I have been playing video games ever since the master system. I have own at least one system from each generation. As I grew older my interest in video games changed. I have become more aware in the narrative of games and to the kind of games that are developed for my age range. I still love spending time in front of my TV or PC Monitor and be engaged on what game developers have created. While my tastes on games have changed the perception of them haven't. And this is one of the reasons why I dislike the term video games.

Most people play some kind of game at one point of their lives. From board games, outside games, baseball, basketball and the like. But there's a great difference between playing tag and baseball. The reason is that the latter is called a sport when played by adults. Video games don't have that luxury. Video games are still being referred as video games regardless of the age of the person playing them. I believe that this is one of the reasons why there's such stigma when it comes to playing video games. Most adults on this generation that are not aware how video game content has changed perceive video games as a child's toy.

I can't say that I blame them, because video games were introduced as toys. You bought them at toy stores. The thing is that with time they evolved to something that is not only meant for children. But the perception of them didn't change. Video games started with a medium (by medium I mean the device that is used to enjoy the media) that was clearly directed at kids, but evolved to a medium that has no aim. TV and movies enjoy this luxury. A DVD player is not judged for playing kids movies or pornographic material, but a video game console does. I believe that the combination of calling the industry Video Games and the way they were introduced has influence people in such a way that they cannot see past it.

When you thing about it is kinda crazy. Imagine people doing protest because your DVD player can play adult movies. People wanting to ban your CD player because it uses swear words. The console is completely faceless without any media like any other media player. The console is what you make it out to be. It can be a kids toy if you buy kids media for it, like a DVD player can be a kids viewing device by buying kids movies. Yet the fact that the console is sold as a video game system creates a perception that doesn't match reality.

I remember hearing this argument on the podcast formerly known as 1up yours by N'Gai Croal. I guess it would be hoping too much to have the industry change the name that clearly makes them millions of dollars, but at the same time clearly misrepresents what the industry actually is. Interactive entertainment doesn't have that nice ring that video games do. Hopefully this will change with time as new generations of people start growing up with the industry as part of their lives. And eventually we get to a moment in time in which a game that contains adult content doesn't mean that the console is adult oriented.