The Video Generation and the Future of Board Games

Apparently, two years ago there was a major exhibition sponsored by the Asia
Society in American museums called "Asian Games: The Art of Contest." I
have been fortunate enough to get a copy of the exhibition book. I found a
quote there that I would like you to comment on:



"We hope that this exhibition, in addition to persuading
visitors of the historical importance of games, will also stimulate an
interest in playing board games. As computer gamers sit in solitary
oblivion frantically pressing buttons to manipulate images on screens, it is
worth considering how such games could have succeeded, to a large extent, in
eclipsing real board games. The answer may be that they have appropriated
much of the best of traditional board games. But it is also worth pointing
out that the appeal of most electronic games is ephemeral. Ask a teenager
if he still plays the same game he played two years ago, and the answer will
inevitably be no. We can predict with confidence that twenty years from
now, of the electronic games currently in fashion, it is only those versions
of classic board games-chess, weiqi/go and perhaps backgammon-that will
still enjoy widespread popularity.

Does the future of chess, weiqi and backgammon, then, lie solely
in electronic media? We hope not. However convenient it may be to play
chess or weiqi on the internet, nothing can replace the face-to-face social
interaction of real games playing-and indeed the attraction of such games as
spectacle. It is no coincidence that there is a trend now among jaded
electronic games players to return to board games. This renewed interest
undoubtedly reflects the need to compete with a real (as opposed to
real-time) person. But there may be another reason for this development.
The physical satisfaction of holding a well-crafted gaming piece or die, or
of hearing the sonorous click of the pieces as they are placed on the board,
does not exist in an electronic universe. No culture better understood the
aesthetics of games than the Japanese, whose go, sugoroku, and shogi boards
were not only objects of exquisite beauty, but were also designed to enhance
the sound of piece struck against board. If, in addition to stimulating
more research on Asian games, this exhibition prompts some of its visitors
to take up chess, xiangqi, or weiqi-or even better, to work out the rules of
liubo-then we will be entirely satisfied."

Colin Mackenzie and Irving Finkel, "Preface", Asian Games: The Art of
Contest (Asia Society), p. 17






--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

How about the future of reading a good book? Even that is in
jepoardy.

EZoto

Josef Pieper wrote:

Apparently, two years ago there was a major exhibition sponsored by the Asia
Society in American museums called "Asian Games: The Art of Contest." I
have been fortunate enough to get a copy of the exhibition book. I found a
quote there that I would like you to comment on:

"We hope that this exhibition, in addition to persuading
visitors of the historical importance of games, will also stimulate an
interest in playing board games. As computer gamers sit in solitary
oblivion frantically pressing buttons to manipulate images on screens, it is
worth considering how such games could have succeeded, to a large extent, in
eclipsing real board games. The answer may be that they have appropriated
much of the best of traditional board games. But it is also worth pointing
out that the appeal of most electronic games is ephemeral. Ask a teenager
if he still plays the same game he played two years ago, and the answer will
inevitably be no.


Um, like wrongo, dude! Look at WoW and tell me that
it has not lasted that long. Even video arcade games
such as Pac Man lasted far longer than two years (as
if they were not still being played today).


We can predict with confidence that twenty years from
now, of the electronic games currently in fashion, it is only those versions
of classic board games-chess, weiqi/go and perhaps backgammon-that will
still enjoy widespread popularity.


This may be on account of how easy it is to supersede
electronic games with superior ones -- and that goes for
chess programs as well.



Does the future of chess, weiqi and backgammon, then, lie solely
in electronic media? We hope not. However convenient it may be to play
chess or weiqi on the internet, nothing can replace the face-to-face social
interaction of real games playing-and indeed the attraction of such games as
spectacle. It is no coincidence that there is a trend now among jaded
electronic games players to return to board games.


They have indeed returned, but now they play in invisible
tourneys which go unrated, and this naturally lends the
false appearance of them not having returned -- so don't
be surprised when you play an OTB tourney if you can't
see them.


This renewed interest
undoubtedly reflects the need to compete with a real (as opposed to
real-time) person. But there may be another reason for this development.
The physical satisfaction of holding a well-crafted gaming piece or die, or
of hearing the sonorous click of the pieces as they are placed on the board,


Dude -- I think I'm gonna hurl! You can't seriously be
sitting there, telling us that the fact that Go pieces make
a click when you slap them against a wooden board is a
big thrill for you. Nobody is THAT depraved.


does not exist in an electronic universe. No culture better understood the
aesthetics of games than the Japanese, whose go, sugoroku, and shogi boards
were not only objects of exquisite beauty, but were also designed to enhance
the sound of piece struck against board.


Cool trivia. But don't get too excited over it; you may
have a heart attack or something from all the excitement.
LOL!

Look: board games are dull. The one thing that sets
chess apart from say, Trouble, is that it is possible,
however unlikely, to create a sort of masterpiece, a work
of art (or tactical wizardry). Trust me: it's NOT the
freakin' click of the plastic men on the cheap vinyl board.


-- Duh! bot