First off adult content has always and will always mean porn. Calling M rated games adult entertainment would be a big mistake, especially with the ones with no sexual content in them (like Timesplitters and Halo). Second interactive entertainment could also mean anything from Monopoly to basketball interactive entertainment is way too vague, entertainment software just seems too much like political correctnes and I don't think that would work either. Also we play videoGAMES we call ourselves GAMERS, changing video games to whatever will mean changing gamers, plus there will always be people who will refer to them as video games regardless of what the ESA wants the new name to be. Oh and by the way you aren't the first one to come up with those names 'Eurocom entrtainment software was around since ps1, and I'm pretty sure interactive entertainment was taken too.

I think the Bard sums up my thoughts about this suggestion very nicely:

"What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet."

The public's misconceptions about video games don't deal with the name of the medium, but with the medium itself. Changing the name won't be very convincing to gaming's critics. In fact, it might hurt our standing with the public even more, as the anti-gamers could easily paint this as a shameless move to avoid their questions (however absurd they are) about the content of some games. I could go on and on about this, but other posters have already said everything else I could possibly say.

BTW Otaku-Man, I did read your article, and I suggest everyone else interested in this debate do the same. It was very insightful.

Oh, you've all gotten old. :P Although I like the title 'videogame'. If it doesn't help defeat the stereotype, what do we have to lose? It's not that huge of a departure.

I'm glad to see that GamerDad agrees with me, but please tell me did ANYONE read the article I wrote? I put a link up there and everything!

For crying out loud, the word "GAME" does not mean that something is for kids.

Two adult men, at a water cooler, talking sports: "So, you see the game last night?" What kind of game? A SPORTS Game! Do people think football, baseball, basketball, etc. are only for kids?! NO! It's good for all ages! But the target audience for Sports are ADULTS! Does that make it pornographic or mature? NO! It's FREAKIN' FOOTBALL WITH BEER COMMERCIALS IN BETWEEN!

And then there are WAR GAMES! These are the games that people play in order to test military strategy, might, and intelligence. These games are matters of life and death, where one wrong move can bring about nuclear holocaust. (I mean did ANYONE here besides me see the movie 'War Games' with Matthew Broderick?! It compares video games (back then known as computer games) to the games and simulations used in the military!)

Finally, MIND GAMES! These are the brain teasers and conundrums that people spend a good amount of time on. Scientists and Mathematicians spend their lives playing the mind games presented by nature to try and understand the what and the why of the universe. MENSA comes up with puzzles and games that test people's intelligence, and even challenge the perception of the world.

This is all in addition to the board games, the Tabletop Role Playing Games (Board games are a TYPE of Tabletop games, but a Tabletop RPG specifically refers to D&D and WarHammer. Also, if you disagree on that statement, ask yourself where Settlers of Catan falls!)

So the problem here is not "Video Games". "Video" is just a descriptor of the TYPE of games: "Games played on a electronic video screen".

The problem is the word "Games"! People associate "Games" as kids stuff, but that's actually a VERY hypocritical statement. Games are played every day and every where, whether it be in the business world, in political and military strategy, in science, in sports (Well sports is all about games).

The only difference is the TYPE of games that people play. We all play games, and there are kids games and games for grown ups. Video games can be for BOTH kids and grown ups, and ADULTS too! The way to tell them apart is the rating system, not the DESCRIPTOR!

So keep the name the same!

Besides, in a couple decades (20 years) from now all of the people in power will retire, resign, or (Heaven Forbid) die off, and the generation of people who grew up on video games will understand and this argument will die out.

By that point, people will be fussing about VR games. :)

~Otaku-Man

Why does everyone have the perception that the ESA does nothing to combating the criticism? Because they don't combat the rhetoric with more rhetoric? That path quickly leads to legislation as it angers politicians. Publicly disclosing Lobbying campaigns has the same effect only you anger voters who then replace the lobbied officials if they think they are in the hands of an industry.
Or is because they haven't sued Jack Thompson (how I hate bringing him up) in an attempt to silence him? The man is best left out of the presses and defeated in the court, this is easily done apparently, look at his court record.

The NIMF criticisms? As they have no real legal power and have repeated opened their mouths to insert their foot, why bother? They have political clout? Really they don't have as much as people on here seem to perceive, the major politicians are too busy focusing on larger issues than Video Games (or Interactive Media).


Now on to what I find funny, almost every one of you is against a name change and I often hear they've been called video games since I was a kid, or the name has been around for 30 years.
Yet you complain because older generations do not understand Video Games and perceive them to be a child's toy, and fear the harm they are doing to a generation. Just like movies, television, & comics.. they are this generation's evil corrupter of youth.
And like generations of the past almost every one of you are showing signs of fearing change. Thus in the next generation you will blame some new form of media as the corrupter of youth, and try to regulate it.

Thus History repeats itself.

I agree with pretty much everyone else that a name change wouldn't work. I especially think that any term which includes the words "adult" or "mature" (and maybe a few others) will be seen by the pro-censorship crowd as an admission of guilt, because those words are already used as euphemisms for pornography.

In any event, I think "video games" and "computer games" should be the terms that we, the gamers, use. By way of analogy: in my native language, the word signifying "homosexual man" used to be an unqualifiedly derogatory term. It has now lost its negative connotations, because the gays adopted the term for themselves and insisted that, since the thing it signified was perfectly normal, it was not in fact derogatory. And it actually worked. There are, of course, still those who think being gay is very, very bad, but they actually lack a commonly accepted slur against homosexuals, because it was taken away from them (there are still slurs, but they tend to be more colourful and thus slightly humourous).

@GamerDad
What GP and Dougie is saying is the perception is unfortunately coming FROM the terminology partially. and changing that perception is proving to be more difficult than a name change would be.

@Akbar
Graphic Novels began showing up in the late 70's and while they weren't intended to remove the child stigma of the Comic Book they managed to help do so. While someone think a guy in his 30s collecting Comic books is a bit childish, the same guy who collects graphic novels does come off the same way. It was actually in the same time frame as the graphic novel that Comic Books began to lose their stigma of a childish hobby.

As for the separation issue, yes it could be something as simple as moving M games to the top row (or non Eye level for kids). Then all you would need would be signs distinguishing the each Row by rating. No need to put them in a back room or anything they aren't porn despite some critics claims.

@GoodRobotUS
I consider Drinking Games to be a past time of "College Kids"

@AlteredBeast
When you consider it, the Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, & Playstation 3 would be more accurately defined as Entertainment Consoles than Game Consoles given their ability to play moves & music, and in some cases surf the web. So in this instance Sony is correct in insisting it not be called a Game Console.


(Now did anyone get the perception of Lowenstein being a bit child like from me calling him Dougie? You probably did subconsciously, an example of a stigma being attached to a name. )

@ toll
Despite my post above, if I thought for a second that a name change would A) help and B) not be seen as a farce, I'd be all over it.

"What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet."

OK. Then let's call roses 'Apology-Blossoms.' Why? Because I think changing the name to this more closely represts the true understnding of their use in our culture. Yes, calling video games by any other name is as frivolous and innacurate. I think, though, there is room for other genre's to be created, adult interactive, interactive media, etc. might be a subset of video games, or vice versa.

One would hardly compare an indie art film to a blockbuster shoot-em-up action flick, but they are still generically called movies, right? So, video games can have adult interactive, interactive media, and so on. I leave the definition and details to more creative minds - I just solve problems and let others create. (At least in my own mind :P )

In fact, I agree. The worst is that the word "videogames" is used for everything and anything : commercial blockbusters, computer softwares, console or arcade games, Flash or internet minigames, amateur products, freewares, sharewares... Everything is called "videogames" and supposedly coming from the "videogame industry", so it's not surprising that they're misunderstood.

So at least, we should invent new terms in order to make the difference between most kind of games. Then, in case of adult products, use "adult-friendly" terms.

I agree with the stigma of the term "game" being an issue, but not sure if changing it will actually fix, as retailers are still going to want to put them all in the "video game section".

I think more appropriately would be to get Video Game retailers to make a change and sort video games by rating. You usually don't see more adult themed board games on the exact same shelf as children's board games.
(i.e. Balderdash while in the same area is not usually beside Chute's & Ladders, its generally on a different shelf and often on the other end of the shelf. )

I know already there is a lot of sorting in the Video Games departments, you have to have Xbox, Xbox360, Playstation (1,2, & soon to be 3), Nintendo, PSP, Gameboy, PC, etc. But would it be so difficult to take M & T rated games and separate them out from the E games?

Think about it parents are inherently lazy it seems, if little Timmy asks for Grand Theft Auto for Christmas, and Mom looks in the E & T areas and can't find it, is she going to look in the M area? It's possible but then she has made a conscious decision to look in an adult themed game area.
More than likely though she is going to be completely confused and just tell Timmy she couldn't find it as none of the stores seem to carry it.

Also this would make it more obvious to store personnel when age inappropriate shoppers are browsing games inappropriate for them.

I think the name has to change and will change. The sports analogy doesn't apply because games like football or chess aren't trying to get recognized as valid forms of expression. Graphic novels need to put with much less crap now that they aren't called comic books. Notice how you don't see any more media reports about the danger violent or sexual comics pose to kids? It was much easier to stereotype comics as being for kids as long as they were called comic books just as it is much easier to stereotype games as being kids activities as long as they are called games. I know that a lot of you have been calling them video games since you were kids and are reluctant to change but that doesn't change the fact that "games" is a misleading name.

Trying to change the name this late in the game (lolz) is pointless. It would just be a waste of time and money.

It would take a long time to actually over take the current term and it probably wouldn't change anyone's opinions on the violence in video games.

I have a feeling Sony is thinking the same thing.

They insist that the Playstation 3 is a "computer", and not a "game console". Granted, it does more than play games, but so does the Xbox 360, and MS has never corrected people who call the 360 a video game console.

I agree that part of the stigma on video games may be the name, but, as mentioned in the referenced article, video games were originally marketed to kids, sold in toy stores. It is not the name that has created this image of video games, but the history of it. People who do not keep up with the evolution of video games know of Nintendo, know that kids play it, and perhaps know of Mario.

It is not an issue of the current image of gaming, but clarifying that video games have evolved since the initial impressions that were created in the late 80s.

I DISAGREE! Chess is a game. It is taken seriously.

Changing the name is just an attempt to take away negative connotations towards it, but its like anything else we've tried to change (where previous words become politically incorrect). I like the name video games, people just have to get used to it. interactive entertainment doesn't sound fun. You wouldn't go around saying "LETS PLAY SOME INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DUDES!" the term Video Games will stay

Looks like "We" don't agree, eh GP?

You aren't possibly inferring that you were the first to suggest not using the word 'game' are you? This is such an old argument started over a decade ago. The name's not gonna change and it's futile to try.

Hmmm, seems like they're aim is to make all terms as politically correct as possible. One can go whacky with this notion.

"We here at Interactive Entertainment Politics . . . ."

Nope.

"We here at Entertainment Software Politics . . . . ."

Nope.

"We here at Adult Interactive Politics . . . ."

Kinky, but nope.

GamePolitics FTW. GamerDad's earthy wisdom has once again pwned. I'll always be a gamer, no matter what frivolous, ultra-PC term the ESA farts out.

@ Toll

Interesting idea, but the publishers won't have it. They want new games in one section, 'best sellers' in another. Also, you normally don't have enough M titles to fill a standard fixture. And the shelves' selection is largely filled to stock, and not any conceivable order.

But, that's an idea that I'd be on-board with if the publishers agreed to it.

I whole-heartedly DISAGREE with this. Look, a game does {not} mean that something is for children. People play football games, board games, card games, bedroom games, etc. Merriam Webster says a game is "[an] activity engaged in for diversion or amusement : PLAY." Why is this so hard to grasp? A video game is exactly that: A game that requires some sort of video equipment to play (monitor/TV). As a former table-top gamer and a still-avid board/video gamer, I really hate it when people always harp on about the childish stigma of the name "game." Did anyone confuse the movie "Spy Games" with a children's movie? Is a game of Chess inherently childish? What about the book Ender's Game?

I'll agree that there is a (at this point, quickly dwindling) public misconception that videogames are for children, but trying to make up a new (more awkward) name for it doesn't solve anyone's problems. We just need to continue to educate people that there are video games which are only appropriate for adults, just as there are other games that are the same.

Isn't this similar to calling porngraphy 'art' or 'adult entertainment' instead of just pornography?
It's still the same thing.. what's worse is he is trying to equate games with pr0n by even suggesting this. (His “adult interactive” idea is close enough in my book.)

Fact of the matter is, I consider myself a gamer, and that title will stick. From a marketing perspective, I don't think 'interactive software' (which is most any commercial software at this point) will catch on as easily as 'video games' which is so ingrained that it would take another 30 years just to change it.

Ignorance will always exist. I figure instead of trying to make things seem better we should probably be working on unhazing the current issues.. Like every elderly person in the nation thinking that video games are just constant sex scenes with nudity cheat codes.

Personally, I think it's a little late for this kind of talk. Nearly 15 years have gone by since the Mortal Kombat uproar, and so much has happened since then...I for one don't think anyone on either side is going to change the way they look at games just because we start calling them something else, and I don't buy the idea that changing the name will result in lazy parents looking more closely, either. I'm not surprised that Lowenstein endorses this approach, though. It's a pretty timid and passive concept, IMHO.

I play all sorts of "games" that are not meant for children that are not video games: Warhammer 40k, Shadowrun, Airsoft tournaments... Changing the name wouldn't do anything, really, because THEY'RE FUCKING VIDEO GAMES. Even if you change the signifier, the signified remains the same, and will remain linked to the original signifier because people are not all politically correct idiots.

@Beemoh: Or cards for that matter.

I don't think the name matters. Honestly, in a few years the game-savy generation will settle in and then what you call them will be a moot point, so why waste effort?

Besides, we've already established that games aren't for kids via the teen and mature ratings, and a fat lot of good that's doing. It says right on the box "this ain't for kiddies" and anti-gamers still won't listen, so I doubt a name change will suddenly fix everything.

"User input-responive digital media enviroment simulation" my ass

@Hank

No worries, big guy. I'm fine with disagreement.

My view remains that names, branding, whatever, can be changed. Like everything else it takes time and commitment.

I have to agree with the group that wants to keep the current name. Names are irrelevant for the exact reasons listed by Otaku-man on his link to gamasutra way at the top of the comments. Nicely done, Otaku!

On another note, I can't think of a single instance where changing the name of something changed the way it was viewed by the public. Is there one that I'm missing that is being used as a basis for this claim that a rose by any other name will smell sweeter than before?

I hate political correctness and this is that to change somethings name because its "unpopular"...I think perhaps you need to start fighting back against the Culture Bullies........ at least be stern with them we have laws in this country against defamation and the other side has leagues of character assains that will never stop putting out disinformation untill they are sued acouple times.....

Let's just call it interactive religion so developers get subsidized, shall we?