• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Gameranx

Gameranx

Video Game News, Lists & Guides

  • News
  • Features
  • Platforms
    • Xbox Series X
    • PS5
    • Nintendo
  • Videos
  • Upcoming Games
  • Guides
  • News
  • Features
  • Platforms
    • Xbox Series X
    • PS5
    • Nintendo
  • Videos
  • Upcoming Games
  • Guides

Masahiro Sakurai Defines What Is “Play” In The Video Game World

January 2, 2024 by Todd Black

It means more than you think.

What does it truly mean to “play a video game?” That might seem like a basic question, and many might reply, “You turn the game on and use your controller or keyboard to play it!” But it’s a bit more philosophical than that. What does it mean to truly “play?” That’s a question that Masahiro Sakurai decided to answer in his latest YouTube video, and he actually didn’t reference himself or his experience when defining it. Or, at least, not at first. Instead, he gave an answer from a book called, “Man, Play and Games.” In it, the author defined four different metrics that define “play” in its many forms.

Despite the book coming out in 1958, its core elements truly define the video game genre. The author noted that play can be defined by four different elements, “Competition,” “Chance,” “Mimicry,” and “Vertigo.”

When you take a look at them separately, as Masahiro Sakurai did, you’ll see all sorts of genres that have at least one of these elements, if not more. For example, with “Competition,” you can look at legions of games built upon the idea of players near and far battling it out to see who is the best of the best in that title. Some of the biggest moneymakers in the gaming world today are based on competition alone.

When you get into “Chance,” you will see lots of titles in genres like “gacha” games, which is why the mobile market is so popular. Or you could look at RPGs, which use percentage chances to try and help invoke a certain feeling of randomness and that not everything is “static and unchanging.”

“Mimicry” is interesting because you likely don’t think of video games “mimicking” anything, but that’s not true. Simulator games are very popular because they let you do things that you can’t always do in the real world or would rather do in the fictional world than the real one. Just saying.

As for “Vertigo,” that’s the “feeling” you get when you’re doing certain elements of a video game, like diving through the air, flying a ship in space, and so on.

After Sakurai detailed these elements, he noted how he uses these in his games in ways you might not expect, including trying to have a certain fighting game “look real” with the stages or have “realistic motions” that will give you vertigo because of how characters are launched.

Learn more via the video below!

Share this post:

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterest

Recent Videos

10 Most BADASS Video Game Weapons of All Time

10 Most BADASS Video Game Weapons of All Time

10 Things Developers REGRETTED Adding To BIG GAMES

10 Things Developers REGRETTED Adding To BIG GAMES

20 Games That HUMILIATE You For Playing BADLY

20 Games That HUMILIATE You For Playing BADLY

EA SETS INSANE TARGET FOR BATTLEFIELD 6, SUBNAUTICA 2 IN TROUBLE & MORE

EA SETS INSANE TARGET FOR BATTLEFIELD 6, SUBNAUTICA 2 IN TROUBLE & MORE

10 Best Games Where The STORY SUCKS

10 Best Games Where The STORY SUCKS

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - Before You Buy

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - Before You Buy

10 Recent UNLOCKABLES That Pushed Players To Their LIMITS

10 Recent UNLOCKABLES That Pushed Players To Their LIMITS

10 Games That Turned Into MICROTRANSACTION HELLS

10 Games That Turned Into MICROTRANSACTION HELLS

10 GENIUS moments in Flop Games

10 GENIUS moments in Flop Games

Category: UpdatesTag: Console Gaming, gaming, Masahiro Sakurai, PC gaming, Video Games

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Rematch: What is Clutch Time? | Last Action and Last Shot Explained
  • Rematch: How to Tackle | Standing Tackle and Slide Tackle
  • Gaming & Mental Health: Are Video Games Helping Us Cope?
  • PEAK: How To Find Mystical Items | Ancient Luggage Guide
  • Console Wars 2025: Xbox Series X vs PS5 vs Switch 2 – Who’s Winning?

Copyright © 2025 · Gameranx · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme