Talk:Video game

Organization of the article

Over the past few weeks I've been gathering excellent quotes and other material from industry bigwigs. I've pulled most of them from books outlining the history of the medium (e.g., Steven Kent's Ultimate History of Video Games and J.C. Herz's Joystick Nation). There's so much material here that organizing it in a clear, sensible, and easy-to-follow fashion is a difficult task. Should information about the evolution of video games be incorporated into the "History of video games" subsection? E.g., with the decline of coin-operated arcade machine popularity and the rise of home console popularity, the digital narrative developed a finale (an arcade game's raison d'etre is to live in an arcade as long as possible -- the best way to make it last is not to give it an ending).

Second, Citizendium articles are supposed to flow like well-written essays; Wikipedia articles generally do not because the sub-headings can be arranged arbitrarily and it wouldn't make a whit of a difference in the article's readability. Take game development, for example. It's easy to see how it could also be incorporated into a "History of video games" subsection. E.g., games used to be developed by one-man teams; eventually, game companies began establishing divisions of labor. Today teams for a single game can be as large as 120 people. Discussing the video game industry itself presents a similar problem -- there's plenty enough material to justify (or even necessitate) an individual section for the industry, but it too can easily be placed in the context of the medium's history.

I've also been wondering how to incorporate a section discussing the wide range of platforms that support video games and the many genres that video games can be divided into. The Wikipedia article's "Overview" section sticks out like a sore thumb, so I was considering making the first section "Defining the video game," because there is disagreement about what exactly constitutes a video game both in terms of platform and in terms of genre.

All comments and suggestions would be much appreciated. I know the policy is to be bold, but if we can lay a firm groundwork from which to build off of, I think it'll be that much easier for organization in the long run.

EDIT: I've formed a rough outline that I believe allows for smooth transitions. Comments would be appreciated.

• Defining the video game
• History and evolution
• Video games today
  • Video game industry
    • Game development
    • Sales, merchandise, and demographics
    • Games journalism
  • Cultural importance and influence
    • Controversy
    • Social aspects
• See also
• External links

Nick 22:44, 6 November 2007 (CST)