don't be a vidiot

Costikyan say's 'A persons's whose sole understanding derives from only video games'

When the question of  weather i agree with the statement or not, i thought that it was obvious that you can only understand a game from other games, what else can relate to it?
In the Vidiot article Costikyan says that games are normally copied themes of  other games. e.g command and conquer and World of Warcraft. He quotes Tom Disch, saying that the lack of knowledge in a certain field limits the person from creating something great, if you only play games within the last 5 years, your imagination is very restricted, and your 'pallet of techniques' will be limited and therefore making you a vidiot.

There are 3 main electronic games in this era, the game console, arcade and the PC, though electronic games are more popular, Costikyan says that non electrical games are also important, as humans learn from physical play.
In Games Brittania the ancient kings game was a military staratery game used for real life situations. In the late 19th century, board games like diplomacy created involuntary emotions, debate among players and communication  is found from playing board games. Playing board games like snakes and ladders always bore me, but playing settlers catan, i found that the trading with other players made it more fun. I could guess that from board games, massive console companies invented online plays to attract more players.

Types of non electronic games.
Hobby games:
This is also known as miniature gaming e.g playing with toy soldiers. Like in Call of Duty you like to show off the skills you have gain from playing the game, with miniature gaming it is normally a kit based set up, so you have to paint each character, thus showing off your skills to other players.Hobby gaming is more serious then other non electronic games and is a 'treasure trove' of system designing. At first Hobby games were based on war, but over time science fiction out grew them. Costikyan says that SF took over because it lets players justify anything you want in the game and so it means that there are more complex rules.

Role -playing games:
With role-playing games the players have to cooperate with each other to get anything done, so with the communication with other players it also means that there are boundless ways to win a game. Like Hobby games, role-playing is more directed to the futuristic adventures, but unlike hobby gaming the rules of games are generally poor meaning it was open to creativity.
Role playing games lead to games with player interaction, to make the player emotional involved.

Card industry:
We all know that a 52 pack of playing cards is fun with the open end nature of games. Magic of Gathering was a massive success with the public, because it meant the player had the choice to assemble your own deck and (with personal experience) the excitement of buying an new booster pack and wondering what card you will receive. Out of the three examples i defiantly enjoy the card industry as it makes me as a player more 'protective' of my deck since it was me who brought it up.

Costikyan's article was an eye opener to how to design a good game. Look back at the game I used to play when i was a child and games now, i can see the resemblance. I do understand Costikyan's article and i think that it is something that every game designer should read if they want to really understand the industry.