Non-game
Non-games are a class of software on the border between video games and toys. The original term "non-game
game" was coined by late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who describes it as "a form of entertainment that
really doesn't have a winner, or even a real conclusion".[1] Will Wright had previously used the term "software
toy" for the same purpose.[2] The main difference between non-games and traditional video games is the lack
of structured goals, objectives, and challenges.[3] This allows the player a greater degree of self-expression
through freeform play, since they can set up their own goals to achieve.
Contents
History
See also
References
External links
History
Non-games have existed since the early days of video games, although there hasn't been a specific term for
them. One of the first is Atari Inc.’s 1977 Surround, a two-player snake game for the Atari 2600, which
contains a free-form drawing mode called "Video Graffiti." Later examples which were sold as games but
present a less structured experience are Alien Garden (Epyx, 1982), Moondust (Creative Software, 1983),
Worms? (one of the 1983 launch titles from Electronic Arts), I, Robot (Atari, 1983) which contains an
"ungame mode" called "Doodle City," and Jeff Minter's Psychedelia (Llamasoft, 1984), which is an
interactive light synthesizer.
Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set (Electronic Arts, 1983) popularized software where building something
is more entertaining than playing the finished product. To a lesser extent, some games became construction sets
through the inclusion of level editors, like Doug Smith's Lode Runner (Broderbund, 1983), Ron Rosen's Mr.
Robot and His Robot Factory (Datamost, 1983), and John Anderson's Rally Speedway (Adventure
International, 1983). Other more proper construction sets followed, such as EA's Adventure Construction Set
(1984) and Racing Destruction Set (1985).
In January 1984, Joel Gluck presented a simple toy called Bounce in his game design column in ANALOG
Computing.[4] Bounce lets users draw low-resolution lines, then release a block that leaves a permanent trail as
it moves across the screen, making patterns as it reflects off of obstacles. The program is specifically designed
not to have goals or scorekeeping, other than what's in the user's head. Bounce was revisited several times in
ANALOG, including a version which allows multiple active blocks at once.[5]
The 1989 simulation game SimCity was called a software toy by its creator Will Wright, since there is no
ultimate objective in the main game; scenarios with objectives existed in some incarnations of the game, such
as SimCity 2000, but these were not the focus.[6]
Non-games have been particularly successful on the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms, where a broad range of
Japanese titles have appealed to a growing number of casual gamers.[7][8]
See also
Video games as art
References
1. IGN: GDC 2005: Iwata Keynote Transcript (http://cube.ign.com/articles/595/595089p3.html),
March 2005
2. "I want my software toy" (http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2008/09/simanimals.h
tml). Brainy Gamer. September 25, 2008.
3. Francisco Queiroz: Insular, Critical Appraisal (https://web.archive.org/web/20081221110027/htt
p://www.gamasutra.com/education/theses/20051202/chico_criticalappraisal.pdf). September
2005
4. Gluck, Joel (January 1984). "Our Game" (https://archive.org/details/analog-computing-magazin
e-15). ANALOG Computing (15).
5. Gluck, Joel (February 1985). "More Fun with Bounce!" (http://analog.katorlegaz.com/analog_19
85-02_120dpi_jpeg_cropped/analog_1985-02_043.html). ANALOG Computing (27).
6. The History of Civilization at GamaSutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1523/the_hist
ory_of_civilization.php?page=2)
7. Gpara.com (http://www.gpara.com/ranking/mediacreatebn/20070523brain.php): non-games
sales figures in Japan, May 2007 (in Japanese)
8. IGN: Non-Game Flood: Twelve more non games are set for the Japanese DS (http://ds.ign.com/
articles/719/719258p1.html), July 2006
External links
gamesindustry.biz: When is a game not a game? (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/when-i
s-a-game-not-a-game)
Lost Garden: Nintendogs: The case of the non-game that barked like a game (http://www.lostga
rden.com/2005/06/nintendogs-case-of-non-game-that.html)
Qubrix Brain Twister - a 3D combinatorics toy. (http://www.vrinternal.com/qubrix/index.html)
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This page was last edited on 19 October 2020, at 19:50 (UTC).
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