CNN Fails at Gaming

[sevin0seven]

this reminds me when i went to gamestop and these two kids were talking about Wii uDraw. one kid says "we can't get that, that's for Wii U". so they went and look for another Wii game...

[MrPopo]

Surely the iOS counts for something?

By that definition, the calculator is a gaming console because you can have games on it. Neither are *meant* for gaming, yet games get on it anyways.

For realz? The iOS isn't meant for gaming? Not primarily so, but it's just as much as a gaming platform as any other computer. Apple even has something for it called the Game Center. Nope, not meant for gaming.

Because after-market applications define the function of a device. Apple developed iOS to get into the smartphone business. The fact that people picked up on the fact that you can make a certain type of game on it easily doesn't change that fact. Similarly, MS-DOS wasn't designed with games in mind (but since it gives you direct hardware access you can do whatever the hardware is capable of), and it is painfully obvious that Windows 1-3 weren't designed for games (a lot of programming restrictions make it extremely hard to do real-time games on it). It wasn't until Windows 95 and the DirectX API that Microsoft decided that enabling people to create games was worth investing money in.

[o.pwuaioc]

For realz? The iOS isn't meant for gaming? Not primarily so, but it's just as much as a gaming platform as any other computer. Apple even has something for it called the Game Center. Nope, not meant for gaming.

Because after-market applications define the function of a device. Apple developed iOS to get into the smartphone business. The fact that people picked up on the fact that you can make a certain type of game on it easily doesn't change that fact. Similarly, MS-DOS wasn't designed with games in mind (but since it gives you direct hardware access you can do whatever the hardware is capable of), and it is painfully obvious that Windows 1-3 weren't designed for games (a lot of programming restrictions make it extremely hard to do real-time games on it). It wasn't until Windows 95 and the DirectX API that Microsoft decided that enabling people to create games was worth investing money in.

The function of the device is to use apps. Games are apps. Therefore games are part of the function of the device. If you want to argue that games in particular are not part of the primary function, then maybe you have an argument, but then you're going into subjective territory here. Plenty of people purchased the PS3 for its Blu-ray player, does it cease being a game console if they're not using it for anything but watching Blu-ray discs? Even better, the PS3 was not designed primarily for playing DVDs, but are you really going to argue that it's not a DVD player?

[MrPopo]

For realz? The iOS isn't meant for gaming? Not primarily so, but it's just as much as a gaming platform as any other computer. Apple even has something for it called the Game Center. Nope, not meant for gaming.

Because after-market applications define the function of a device. Apple developed iOS to get into the smartphone business. The fact that people picked up on the fact that you can make a certain type of game on it easily doesn't change that fact. Similarly, MS-DOS wasn't designed with games in mind (but since it gives you direct hardware access you can do whatever the hardware is capable of), and it is painfully obvious that Windows 1-3 weren't designed for games (a lot of programming restrictions make it extremely hard to do real-time games on it). It wasn't until Windows 95 and the DirectX API that Microsoft decided that enabling people to create games was worth investing money in.

The function of the device is to use apps. Games are apps. Therefore games are part of the function of the device. If you want to argue that games in particular are not part of the primary function, then maybe you have an argument, but then you're going into subjective territory here. Plenty of people purchased the PS3 for its Blu-ray player, does it cease being a game console if they're not using it for anything but watching Blu-ray discs? Even better, the PS3 was not designed primarily for playing DVDs, but are you really going to argue that it's not a DVD player?

Games and apps are two very different beasts which fall under the general umbrella of "executable software". I'll again point to my example of Windows 3.1, which had a fantastic suite of productivity software but was absolutely terrible if you wanted to play games; all the games of the era had you switch back to DOS.

No, the PS3 doesn't stop being a game console if a particular consumer only uses it for Blu-ray. But that doesn't make it a Blu-ray player. The same with the PS2: it's a game console that can also play DVDs, not a DVD player.

Now, if you want to make a distinction between game console and multimedia device, that's a different argument. You'd have something like:

Console:
NES
SNES
SMS
Genesis
32x
TG-16
N64
GCN

Multimedia Device:
Sega CD
TG-CD
PSX
Saturn
PS2
PS3
360
Wii
iOS
PC
3DO
Pippin

But I don't think that's the way to do it. I think a game console is a device who's primary purpose is to play video games. It may or may not have ancillary functions, such as movie playback. By contrast, a computer is a device who's primary purpose is to run general purpose applications. It may or may not have the power and APIs necessary to have good gaming experiences. So iOS devices are computers, while the PS3 is a game console.

[o.pwuaioc]

Games and apps are two very different beasts which fall under the general umbrella of "executable software".

Funny then that today Tetris is described as the "killer app" for the Game Boy.

No, the PS3 doesn't stop being a game console if a particular consumer only uses it for Blu-ray. But that doesn't make it a Blu-ray player. The same with the PS2: it's a game console that can also play DVDs, not a DVD player.

I'm pretty sure you're saying that e.g. a guy can't be both a spouse and a teacher. A PS2 plays DVDs, therefore it's a DVD player. If you disagree with something so basic, you're just trolling.

By contrast, a computer is a device who's primary purpose is to run general purpose applications. It may or may not have the power and APIs necessary to have good gaming experiences. So iOS devices are computers, while the PS3 is a game console.

So a gaming rig is a...

[Hobie-wan]

Funny then that today Tetris is described as the "killer app" for the Game Boy.

Hey now, just because the media latches onto a buzzword and beats it into the ground doesn't mean they're using it properly.

applications package - N - computing a specialized program or set of specialized programs and associated documentation designed to carry out a particular task

Writing a letter, balancing your checkbook, and reading your mail are tasks. I wouldn't classify getting the powerup and winning the game as completing a task. Well maybe if it is a game that is particularly grindy.

[o.pwuaioc]

Funny then that today Tetris is described as the "killer app" for the Game Boy.

Hey now, just because the media latches onto a buzzword and beats it into the ground doesn't mean they're using it properly.

applications package - N - computing a specialized program or set of specialized programs and associated documentation designed to carry out a particular task

Writing a letter, balancing your checkbook, and reading your mail are tasks. I wouldn't classify getting the powerup and winning the game as completing a task. Well maybe if it is a game that is particularly grindy.

Why not? It's an arbitrary distinction.

[Hobie-wan]

Funny then that today Tetris is described as the "killer app" for the Game Boy.

Hey now, just because the media latches onto a buzzword and beats it into the ground doesn't mean they're using it properly.

applications package - N - computing a specialized program or set of specialized programs and associated documentation designed to carry out a particular task

Writing a letter, balancing your checkbook, and reading your mail are tasks. I wouldn't classify getting the powerup and winning the game as completing a task. Well maybe if it is a game that is particularly grindy.

Why not? It's an arbitrary distinction.

Finishing a task in an application to me ends with a product. A letter, balanced spreadsheet, or perhaps a sent email. At least on my machine I leave applications in the default Program Files folder, separate games into their own folder, and I furthermore separate Utilities out as they often do not create hard output, but modify settings or act on data that I do not change (such as Winamp).

[o.pwuaioc]

Many games output save files - do those count? I still say the distinction is completely arbitrary. In the end, it's all executable code, and by now we've moved far off topic.

[MrPopo]

No, the PS3 doesn't stop being a game console if a particular consumer only uses it for Blu-ray. But that doesn't make it a Blu-ray player. The same with the PS2: it's a game console that can also play DVDs, not a DVD player.

I'm pretty sure you're saying that e.g. a guy can't be both a spouse and a teacher. A PS2 plays DVDs, therefore it's a DVD player. If you disagree with something so basic, you're just trolling.

You're confusing "device that can play DVDs" with "DVD player".

By contrast, a computer is a device who's primary purpose is to run general purpose applications. It may or may not have the power and APIs necessary to have good gaming experiences. So iOS devices are computers, while the PS3 is a game console.

So a gaming rig is a...

Computer. The primary purpose is still to run general purpose applications. It's just like how someone who only uses their PS3 for Blu-ray movies still owns a game console.