"Man is the plaything of the gods, and that is the best of him; so we should play the noblest games."
Plato
"Human kind cannot bear very much reality."
T.S.Eliot
"Aha!"
Lara Croft
(from Trigger Happy, by Steven Poole)
Videogames are:
.immersive (as opposed to the one way communication of tv, the player is required to put his/her concentration on the gameplay)
.explorative (the player learns intensively by playing)
.pleasant (no one can be forced to play a game)
.a huge business (already in 1998 the british videogame market grossed 40% more than total cinema box-office receipts, and 80% more than video rentals)
...they have a great (largely unexpressed) potential, yet they remain a simulation.
