that up until the early 1970s, [[amusement arcades]] typically had non-video [[arcade games]] such as [[pinball]] machines and [[electro-mechanical game]]s. With the arrival of video games in arcades during the early 1970s, there was initially some confusion in the arcade industry over what term should be used to describe the new games. He "wrestled with descriptions of this type of game," alternating between "TV game" and "television game" but "finally woke up one day" and said, "What the hell... video game!"<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Adlum |first=Eddie |date=November 1985 |title=The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-11-issue-no.-2-november-1985-600DPI/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2011%2C%20Issue%20No.%202%20-%20November%201985/page/152 |magazine=RePlay |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=134–175 (152)}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023}}</ref>

===Definition===
While many games readily fall into a clear, well-understood definition of video games, new genres and innovations in game development have raised the question of what are the essential factors of a video game that separate the medium from other forms of entertainment.

The introduction of [[interactive film]]s in the 1980s with games like ''[[Dragon's Lair]]'', featured games with [[full motion video]] played off a form of media but only limited user interaction.{{sfn|Perron|2013|pages=259–280}} This had required a means to distinguish these games from more traditional board games that happen to also use external media, such as the ''Clue VCR Mystery Game'' which required players to watch VCR clips between turns. To distinguish between these two, video games are considered to require some interactivity that affects the visual display.<ref name="wolf medium chp1">{{cite book | last = Wolf | first = Mark JP | title = The Medium of the Video Game | publisher = [[University of Texas Press]] | year = 2001 | chapter = Chapter 1: Video game as the medium | pages = 13–33 | isbn = 9780292791503 }}</ref>

Most video games tend to feature some type of victory or winning conditions, such as a scoring mechanism or a final [[boss (video game)|boss]] fight. The introduction of [[walking simulator]]s ([[adventure game]]s that allow for exploration but lack any objectives) like ''[[Gone Home]]'', and [[empathy game]]s (video games that tend to focus on emotion) like ''[[That Dragon, Cancer]]'' brought the idea of games that did not have any such type of winning condition and raising the question of whether these were actually games.<ref>{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Nicole |date=11 November 2017 |title=A brief history of the "walking simulator," gaming's most detested genre |url=https://www.salon.com/2017/11/11/a-brief-history-of-the-walking-simulator-gamings-most-detested-genre/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824042010/https://www.salon.com/2017/11/11/a-brief-history-of-the-walking-simulator-gamings-most-detested-genre/ |archive-date=24 August 2020 |accessdate=12 September 2021 |work=[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]}}</ref> These are still commonly justified as video games as they provide a game world that the player can interact with by some means.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Zimmermann | first1 = Felix | first2 = Christian | last2= Huberts | title = From walking simulator to ambience action game | journal = Press Start | volume = 5 | issue = 2 | date = 2019 | pages = 29–50 }}</ref>

The lack of any industry definition for a video game by 2021 was an issue during the case ''[[Epic Games v. Apple]]'' which dealt with video games offered on Apple's [[App Store (iOS)|iOS App Store]]. Among concerns raised were games like ''[[Fortnite Creative]]'' and ''[[Roblox]]'' which created [[metaverse]]s of interactive experiences, and whether the larger game and the individual experiences themselves were games or not in relation to fees that Apple charged for the App Store. Judge [[Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers]], recognizing that there was yet an industry standard definition for a video game, established for her ruling that "At a bare minimum, video games appear to require some level of interactivity or involvement between the player and the medium" compared to passive entertainment like film, music, and television, and "videogames are also generally graphically rendered or animated, as opposed to being recorded live or via motion capture as in films or television".<ref name="pcgamer epic case def">{{cite web | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/videogame-definition-legal/ | title = Epic v Apple judge grapples with the big question: What is a videogame? | first = Joseph | last = Knoop | date = 10 September 2021 | accessdate = 10 September 2021 | work = [[PC Gamer]] | archive-date = 15 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210915140722/https://www.pcgamer.com/videogame-definition-legal/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Rogers still concluded that what is a video game "appears highly eclectic and diverse".<ref name="pcgamer epic case def"/>

===Video game terminology===
{{see also|Glossary of video game terms}}
[[File:Freedoom002_01.png|thumb|right|''[[Freedoom]]'', a [[video game clone|clone]] of the [[first-person shooter]] ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]''. Common elements include a [[Heads-up display (video games)|heads-up display]] along the bottom that includes the player's remaining [[Health (game terminology)|health]] and ammunition.]]
The gameplay experience varies radically between video games, but many common elements exist. Most games will launch into a [[title screen]] and give the player a chance to review options such as the number of players before starting a game. Most games are divided into [[Level (video games)|levels]] which the player must work the avatar through, [[Score (game)|scoring points]], collecting [[power-up]]s to boost the avatar's innate attributes, all while either using special attacks to defeat enemies or moves to avoid them. This information is relayed to the player through a type of on-screen [[user interface]] such as a [[Heads-up display (video games)|heads-up display]] atop the rendering of the game itself. Taking damage will deplete their avatar's [[Health (game terminology)|health]], and if that falls to zero or if the avatar otherwise falls into an impossible-to-escape location, the player will lose one of their [[Life (video games)|lives]]. Should they lose all their lives without gaining an [[extra life|extra life or "1-UP"]], then the player will reach the "[[game over]]" screen. Many levels as well as the game's finale end with a type of [[boss (video games)|boss]] character the player must defeat to continue on. In some games, intermediate points between levels will offer [[save point]]s where the player can create a [[saved game]] on storage media to restart the game should they lose all their lives or need to stop the game and restart at a later time. These also may be in the form of a passage that can be written down and reentered at the title screen.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Product flaws include [[software bug]]s which can manifest as [[glitch]]es which may be [[Exploit (online gaming)|exploited]] by the player; this is often the foundation of [[speedrun]]ning a video game. These bugs, along with [[cheat codes]], [[Easter egg (media)|Easter eggs]], and other hidden secrets that were intentionally added to the game can also be exploited.<ref name="WashPost">{{cite news| title = In Game World, Cheaters Proudly Prosper| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082701059.html| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]| author = Vargas, Jose Antonio| date = 28 August 2006| access-date = 24 October 2007| url-status=live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110820080450/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082701059.html| archive-date = 20 August 2011| df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="KonamiCode">{{cite web |author= |title=Cracking the Code: The Konami Code |url=http://www.1up.com/features/cracking-code-konami-code |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522201923/http://www.1up.com/features/cracking-code-konami-code |archive-date=22 May 2011 |access-date=24 October 2007 |website=[[1UP.com]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Wolf">{{cite book | title=Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming | publisher=ABC-CLIO | author=Wolf, Mark J.P. | year=2012 | pages=177 | isbn=978-0-313-37936-9}}</ref><ref name="Patterns">Björk, Staffan; Holopainen, Jussi (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=IFQfyODK4wAC&pg=PA235 ''Patterns In Game Design''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505124122/https://books.google.com/books?id=IFQfyODK4wAC&pg=PA235#v=onepage&f=false |date=5 May 2016 }}. Charles River Media. p. 235. {{ISBN|978-1-58450-354-5}}. Retrieved 25 January 2013.</ref> On some consoles, [[cheat cartridge]]s allow players to execute these cheat codes, and user-developed [[trainer (games)|trainers]] allow similar bypassing for computer software games. Both of which might make the game easier, give the player additional power-ups, or change the appearance of the game.<ref name="KonamiCode"/>