Playstates

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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

Dec 15

Playstates Theory Update

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

I recently finished reading Brian Upton’s book Aesthetics of Play and I found it containing many insights into Games Design which also can be applied into our understanding about theory of Play. Of particular interest for me was his description about the emotional state of anticipation being a form of mental play. This anticipatory plan he then applies to our interaction with media like books, film, theater, and music. Our delight in anticipating what will happen next in these linear medias is still an active form of play according to Upton and I can’t help but agree with him. This prompted me to consider updating my Playstates theory since I first wrote about it in May 2017 and established its first version in April 2018. When I wrote these posts I considered Play to be an overtly interactive activity. It was Upton’s explanation about how the media of books, theater, movies, and music are fundamentally practices of Play. While they don’t overtly possess agency and interactivity, Upton is brilliant in illustrating that it is the anticipation of what will happen next is where the Play takes place. This can happen in a chess match when you wait your turn to […]

Sep 28

Resetting Priorities

by Chris Billows in Business Beller, Hobby Heedings, Jets Flight Control, Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Blogging, Change of Mind

This past summer has been a time of review in relation to this blog and my ventures (billo.ws/cyber.holdings). I’ve followed enough game developers on Twitter to witness the carnage in the industry and have decided that I am not going to put any effort for the next year or two on new game projects. My plan is to re-launch CreateOrConquer.com, do some promotion to its mailing list, do exploration of viability for Urbaniacs.com, and casually work on design ideas for Heropath.com. I still love the industry as a fan and advocate, but there simply is no way to justify any serious time investment. There is almost no Return on Investment in Video Games as a game developer. The Video Games industry has become just like the other creative industries with the barrier to entry becoming so low that anybody and everybody is doing game development. This is an abundance of riches and comes with its own downside which is that it is extremely difficult to compete. My focus will shift to website properties which can be developed to attract an audience. I have a couple of projects that I will be turning my attention to, one is related to Sports […]

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 1972 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 […]