Editing Game (section)

===Video games===
{{Main|Video game}}
{{See also|Electronic game}}
Video games are computer- or [[microprocessor]]-controlled games. Computers can create virtual spaces for a wide variety of game types. Some video games simulate conventional game objects like cards or dice, while others can simulate environs either grounded in reality or fantastical in design, each with its own set of rules or goals.

A computer or video game uses one or more [[input device]]s, typically a [[button (control)|button]]/[[joystick]] combination (on [[arcade games]]); a [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]], [[Computer mouse|mouse]] or [[trackball]] ([[computer games]]); or a [[Game controller|controller]] or a motion sensitive tool ([[Video game console|console games]]). More esoteric devices such as [[paddle (game controller)|paddle controllers]] have also been used for input.

There are many genres of video game; the first commercial video game, ''[[Pong]]'', was a simple simulation of [[table tennis]]. As processing power increased, new genres such as adventure and action games were developed that involved a player guiding a character from a third person perspective through a series of obstacles. This "real-time" element cannot be easily reproduced by a board game, which is generally limited to "turn-based" strategy; this advantage allows video games to simulate situations such as combat more realistically. Additionally, the playing of a video game does not require the same physical skill, strength or danger as a real-world representation of the game, and can provide either very realistic, exaggerated or impossible physics, allowing for elements of a fantastical nature, games involving physical violence, or simulations of sports. Lastly, a computer can, with varying degrees of success, simulate one or more human opponents in traditional table games such as [[chess]], leading to simulations of such games that can be played by a single player.

In more open-ended computer simulations, also known as sandbox-style games, the game provides a virtual environment in which the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of this universe. Sometimes, there is a lack of goals or opposition, which has stirred some debate on whether these should be considered "games" or "toys". (Crawford specifically mentions [[Will Wright (game designer)|Will Wright]]'s ''[[SimCity]]'' as an example of a toy.)<ref name="craw" />

====Online games====
{{Main|Online game}}
[[Online games]] have been part of culture from the very earliest days of [[computer network|networked]] and [[time-share]]d computers. Early commercial systems such as [[PLATO (computer system)|Plato]] were at least as widely famous for their games as for their strictly educational value. In 1958, ''[[Tennis for Two]]'' dominated Visitor's Day and drew attention to the [[oscilloscope]] at the [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]]; during the 1980s, [[Xerox PARC]] was known mainly for ''[[Maze War]]'', which was offered as a hands-on demo to visitors.

Modern online games are played using an Internet connection; some have dedicated [[client (computing)|client]] programs, while [[browser game|others]] require only a [[web browser]]. Some simpler browser games appeal to more casual game-playing demographic groups (notably older audiences) that otherwise play very few video games.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Schutter |first=Bob |date=March 2011 |title=Never Too Old to Play: The Appeal of Digital Games to an Older Audience |journal=Games and Culture |language=en-US |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=155–170 |doi=10.1177/1555412010364978 |s2cid=220317720 |issn=1555-4120}}</ref>