Playstates

Playstates is a general leisure and hobby theory written by Chris Billows. Playstates recognizes that various kinds of play exists, each possessing its own aesthetic. Playstates are different from entertainment and art because they engage more human senses through tool mastery plus the development of experience and wisdom in play.

“Playstates are a range of diverse activities and tools that includes Toys, Role-Plays, Puzzles, Games, and Sports that shares a playful state of mind, tool use and mastery, and a human need for experiencing understanding.”

Playstates started its genesis as Gamestories.

Articles

Oct 30

Playstates in the Visual Arts

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy

I am beginning to recognize Playstates not only being a sorting system for play, it has also become a lens by which to discern different cultural activities. After seeing the Playstates in Books I now see that Playstates can even be applied to the world of Visual Art. Marshall McLuhan 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 apply the Playstates model as a lens to evaluate how we interact with media, and in this post’s focus, showing how the five different Playstates are found in the medium of visual art. 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! Let’s explore examples of Playstates in the Visual Arts: Toygrounds or the Play of Exploration – Museums with their artifacts to admire and Galleries with their pieces to purchase. Role-Plays or the Play […]

Aug 11

Jung on Art, Games, and Fantasy

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Games and Jung, Playstates

“One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves.” – C.G. Jung What does Jung mean in this quote? Why would other despise the invention of a good game? Is it that games require instincts and ‘men’ are in denial of said instincts? Is it because it is one of the hardest things to do? I can only imagine that Artists will resent this quote. I will agree with Jung. I think that good games are very hard to create. They are hard to create in large part because they requires that the designer understand that instinctive something about themselves. Its fascinating that Jung did not say that good games required good rules or mechanics. Instead he said it was about self-knowledge, and not just any kind of self-knowledge – instinctive self-knowledge. But isn’t Art also about self-knowledge? A way to explore one’s self? Jung had this to say: “Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person […]

Jun 03

The History of Game Development

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game History, Games Analysis

Based on my categorization exercise in my last post, I’ve gleaned what I consider to be a synopsis of Game Development history. It starts off appropriately as a fun and experimental exercise on the University campuses. 1961 HobbyDev GameDev that is for fun and experimentation, not intended for commercial purpose Prime example: In 1961 we see the release of Space War! by Steve Russell, in collaboration with Martin Graetz and Wayne Wiitanen. In a separate realm, where software development was serious business (as early software developers worked for Defence Contractors) we see how Ralph Baer and his Sander’s Associates carved out a niche within his larger company to explore GameDev as a commercial venture. 1967 ProDev GameDev is sold as a commercial product, with fun being its market need Prime example: Begun in 1967 up to its release in 1972, the Magnavox Odyssey was the first commercial Video Game Console. Ralph Baer, Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch spent those years creating the first games for the Brown Box, the Odyssey prototype. What these two ecosystems share is that they are both closed systems. The HobbyDev was restricted to only people who could attend University while ProDev was limited to the […]

Jun 02

GameDev Ecology

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy, Games Analysis

I have been operating a part-time GameDev sideline since 2004. I started working with a local GameDev to bring to the internet a game inspired by Atari’s arcade game Warlords. Like most projects, it never came to be. Now I have been working on acquiring and designing/developing a series of online game IPs. You can see more through my business links. Because I enjoy the mental exercise of categorizing entities, I got thinking about how GameDev has its own ecology that is more nuanced than seeing just AAA and Indie Devs. I tweeted about it and got some responses that got me thinking more. Here is my summarized thoughts: ProDevs are those typically professionally trained programmers, artists, designers who work for a company. They are either Employees or Contractors. They belong to large companies that spends millions of dollars and take years to release. Then comes the IndieDevs, made up of three distinct groups: In-Market (released one or more games and is seeking continued profitability), Pre-Market (either working on their IP or trying to find their market); and Never-Market (these people take on a game product that they can’t realize and it never materializes). The difference between a Pre-Market […]

May 05

Playstates Theory Definition – Version 1.0 (Apr/18)

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Games Analysis, Playstates

I’ve updated and enhanced my Playstates Definition below. My plan is to continue to develop this theory and eventually establish a website dedicated to demonstrating how the theory works. Playstates is a theory that explains how different types of play coexist, combine together, and are recursive. The different types of play are each defined by a singular core trait that acts as a both a distinguishing and complementing characteristic. At present there are five different kinds or states of play. Toygrounds Role-Plays Puzzles Games Sports Each of the five Playstates can be defined as “The Play of …” which represents the core characteristic. These are as follows: Toygrounds – The Play of Exploration. Toys – objects that are played with freely and with transient rules Playgrounds – spaces that are played with freely and with transient rules Role-Plays – The Play of Behavior. Conventional – behavior that comes naturally Subtle – behavior that contains hidden meaning Subversive – behavior that challenges conventions Fresh – a mix of characteristics that acts in harmony Campy – exaggeration of characteristics for effect Mirroring – mimicking behaviors of others Puzzles – The Play of Matching. Symbols – letters or […]