Let’s Play, Let’s Cook: The Blurred Line between Games and Tools

Keira Peney

Posted on Mon 20 Jul 2009 by Keira Peney under Uncategorized .
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On the one hand you have Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and on the other you have Happy Cooking. On the train you start up Chinatown Wars, and when you get home you load up the PSP e-book reader. One day you are deep into Manhunt 2, counting bodies, the next day you fire up Wii Fit and count some reps.

Somewhere, the line between video games and electronic tools became blurred. Now the DS has as many or more ‘lifestyle’ titles as it does hardcore games, and the difference between them is not always easy to spot. Devices such as the iPhone have brought games into a world more normally dominated by useful tools, and portable gaming consoles have brought useful tools to the world of gaming.

We expect all of our devices to do much the same things. Voice-chat, internet browsing, basic applications, some kind of ability to store files. Of course, each device has its strong points and weak points, but generally speaking you can get decent functionality from them all. The result is that most of our lives go into these devices - or into the cloud that the devices access. The result? A kind of smushing together of all these things - they utilise the same interface, the same input methods, the same kind of instructions and reward mechanisms. So what’s the difference? Well, presumably you are playing the games for fun, and the other stuff is merely useful - a way to achieve a goal like becoming fit, cooking a great meal, managing your time productively. Yet, at the same time, many games are a grind that only becomes fun at the moment when you finally accomplish the big goal (defeating the super-boss, getting the exalted rep, acquiring that rare item, getting the high score). Meanwhile, the tools often add a layer of ‘game-like’ fun, by measuring your progress, providing detailed instructions on how to progress, and rewarding you with cut-scenes, points, or unlocking harder ‘levels’.

You could argue that story-telling is the difference, with games containing escapism and role-play. You might be right - but many games contain little to no story, and are just basic repetitive puzzles. Meanwhile, tools can place themselves within a story, treating you like a master-chef (role-play) or placing you in an alternate world whilst doing what you need to do.

What do you think the difference between the two is?

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11 Responses to “Let’s Play, Let’s Cook: The Blurred Line between Games and Tools

wonderwhy-er Says:
July 20th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

I wonder if more and more Wii like controls will come to the market that games+tools will become more and more possible.

In that sense I am very enthusiastic about Microsoft Project Natal… With it playing fighting game like say Box will have potential of being a workout in a same time.

But even more I am enthusiastic about what it give to creative people. Drawing or sculpting with such devices will be something we did not have so far.

Also I actually think that console/mobile are just shifting to all purpose computers. Console become more of home media centers with large possibilities (Internet, Video, Audio, Games) while portable devices become more like ultra mobile computers with access to Internet and as a result a lot of tools that help us outdoors.

I was always doubtful that consoles will be able to compete with PC by being only game platforms. And as I see it they shift more and more towards all purpose computing in one or other way.

coppertopper Says:
July 20th, 2009 at 8:20 pm

I’ve got a buddy with an iPhone, a netbook, and a home computer. The only way the last 2 can be combined is if Onlive or Gakei actually turn out to be more then a gimick. I don’t ever see the phone going away, but I imagine laptops will eventually replace desktops. Consoles will always have propriatory software, and you will just have to choose which you like best, kind of like the OS war, Apple or Windows.

Keira Peney Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 2:41 am

@wonderwhy-er - I definitely think more diverse control systems are going to be introduced - Microsoft Natal is the next one I think, but even something like the DS has innovated the way we think about interacting with games.

And yes - we’re definitely blurring into an all-purpose computing cloud, with access from any of our various systems.

Keira Peney Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 2:44 am

@coppertopper - Well, my s/o doesn’t use a phone - he just has a psp with skype on it.

I think there’s a bit of a battle at the moment between proprietary systems and open-source /cloud systems. It will be very interesting to see where it goes. I can easily see us ending up in a place where you pay for better hardware, but the games are available on any system.

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December 30th, 2009 at 2:22 am

I have to agree with how you feel about somersaults and the like… I’m not sure I’d really want to ‘act out’ something like Fable II either. Also, I think there may be certain games where we might want to keep that divide between the real and the virtual.

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ketou Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 8:40 am

Nice Article.
These days,
Games = Work and Work = Games :)
That is why the gaming industry has grown so rapidly and people make so much money out of games.
Games, Tools, Work - there’s not really much difference now!!

I think the only difference is that if you are not learning anything at all and spending unproductive time on a game then the game won’t be a tool.

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