Is it "Videogame" or "Video Game"?

[GameDoctorKunkel]

In the period of nearly a year during which I was editor-in-chief at Tips & Tricks, I instigated a lot of changes. When I came on board, the magazine didn't even have an email address and when Larry decided to shut it down, we had a website with strategy videos and tons of content up and running. This was more change in a year than the magazine had undergone in its previous 13 years, so as you might imagine, not all the changes were accepted whole-heartedly and immediately by the entire staff.

  But honestly, they were mostly fantastic and everybody, with maybe one exception, got into the spirit and ran with the changes. Interestingly, however, the greatest brouhaha of them all arose over what I initially regarded as an almost insignificant issue. I had just gotten a copy of the Videogame Style Guide that Kyle Orland and Scott Steinberg had produced and, with a couple of exceptions, I liked it better than the style guide we had been using.

  I especially liked the fact that it accepted the spelling of videogame as "videogame". Over the years, I had seen the mainstream media spell it as two words or as a hyphenate (video-games), but as one of the first two people to write about these games, Arnie Katz and I called them videogames. It doesn't make sense grammatically, but that's how the industry spelled it and I always felt it reflected the unique nature of the medium. We spelled it that way in '78 and I never stopped. What I did not realize was that, over the years, a schism developed over the spelling. I didn't realize how deeply people felt about it until I suggested that we would adopt that one-word spelling.

  The office went crazy-go-nuts. There were many arguments that day and I don't think I ever saw Chris Bieniek more passionate about anything we ever did. The argument of the two word people was logical; it should be two words. That's how English grammar works. Except when they were created, both the press and the industry used one word. Moreover, the magazine I helped create for LFP in 1986 was called VideoGames & Computer Entertainment. This magazine later morphed into a magazine called, simply, Videogames. Shortly, it evolved again, this time into a magazine called Tips & Tricks.

  That "how do you spell it?" thread burned up the Internet that afternoon as we argued endlessly over the spelling of the word which is at the heart of the business we were covering. Ultimately, it was Andy Eddy who settled the issue and now, as someone who surrendered his opinion on that day, I can say that it is two words.

  Video game.

  Ah, but WHY is it two words?

  Because, as Andy pointed out, the search engines say so. Go to Google and enter "videogames". You'll get an impressive number of results, almost 42 million. Now enter "video games" and you've suddenly got over 143 million results.

  Google has spoken. So, if anyone was wondering, in my heart I will always think of these things as VIDEOGAMES. But when I'm writing for public consumption, you gots to know when to hold em and know when to fold em, even when the subject is video games.

  —Bill "The Game Doctor" Kunkel

[jay]

hmmm, so is it 'J2 Games' then?  or 'J2Games'?  (According to the IRS, I don't think they give shit as long as the taxes are paid.)

But I would argue that 'Videogames' as in the magazine is the name of something and open to individual tastes.  But, according to the Engrish language it would be two seperate words.

Now, i personally always spell it with one word AND if you go to the Google Adwords (which we use for advertising,) more people search on it as one word then as two words (i know this ONLY because I have to pay the adwords per click and see which is charging me more each month.)

So, who wins? Google search results show 2 words, Googles searchers use 1 word....

[Rob F]

Leonard Herman tackles this subject in the beginning of his excellent book The Phoenix.  I can't recall what he said but believe his logic lead to "videogame."  When I write I still call them "videogames" but at work we use "video games."  It's not a big deal either way, but I prefer videogame. 

It's funny that certain figures want to find an alternate title for videogames; they feel "games" conjures an unfair stereotype that the medium is for children.  I'm open to some new labels; film also goes by movies, flicks, talkies, etc. 

[rolenta]

Leonard Herman tackles this subject in the beginning of his excellent book The Phoenix.  I can't recall what he said but believe his logic lead to "videogame."

Thanks for the kind words, Rob. Here's exactly what I said in the intro to the 3rd edition.

"Many have questioned my use of the single word videogames. While most sources, including Webster's Dictionary, spell it as video games, and in some circumstances I have seen it presented as video-games, I prefer using one word. My argument is that videogame should be one word since videotape and videodisc are also. This is strictly a personal choice and no inference should be made from it."

This spelling will be retained in the 4th edition and beyond!

[GameDoctorKunkel]

It's funny that certain figures want to find an alternate title for videogames; they feel "games" conjures an unfair stereotype that the medium is for children.  I'm open to some new labels; film also goes by movies, flicks, talkies, etc. 

Hey, look what designating comic book collections "graphic novels" did to elevate that medium in terms of adult content. I believe it was Will Eisner who first stressed the importance of calling them "graphic stories" or "graphic literature."

But I really don't buy the argument that "games" is a word that consigns video gaming to the kiddie pool. Given all the adults who watch football, baseball, etc. games, I don't think the term is that strongly age-suggestive. And how many kids do you know who play chess? Arnie Katz and I used to write periodic articles for Games magazine, which was the US version of the long-running Brit magazine Games & Puzzles, and that was no magazine for kids. It was written at a college level almost exclusively for adults with an emphasis on crosswords and other puzzles.

So I'd say that video games describes the medium pretty well. Sure, you could call them Electronic Experiences or Interactive Video, but you'd have to have the press and the entire industry on board to pull that off.

[PsychoChris]

Video game or Videogames?

what is this, some manner of Arcade Ebonics?

I'm sure that Video Games is the proper print media term that makes the people who say it like that sound smart and stuff. And Videogames is the street slagn turn used by the people who don't write about game because they are too busy playing them.

There will always be a "proper" way of doing things that takes a little extra time and effort. That's what makes it "proper" and seem more elegent. When I am in the presence of the Queen, I shall be sure to say the elegent "Video Games." When I'm shooting B-Ball wit mah homies old school, I gots to keep it real yo' Videogames fo' life Suckah, don't make me bust a cap, Duck hunter style.

[Abbie]

Kind of how Web site is the proper spelling, not Website...I always preferred video games. 

[BeGuile]

I like the thought of needing a slang term that is the movies or flicks from film.

I looked up words, and made on one. My favorite 2 are... "Playee" and "Machinate".


Also, when I write my articles, I use Video Games... But, talking to my friends I use videogames... or VGs.

[GameDoctorKunkel]

  I've gone back to one word. Jay's argument re Google is totally enough of an excuse for me to stop doing something I've felt uncomfortable about (like two spaces after every sentence; damn the stylebooks, says I!) since I started the two-word thing. Chris Kohler even ran a blog on my question on his Wired space and he got tons of very strong opinions and I ended by re-declaring my faith in the use of videogame.

  But it reminded me of an interesting story. When I was writing for Marvel Comics in the 70s, all the employees -- in-house and freelance -- were sent a memo by Stan Lee telling us to heretofore spell the following compound words as one: "superhero" and "comicbook." My personal belief was that he was thinking ahead to copyrighting and TMing the names. He was ahead of his time, since we've now seen words like "threepeat" get owned as well as "trademark phrases" such as "Letr's get ready to rumble!"

  The superhero one actuallyu caught on, but no one was going to spell comic book as one word.

[BeGuile]

I have officially started using Videogames.

[GameDoctorKunkel]

  And the Movement grows.

  No videogame, No justice!

[BeGuile]

Make Videogame, not contractions!
I think that's my worst joke in years. Forgive me. haha.


A video game gives the option of having more types of "games"... but "videogame" tells you: this is a one of a kind thing.

[ColecoVisionist]

When pitching the idea to McFarland Publishing for my book, they had me change "videogame" to "video game" since the latter is considered common usage.

[BeGuile]

Then we need to make "videogame" a more common word.

Vote Videogame in '08!


Revolutionizing the industry, one word at a time. haha.