I Hate 'Video Games'
That may sound funny coming from me. After all, I've been hooked ever since Gradius seduced my infantile mind. I was just a wee tot, but I was blasting Moai's like no other. And I still play them often, and even enjoy them a great deal. It's just the term, "video games", that I can't stand.
Part of the reason why games have had such a hard time being seen as legitimate by the mainstream is due, I feel, to this unfortunate label. It just sounds so childish, so unfortunately geeky (in a bad way). All the recent political controversies surrounding GTA and it's ilk are all part of this same problem - those outside of gaming (Jack Thompson I'm looking at you) have a hard time seeing it as being part of a normal adult's life. They assume that it's merely a plaything, meant only to distract and occupy the minds of the young.
This sort of stigma is not unique to video games; older forms of media have also had name changes as part of a need to mature. For example, "comic books", a term connotated with camp and levity, became the more serious and generally acceptable "graphic novels" (and later, just "comics"). Even "motion pictures", which sounds so stuffy and formal, got shortened to the slick and hip "movies" (as well as "flicks"). I say the same sort of name change is in motion for video games.
What's wrong with the term, specifically? It seems like it's the word "video". I can't think of a single "cool" sounding word that ends with the "e-oh" sound. Rodeo, cameo, neato - they're all so hokey. It's why Video Cassette Recorder became VCR, and why no one says Video Tape. Except school teachers, perhaps. Which just proves my point.
The problem, however, is that no good substitution seems to exist. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something better, but to no avail. There are a few lengthy euphemisms that exist, such as "interactive media" and "electronic entertainment", but neither can be easily contracted into something short and exciting. There's got to be something better. Video games at least have an advantage in that they're active, meaning their term can be verbiated, and then nounified (game, gamer). All the fields with good names seem to have this quality: actor, hacker, for example. Unfortunately, simply saying "gaming" isn't enough, as this term already describes a larger scope that includes both PC gaming and board gaming.
As I was thinking this over, this article about games being "democratic fiction", jumped out at me. Though I don't really agree with the premise (a game's narrative is distinct from, and largely irrelevant to, the game itself), the idea may have a use in renaming the medium. I don't really see how just yet, but perhaps a further mutation or two will make for something acceptable. For now, I guess we're all stuck with just using what we have.