Oct 14

Pretend & Pinball: Playstates Roots in the Midwest

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Playstates
Being born in the Canadian Midwest (Winnipeg) I assumed that critical milestones in recreation and play took place in larger East and West coast metropolitan centres. It was the development of the computer industry that created this assumption. East-coast university hackers helped create the earliest game prototypes on mainframes while the West-coast hobbyist hackers helped create Arcades/Consoles/PCs. I thought that the middle of the continent was about farming and tornadoes. As I did research on Playstates and their origins, I discovered for myself an unexpected revelation. The Midwest (USA) played a huge role in the development of new kinds of play and recreation. Here is a list of important Playstate developments that took place in the Midwest:   Year Location Details 1866 Macomb, IL Lizzie Maggie is born and would later create the Landlord Game in 1904, the predecessor to Monopoly. (Games) 1927 Chicago, IL Gottlieb is formed and begins manufacturing pinball machines (Games) 1931 Chicago, IL Bally is formed and begins manufacturing pinball machines (Games) 1938 Chicago, IL Gary Gygax is born and would later help create D&D in 1974 (Role-Play & Games) 1943 Detroit, MI Diana Paxson is born and would later help create the SCA in 1966; […]
Oct 07

Imaginary Performance in Playstates

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Playstates, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
An open letter to Chris Bateman responding to his blog-letter The Language of Games at Only A Game as part of the Republic of Bloggers. Feel welcome to provide your own input via the Comments!   Dear Chris, I agree with you that language is important and is part of the reason we have some of the turf wars taking place in Game Development. By not agreeing on terms, limiting if you will, we end up arguing over things that should have been settled. In the music industry, we see accepted practices like pitch; keys, and time signatures. Yet despite a common language and tool set, we see new music being created all of the time. Limits help creativity. How else can we explain that with 26 letters we can write so much? I think that placing limits can paradoxically lead to a kind of liberation. Below I respond to specific points in your blog-letter:   You wrote: ” I personally find this a fascinating perspective, particularly because I have not encountered this before.” I find this to be surprising since I consider my point that games are about the play of measurement to be a elucidation on your definition […]
Sep 27

Response to Are Videogames Made of Rules?

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory, Republic of Bloggers 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy, Games Analysis, Playstates
Over at Chris Bateman’s ihobo blog a great discussion was had relating to Video Games. Are Videogames Made of Rules? I inserted my two cents as you can see below.   Hi Chris, I believe you have teased out a continuum of how humans interface with each other or solitarily with play. There is little doubt in my mind that Rules are required, but the fidelity they hold depends on what people want to get out of their play experience! Which is exactly your point. I believe that Rules are just one part of what I call the Imnersion Accords. I think you will find the following blog post validates your perspective: https://journals.billo.ws/the-immersion-accords/ As many have said in the comments, Rules are more tightly bound to when competition is a focus of play. What I would argue is that Rules exist to track measurement, which is what is unique to Games. You roll two dice, not three, or one when you play Monopoly. Forcing one player to roll a different amount of dice is unfair. But why is it unfair? Because the measurement of movement is so critical to the game space of a board game and all participants should […]
Sep 16

Playstate Firsts in Video Games / Video Plays

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Playstates
I’ve made arguments in previous posts (Why Games are about Play of Measurement and Measurement as Power) that Games join naturally with computers (which are about measurement and calculation). It is this alignment that has resulted in the assumption and innocent misnomer that all Video Games are Games. Because Games are about Measurement, they are only one of the five Playstates; the others being Toys/Playgrounds, Role-Play, Puzzles, and Sports. The fact is that Video Games are much broader than Games. It is an innocent mistake though. The first Video Games were primarily were about Play of Measurement and Competition. They were not Video Role-Plays, Video Toys-Playgrounds, or Video Puzzles. Tic-Tac-Toe from 1950 was the first ever Computer Game, with its play of measurement being about staking out territory on a nine-square grid. Space War! from 1962 was a competitive Game/Sport that played a huge influence on the industry. The very first Arcade games were inspired by Space War! Yet it is important to not neglect the other Playstates that are playable on computers: Toys/Playgrounds, Role-Plays, and Puzzles are all part of the history but did not have the fame that the Games/Sports Playstates did. Cheekily, I would say these other […]
Sep 09

Finding the Playstates in Books

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Marshall McLuhan, Playstates
I stated before that books are a passive media. When you think of how we typically interact with books, it requires a different set of skills and abilities than what skills we use when we play an instrument or engage with a board game. Books are a passive media primarily, but there are exceptions! Marshall McLuchlan said that the medium (the singular of media) is the message. His insight was revolutionary at the time, and I believe I found a new demonstration of this insight. It occurred when I applied the Playstates model as a lens to evaluate how we interact with media, and in this post’s focus, books in particular. The five different Playstates are found in the medium of books. Below I have listed examples of all five and this has forced me to rethink my stated position that books are inherently passive. It is quite possible that there is a continuum of activeness to passivity found in all media. I will need to take some time to explore that further!   Toys/Playgrounds: The Play of Toys and Playgrounds which encompasses free-form engagement, temporary rules, and exploration can be found in Whiteman Press-Out books. Coming in the form […]
Sep 02

When Play Leads to Games and Sports

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Playstates
One of the unique aspects about Playstates is the distinction between what a Game is and what a Sport is. I have discovered that not all Games are Sports, but all Sports are Games. Games are the Play of Measurement, while Sports are the Play of Competition. The rules that determine how that competition is structured is based around a meta-system play of measurement. So let’s take a look at Soccer/Football. You win the game by kicking a ball into a goal. This is a play of measurement and is what I call a Game. The sport aspect of soccer is that a competing player is trying to take that ball away from you and score the ball into a different goal. Overlay that competition with a larger meta-game and meta-sport of win/loss/tie record, leader-boards, scoring leaders, playoff elimination, and championships it becomes evident that Sport is more than just a Game. Another distinction is that Sports have Win and Loss states while Games do not need to have one. Old-time arcade games like Space Invaders, Pac-man could not be won. You kept playing until you ran out of lives or money. Games also do not need to have a […]
Jun 24

Measurement as Power

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Games Analysis, Playstates
I’ve read a few articles and posts criticizing Video Games being too much about Power Fantasy. The dynamics found in leveling a character, getting better gear, defeating an enemy, accumulating resources, exploiting an environment, etc. is all about dominating something else and the 4X genre would be its marquee. The aesthetics contained in Power Fantasy is a turn off to a minority of players, who fall into the trap of criticizing the entire industry unfairly. The reason why I say it is unfair is because I believe there is a very valid reason why Video Games naturally gravitate towards Power Fantasy. Video Games tend towards Power Fantasy because Games are about the Play of Measurement and measurement is essentially another term for power. This was beautifully captured in Carroll Quigley’s The Evolution Of Civilizations which talked about how the first hierarchies of civilization arose by their ability to track the measurements of the stars: Page 211-213 ... The chief tasks of the priesthoods, at the later date, beyond their obvious religious functions, were the study of the stars and the keeping of the records of celestial observations. From this evidence we might infer that, at some remote date, some unsung […]
Jun 17

The Playstates of Fandom

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Playstates
Playstates can be found as distinct activities within the Fandom industry. I call it Followship and would define it as the act of collecting, collating, and consuming a Media Franchise. It is an elaboration on the concept of Fandom using the five Playstates. We can find Playstates in Fandom with the following examples:   Toys/Playgrounds – toys and fan clubs/conventions. Role-Plays – fanboys/fangirls and cosplays. Puzzles – fan-fiction and plot/canon holes. Games – collecting the Media Franchise. Sports – fans who root for favorite media franchise to be popular.   While Fandom is the industry, Followship is the distinct behaviors of play found within it.
Jun 12

The Immersion Accords

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Change of Mind, Comprehensive Analysis, Playstates
After posting about Playstates, a commentator on Twitter said that he wanted to see more discussion about how Playstates relates to core concepts like Interactivity, Narrative, etc. I had intentionally left out those concepts because I wanted to stay away from a dead-end debate. Many game designers and developers have argued that Games and Video Games in particular have a unique monopoly with those concepts. I admit that I thought so as well but now I see it in a new way after writing this article. The problem I think is that we have assigned those concepts to Games and Video Games because that is where they are most overtly demonstrated. When we think Game, we automatically think about how to play its rules, how we interact with it, how the rules affects our agency, and the underlying mechanics that makes the Game run. The push by some Video Game designers to see Narratives as being critical to a Game is a relatively recent occurrence. But similarly to how definitions can be broad but not deep enough, I think the same limitation has occurred here. We have captured the obvious, low-hanging fruit.  While an arcade game has easy to see […]
Jun 11

Response to Defining Play, Game, and Gaming

by Chris Billows in Hobby Heedings, Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy, Playstates
Over at DavidMullich.com I shared a couple of comments relating to his definitions on Games. #1 Hi David! I appreciate your definition “a playful activity with rules and goals.” but do think it does not go deep enough. A jigsaw puzzle has rules and a goal, but its not a game (which is why its called a puzzle). A role-playing game also has a rules and goals, but its not a game like chess is. I’ve come up with a definition to games that satisfies my mind and I would like to share it. “Games are about the Play of Measurement”. The measurement can be physics (3D shooters), grid (board games), tractable (CRPGs), etc. I’ve included a link to my theory blog post so would welcome your thoughts. Best regards, Chris #2 I agree with you. A Jigsaw puzzle is not a game, but could be made a game by adding a time limit (complete the puzzle in x amount of time). I believe you would say that this is an example of conflict (race vs the clock) while I would see it as a Puzzle made into a Game by the addition of the Play of Measurement (time being […]
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