Video game

Main article: Video game

A video game is a computer- or microprocessor-controlled game. Computers can create virtual tools to be used in a game, such as cards or dice.

A computer or video game uses one or more input devices, typically a button/joystick combination (on arcade games); a keyboard, mouse and/or trackball (computer games); or a controller or a motion sensitive tool. (console games). More esoteric devices such as paddle controllers have also been used for input. In computer games, the evolution of user interfaces from simple keyboard to mouse, joystick or joypad has profoundly changed the nature of game development.

It has been suggested that any game can be emulated as a computer game. Because computer games are simulations, every conceviable tool, environment or rule can be created. Whether or not the computer emulation possesses the same gameplay as the original game is an open question.

In more open-ended computer simulations, aka sandbox-style games, notably those designed by Will Wright, the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of the virtual universe. Due to the lack of goals or opposition, it is disputed whether these programs are games or toys. (Crawford specifically mentions Wright’s SimCity as an example of a toy).