# Computer games vs video games. What term do you use?



## FAST6191 (Nov 12, 2020)

Historically the difference in terms was one of the many quirks of US English (video games) and UK English (computer games) but I have seen various amounts of cross usage these days, and video games even making some inroads into UK English speakers (some US English speakers also claim a dislike of the term computer games but that might be a different matter). Not entirely dissimilar to how a series in UK TV parlance would be a season in US whilst also describing the show as a whole in some cases (though that might also be). What goes for Australian, Canadian, Hong Kong and all the rest I am less sure about still.

Now it is not the first time US culture has influenced a UK word/phrase/cultural rhyme

and one also need only ask any UK based teacher about the curse of sesame street (many a young kid might rock up saying z is pronounced zee rather than zed) but back to the topic at hand it does appear to be influencing older people in this instance rather than ze kids.

Thoughts, discussion, anecdotes... all welcome at this juncture.


----------



## Lostbhoy (Nov 12, 2020)

Computer games. 
Video was a vhs tape and never associated with games!!  True where I grew up! 

Weirdly, my kids actually just call them games nowadays! No computer or video term applies anymore!


----------



## IC_ (Nov 12, 2020)

In Poland I mostly hear and use computer games (gry komputerowe).


----------



## VinsCool (Nov 12, 2020)

Video game, that's all I've heard and that's what I also say.
I usually prefer shortening it to "game" however.


----------



## Alexander1970 (Nov 12, 2020)

Computer Spiele - Computer Games.




But maybe it has to do with which Type "Games" you are grown up.....
I am pretty sure,if my first Device would have been a Video Console,I would prefer Video Games.
(I remember my PlayStation/PSX Time,I often said Video Games..)


----------



## Mythical (Nov 12, 2020)

Video games since not all games are on pc


----------



## FAST6191 (Nov 12, 2020)

Lostbhoy said:


> Video was a vhs tape and never associated with games!!  True where I grew up!


There were a few. Often versions of board games. I recall a copy of trivial pursuit being done as such.


----------



## nero99 (Nov 12, 2020)

I call them video games. My reason is because you are technically playing a video where you input controls to move the character. Also because I once put a xbox 360 game in a dvd drive and it played like a video for 30 seconds before stopping.


----------



## Ryccardo (Nov 12, 2020)

Video game, exactly because most of them aren't played on (the common man's definition of) "computer", not even when the C64 was the leading gaming platform

(the pedantic-sounding wording in Italian is "electronic games")


----------



## AmandaRose (Nov 12, 2020)

Computer games is the only acceptable answer


----------



## Coolsonickirby (Nov 12, 2020)

The only ones I've heard calling Video Games "Computer Games" were old people. Everyone else around me always called em "Video Games".


----------



## Crazynoob458 (Nov 12, 2020)

games just games


----------



## Lostbhoy (Nov 12, 2020)

FAST6191 said:


> There were a few. Often versions of board games. I recall a copy of trivial pursuit being done as such.


True, Atmosfear was another but then again.... You didn't 'play' the video, it was just a pre recorded accompaniment to a board game!

And to all the video gamers, you are not playing the video, you are playing computerised sprites located in a computerised console.




So there 

It is whatever it was when you grewd up i guess! I'm waiting on someone calling them something completely new and different from either term.


----------



## Taleweaver (Nov 13, 2020)

In Dutch I call 'em "computerspelletjes" which would translate to computer games (yes, even console games are "computerspelletjes").

However, in English I've always read it as video games, so that's what I use. ' computer games' is just the subgroup for games on an actual computer.

... Kind of funny that I've never noticed this before.


----------



## AkikoKumagara (Nov 13, 2020)

Video games, though I also quite like the Japanese way of calling them "TV Games", which makes even more sense to me than the video game name I've grown accustomed to in a lot of ways.


----------



## Alexander1970 (Nov 13, 2020)

alexander1970 said:


> Computer Spiele - Computer Games.





Coolsonickirby said:


> The only ones I've heard calling Video Games "Computer Games" were *old people*. Everyone else around me always called em "Video Games".


Thank you.


----------



## SG854 (Nov 13, 2020)

Video Computer Games Entertainment


----------



## MockyLock (Nov 13, 2020)

In France we call them rather Videogames. Computer games would stand for games on computer (logical...)
The term "Videogames" has been the successor of "Electronic games", back in the time of LCD games.


----------



## JoeBloggs777 (Nov 13, 2020)

Well why not both, from the legendary UK CVG magazine, first cover back in 1981 !


----------



## FAST6191 (Nov 13, 2020)

I must admit this computer games = PC games distinction is an unexpected twist in this, and not one I really expected or had heard made before. I had heard a few Americans (usually older ones that might otherwise say playing Nintendo, or if doing pronunciation then Nintendah, or playing Sega saying games on computer but I would not have considered them as making such a distinction).

Do also have to point out there are plenty of games played by audio if people are obsessing over "video" a key concept. Choice piece of DS homebrew at this point 
https://www.projectaon.org/staff/jens/



Taleweaver said:


> However, in English I've always read it as video games, so that's what I use. ' computer games' is just the subgroup for games on an actual computer.



Are consoles not specialised computers? Also what do you term things like the C64, spectrum, BBC micro, Amiga (maybe, though they often had monitors) and all those things with a full keyboard, option to run stuff in BASIC (or user code in general) and TV out that 95% of their audience would have used extensively (maybe even exclusively) to play games, and otherwise represent a fundamental and otherwise hard to understate position in the history of this computer game lark?


That said JoeBloggs777 seems to have introduced a further distinction and I guess now we have to contemplate arcade games.


MockyLock said:


> In France we call them rather Videogames. Computer games would stand for games on computer (logical...)
> The term "Videogames" has been the successor of "Electronic games", back in the time of LCD games.


Do you play on a game console or jouer sur votre ordinateur even in such cases?

Still also waiting to hear from some Australians, Kiwis, Canadians and the like.


----------



## MockyLock (Nov 13, 2020)

Well, there is a clear distinction between playing on a console and playing on a computer.
So, if you happen to speak with someone about video games, he'll for sure ask you if you're referring console or computer.
"Videogames" tends to include both console and computer.

@FAST6191 Thre's a good question, as to know if a console is a dedicated computer. I think that most people consider that a computer (or "ordinateur" in french) is the common combo of screen/mouse/keyboard/case used for multiple purpose, including gaming.

Then, it can be complicated to classify some hardware.

For exemple, the Philips Videopac :





It has a keyboard, but it's considered as a console.

The NEC PC-FX :




It looks like a computer case, but it's a console.

The Famicom Basic :




It adds a keyboard to a console to use it like a computer...

EDIT : i was just thinking of this funny picture :


----------



## FAST6191 (Nov 13, 2020)

MockyLock said:


> Well, there is a clear distinction between playing on a console and playing on a computer.
> So, if you happen to speak with someone about video games, he'll for sure ask you if you're referring console or computer.
> "Videogames" tends to include both console and computer.
> 
> ...



These days show me screenshots and gameplay of random games and the only way I might tell is on screen button prompts on screen or maybe if I pay attention to on screen movement in a first person game (movement styles with mouse vs controller are rather different, stick a pad on PC and I am left debating the extent of auto aim on any given PC game).

I would still also go back to things like the commodore 64.

Almost all of them would be used on a TV, control pad/joystick/joypad was optional, you can happily write your own code (indeed it is the first thing you are presented with after control is given to you), it was used extensively (often exclusively, or exclusively plus "I can use it to do my homework") for games during its lifetime and even after the NES et al came out they were still the poor man's choice for games for several years after that.

This "you can only play what we deem allowable with inputs we deem acceptable unless you are a filthy hacker" concept is a newer one than things what you plug into your TV* that also happen to play games (at the same time often representing gaming as a whole for that timespan). For a while there were power differences that made an appreciable difference (prior to the mid 90s rise of 3d cards on PC then PCs being on the weaker end of things -- ID software having a fairly notable thing when they somewhat invented side scrolling on PC).

*granted the distinction between TV and monitor gets very blurry back in the day, and today... VGA in has been a thing for possibly 15 years at this point and HDMI not much less. Go looking at "back in the day" writings and you will find many on the PC side of things look unfavourably towards microsoft et al for downplaying TV out or legibility of later versions of DOS on TV screens.


----------



## Julie_Pilgrim (Nov 13, 2020)

Call em video games, but usually just say games


----------



## Jayro (Dec 16, 2020)

USA - Pacific Northwest area. Video games mostly, but as computers got better in the late 90's, computer gaming really took off with online MMOs and FPS games on PC.


----------



## Deleted User (Dec 16, 2020)

If I'm playing the game on the PC I'm calling it computer game. If it's on console I'm calling it video game. I Never heard in my life that someone called for example God of war a computer game.


----------



## FAST6191 (Dec 16, 2020)

sergey3000 said:


> If I'm playing the game on the PC I'm calling it computer game. If it's on console I'm calling it video game. I Never heard in my life that someone called for example God of war a computer game.


I on the other hand had at least never consciously heard of anybody making the PC (or possibly "home computer" back before the boring takeover of X86 and Windows when things were a bit more variable) = computer games, consoles = video games distinction. It was always a regional thing for me much like bonnet-hood, boot-trunk, fizzy drink-soda, chips-fries, crisps-chips... However hearing several UK peeps use the term video games made me wonder if we were having a curse of Sesame Street all over again (quite a few teachers in the UK will lament having to correct kids that Z is pronounced zed and not zee if they had the parent by TV approach in their more formative years).


----------



## Nobody_Important4u (Dec 16, 2020)

Video games. Computer games is something that is said by old people who don't play games, i almost never see actually gamers use this term and while both are technically correct, video games,just sounds so much better.


----------



## godreborn (Dec 16, 2020)

the Japanese use tv game if you want to add a third option.


----------



## nani17 (Dec 21, 2020)

video games


----------



## Deathwing Zero (Dec 21, 2020)

If you're waiting for Canadians, then I'll help you on that front. Where I'm from in Canada they are called Video Games, however, ever since I got my first NES I've always just called them games. And I still do today. Technically, computer games would be correct in all situations since even consoles are computers. Yes even the Game & Watch from too many decades ago would be a computer. Just more specifically focused on playing games, or a game in the case of Game & Watch or something like Tiger Electronics LCD games. These days consoles are more PC/Mac like than they used to be, what with their fancy UI crap and XBOX's hilarious focus on TV/Sports that one generation. I suppose with them using SoC's they're a bit more like phones with more of a focus on playing games. 

Anyway... tangent aside, if I were to use a full name I personally would go with computer game as to me, video game sounds more like one of those board games that used to come with a VHS that you need to use to play the game. I believe those existed in the DVD era as well. Do they still make stuff like that?


----------



## nani17 (Dec 21, 2020)

To be honest I've heard both in use


----------



## FAST6191 (Dec 21, 2020)

Deathwing Zero said:


> If you're waiting for Canadians, then I'll help you on that front. Where I'm from in Canada they are called Video Games, however, ever since I got my first NES I've always just called them games. And I still do today. Technically, computer games would be correct in all situations since even consoles are computers. Yes even the Game & Watch from too many decades ago would be a computer. Just more specifically focused on playing games, or a game in the case of Game & Watch or something like Tiger Electronics LCD games. These days consoles are more PC/Mac like than they used to be, what with their fancy UI crap and XBOX's hilarious focus on TV/Sports that one generation. I suppose with them using SoC's they're a bit more like phones with more of a focus on playing games.
> 
> Anyway... tangent aside, if I were to use a full name I personally would go with computer game as to me, video game sounds more like one of those board games that used to come with a VHS that you need to use to play the game. I believe those existed in the DVD era as well. Do they still make stuff like that?



I am still finding this "computer = PC" notion to be a new one but more for the pile of it being a thing.

There is some debate over whether the game and watch and some things like it are computers in the sense that they are have some ability to do the whole Turing complete thing. Indeed some even argue that you don't emulate them as much as simulate them as they are basically just a chain of logic gates rather than anything like a general purpose processor/CPU.

Anyway I have not paid attention to the DVD games market (interactive DVDs being a term some use) since the end of DVD. I imagine something exists but at the same time blu ray did add a measure of straight up Java support (the PS3 even used it to run a few emulators way early on) so you do have a true computer there vs VHS which was go to this timestamp to have this trivial pursuit question play or DVD which was usually a very complicated form of menu, or better means of selecting a video question.

On multimedia abilities then I would note the PS2's DVD player was rather a notable selling point (PS1's CD player not particularly lacking in prominence either) and oft stated reason for the demise of the Dreamcast. As far as fancy UI then I am not sure I am inclined to make much of a distinction or view it as a radical step away from where things largely were heading. Go back to things with demos and multi game carts... sure you are shifting the location of the menu, and maybe there is more animation as time goes on, but the end result still looks and behaves the same.


----------



## DinohScene (Dec 21, 2020)

"games"
Simple as that :')


----------



## Deleted User (Dec 21, 2020)

I just call it games. If it's for PC then it's PC games, and console as Console games. Pretty simple.

No big deal.


----------



## Metal64 (Jan 6, 2021)

I just call them video games


----------



## The Catboy (Jan 6, 2021)

Games or video games. Saying "computer games" just feels off considering I barely even game on my PC.


----------



## Deleted User (Jan 6, 2021)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Games or video games. Saying "computer games" just feels off considering I barely even game on my PC.


Computer games is something a Boomer gen would say.

"Video games" is fine although just saying games is more than enough.


----------



## RubyOtaku (Jan 13, 2021)

When I was little I used to say computer games and probably when I was around 12 or so I started saying video games.


----------



## amrecripton (Feb 5, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> These days show me screenshots and gameplay of random games and the only way I might tell is on screen button prompts on screen or maybe if I pay attention to on screen movement in a first person game (movement styles with mouse vs controller are rather different, stick a pad on PC and I am left debating the extent of auto aim on any given PC game).
> 
> I would still also go back to things like the commodore 64.
> 
> ...





Interesting thoughts. I agree with you


----------



## NNate (Feb 5, 2021)

Video games or just games.


----------



## nemwolf (Feb 5, 2021)

its Video Games


----------



## Brairf (Feb 9, 2021)

I use video games when I talk about games in general and computer games when I refer specifically to PC games (and I know that consoles are also computers, but it's just the way I am used to)


----------

