Game Value Vedat Yiğitoülu

‘Game’ as a term, implies the game beyond its meaning and expands on it. This work solidifies the idea that, in essence games are “a form of communication” between numerous planes of thought. As such along with their rising importance, it’s no longer sufficient for games to be investigated under any single discipline, instead requiring the subject to be investigated under a variety of disciplines. In this sense, while various other works on the nature of games have tried to draw their own borders; defining their own terminologies and methods, it had at times advanced forth in an almost purist fashion; each keeping close watch on their own well-established areas. However, in order to completely comprehend games and their inner-workings, an inter-disciplinary approach is a necessity. And since it’s virtually impossible to be qualified on all the relevant disciplines, as “the game phenomenon” itself makes up the inter-discipliner communication sub-space; in this work, “games” are being investigated in its anthropocosmological meaning, and as a form of new media. Language games, digital games, and topics like gamification are taken into account in a uniformed sense, by a variety of thinkers who are qualified as game philosophers, each with their own area expertise. In addition to all this; labor, work, production and consumption, digital communities, seriousness and game titles are worked on to be re-defined following the same sense of onto-genetics: “Game Value” is a term to highlight game’s rising place in society and to emphasize its inter-disciplinary nature in a healthy manner. This work is a reminder to games being much more than pure story or style, it’s an undertaking to keep immanence of other disciplines regarding the “game phenomenon” up to date. In this work the concepts of game and play will be used synonymously.