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sc94597 on 12 January 2014
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TornadoCreator said:

OK, first of all, video games are not toys. A toy by definition is for imaginative play with no goal. In fact, this smug "video games are toys" rebuttal that's started circling the internet to try to counter people who take video games "too seriously" is both irritating and incorrect.

This is how it works for all interactive play. There are 5 forms of interactive play, Toy, Puzzle, Sport, Competition, and Game. Here's how you decipher which is which.

1. Is the item/object used in a form of play with no objective or goal?
Yes = It's a Toy. No = Move on to question 2.

2. Are there any other people or agents of interaction (including AI) in this challenge?
No = It's a Puzzle. Yes = Move on to question 3.

3. Is your form of play one of physical prowess in which there is a winner and loser?
Yes = It's a Sport. No = Move on to question 4.

4. Are you allowed to interfere with the progress of the other agents, or vice versa?
No = It's a Competition. Yes = It's a Game.

So, no, a video game is not a toy. Can people please stop saying this now as though it's some kind of trump card argument to make your opponent look petty and demeaning their arguments puerile because "it's just a toy, you're arguing over a toy". Not only is that argument facile and insulting, it's also wrong.

Can you source this dichotomous key you use? I'll make a more semantic argument. 

Here is the etymology of the word "toy."  This seems to verify the use of the word "toy" as a counter to "serious" gamers. 

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=toy

c.1300, "amorous playing, sport," later "piece of fun or entertainment" (c.1500), "thing of little value, trifle" (1520s), and "thing for a child to play with" (1580s). Of uncertain origin, and there may be more than one word here. Cf. Middle Dutch toy, Dutch tuig "tools, apparatus, stuff, trash," in speeltuig "play-toy, plaything;" German Zeug "stuff, matter, tools," Spielzeug "plaything, toy;" Danish tøi, Swedish tyg "stuff, gear."

And if we look at the modern definiton in the Webster and Oxford dictionaries. 

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/the-oxford-english-dictionary

  • 1an object for a child to play with, typically a model or miniature replica of something:[as modifier]:a toy car
  •  an object, especially a gadget or machine, regarded as providing amusement for an adult:in 1914 the car was still a rich man’s toy
  •  a person treated by another as a source of pleasure or amusement rather than with due seriousness:a man needed a friend, an ally, not an idol or a toy

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toy

: something a child plays with

: something that an adult buys or uses for enjoyment or entertainment

: something that is very small