Are Visual Novels Video Games?

[Pumpkin]

I consider them so, personally.

[Freya]

Yes, I think so. Often times you still have to make choices.

It goes back to the whole "Are Choose your own adventure books still books?" Yes they are just not typical novels. Same thing. Yes they are still games, just not typical games.

[Fynn]

Of course they are

[FFNut]

I think they are, they are not my personal favorite genre but it is a form of a game.

[Karifean]

Intuitively I'd say yes, they are. Technically you could make a case that while 99% of visual novels are video games there are some that wouldn't qualify so this is too general of a statement, but that needlessly complicates things. If they were less of a niche it might make more sense to make a distinction, but as it stands they're entertainment software and as such doubtlessly closer to video games than anything else.

[Fynn]

I take a very post-modern approach in my categorization. It was created as a game, not any other medium. Therefore, it is a game, and not any other medium.

[Vermachtnis]

It's interactive media, so yea.

[Fox]

For crying out loud guys, if everyone agrees, how can we have a stimulating internet debate!?

For no other reason than to mix things up I'm going to have to... also agree. >_< Yes, they are video games. You have interaction, you have failure states, you have agency... visual novels are far more video gamey video games than the Dear Esthars of the world.

[Shauna]

For no other reason than to mix things up I'm going to have to... also agree. >_< Yes, they are video games. You have interaction, you have failure states, you have agency... visual novels are far more video gamey video games than the Dear Esthars of the world.

Some of them do. However, some of them are literally just reading/listening and tapping through the dialogue until you reach the end of the novel. This puts them on par with the (absolutely also video games) Dear Esthers of the world.

[Fynn]

For no other reason than to mix things up I'm going to have to... also agree. >_< Yes, they are video games. You have interaction, you have failure states, you have agency... visual novels are far more video gamey video games than the Dear Esthars of the world.

Some of them do. However, some of them are literally just reading/listening and tapping through the dialogue. This puts them on par with the (absolutely also video games) Dear Esthers of the world.

I agree with this. No matter how uninteractive they may be, these games are still very much games

[Rez09]

Sometimes, I want to come in and be different and stuff.

Then I vote yes on the poll and see everyone else (minus the one rebel) did too.

:argh:

[Madame Adequate]

In order to be a video game, a piece of media must involve a game element.

[Pike]

Honestly I feel like it can go either way and that's fine with me. Neither one is lesser than the other so if the Gaming Gods suddenly decreed that visual novels aren't video games, that's fine! Novels aren't poems but both are still great! :D

[Fox]

For no other reason than to mix things up I'm going to have to... also agree. >_< Yes, they are video games. You have interaction, you have failure states, you have agency... visual novels are far more video gamey video games than the Dear Esthars of the world.

Some of them do. However, some of them are literally just reading/listening and tapping through the dialogue until you reach the end of the novel. This puts them on par with the (absolutely also video games) Dear Esthers of the world.

I wonder where the line is between game and digital comic. If you're literally just tapping to continue, is that not just like turning the page of a book?

I mean, going off dictionary definitions one of them is: "An activity providing entertainment or amusement," so everything's a game really. Reading a book? That's a game. Watching a movie? That's a game. But in terms of "games" as things that you play, there is certainly a strong argument that some games are not. I mean, I think I would draw the line at there being some form of choice involved. Do you take the left door or the right one? In that regard, reading a choose your own adventure book would count as a game, and I think that's a fair assessment.

Of course, even if I were to say "X is not actually a game", I think it's very easy to assume that is meant in a derogatory fashion. But that's not necessarily the case; I don't look down on books because they're not games, I just enjoy them as a different form of media to games.

[Karifean]

It only gets more complicated if you're like me and consider a mystery novel a "game between the reader and the author" as well. With that even When They Cry qualifies as a game despite its straight linearity up to the final episodes.

[Bubba]

Fo sho mo fo

It's not a style I enjoy personally but it's definitely a game.

[Shauna]

From a technical standpoint - there is very little differentiating a digital comic and a straight linear click-til-you-win VN. But then I think that's where creator intent comes in. If someone created it to be a VN, then it's a VN and is technically a video game. If it was created to be a comic, then it's a comic.

[Midgar Mist]

I would say if they are a game if its multiple choice and different outcomes

[Mirage]

They're as much a game as the "make your own adventure" books are (which in my opinion means not in any meaningful way). I just wish there was an easy way to filter them out on Steam. I don't really get why it's so important to call them games. Isn't it good enough to be called a visual novel?

I think games need a sort of failure state. A way to lose in some form. Not getting the best ending doesn't count as losing in my opinion. That's like saying that getting the worst prize in a lottery is the same as losing.

Gambling such as lotteries are more game-y than most VNs, and I don't even consider lotteries to be proper games.

I also think the term "visual novel" is a bad term. Is not a graphic novel also visual? It's not the visuality that sets it apart, it's the interactivity. They should be called interactive novels, which could also include the non-digital counterpart of this type of medium.

[Ayen]

No. They're a toaster.