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"A simulation is a serious attempt to accurately represent a real phenomenon in another, more
malleable form. A game is an artistically simplified representation of a phenomenon. The simulations
designer simplifies reluctantly and only as a concession to material and intellectual limitations.
The game designer simplifies deliberately in order to focus the player’s attention on those factors
the designer judges to be important."
Chris Crawford, 1982
"But the most fascinating thing about reality is not that it is, or even that it changes, but how it
changes, the intricate webwork of cause and effect by which all things are tied together. The only
way to properly represent this webwork is to allow the audience to explore its nooks and crannies to
let them generate causes and observe effects. Thus, the highest and most complete form of representation
is interactive representation. Games provide this interactive element, and it is a crucial factor in
their appeal."
Chris Crawford, 1982
"Some gamers feel nostalgic for the simplicity, immediacy, and eloquence of early design solutions. Every
element was carefully selected to minimize the demand for bytes and maximize player flexibility. Many
independent game designers, such as Blix's Eric Zimmerman, or Snood's David Dobson, have embraced a 'back
to the basics' approach, stressing play mechanics and simple spaces over the 'bells and whistles' of corporate
games. In modern art, minimalists reduced their options to the minimum number of colors, shapes, lines and
textures; they were more interested in the physical surface of the canvas rather than in mimicking real world
perspectives. Dobson and Zimmerman are game minimalists, searching for the medium's simple core principles and
stripping away unnecessary features."
Henry Jenkins, 2002
"Not all games tell stories. Games may be an abstract, expressive, and experiential form, closer to music or
modern dance than to cinema. Some ballets (The Nutcracker for example) tell stories, but storytelling isn't
an intrinsic or defining feature of dance. Similarly, many of my own favorite games - Tetris, Blix, Snood -
are simple graphic games that do not lend themselves very well to narrative exposition.(6) To understand such
games, we need other terms and concepts beyond narrative, including interface design and expressive movement
for starters. The last thing we want to do is to reign in the creative experimentation that needs to occur in
the earlier years of a medium's development."
Henry Jenkins, 2002
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[ Quotes and Citations ]