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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Do you think a game console is a toy?

By definition, yes.



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yes, it is a toy for all age...



BMaker11 said:

Yes, I do. But the arguments being made here are for "primary functions". This case, iPhone being a "telephone". I use the Blu-Ray player in the front room for "entertainment purposes". Watching movies is its "primary function". Would you call a Blu-Ray player a "toy"?

If we stretch the definition to mean anything used for entertainment, and not just action figures, dolls, etc. then everything is a toy. A house is a toy. I use it to throw parties. An F1 fighter jet is a toy. Pilots like to fly up to 0 G and then do a bunch a loops, because it's "entertainment" for them. A pen is a toy. I twirl it around in class to keep me entertained because the teacher is boring. Etc.

If that's the case, I can accept that. Everything is on an even playing field. But we don't, pragmatically, define things like that. They are separated. A house is living quarters, not a toy. As such, a console is...well...a console like a DVD player is a DVD player.

Something can be a toy at one point and otherwise at a different point. Do there exist telephones or cellular phones that do not have additional recreational value? 

As for the Blu-Ray player, yes it is a toy. The sole use of the device is entertainment. 

You don't use the house to throw parties, the parties are thrown in the house. One can throw a party without a house. For some people an F1 fighter jet, is indeed a toy, they even describe it as such -"look at my new toy to play with." The previous statement is often used in reference to cars, as well. A pen can be a toy as well. "Toy" is not intrinsic to the object, it is determined by the use of the object. There is no trait that we can measure that says, yep this is a toy, other than the assessment of whether or not it is a tool used for recreational activities. 

Here's the etymology of the word 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. Compare 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." Applied as an adjective to things of diminutive size, especially dogs, from 1806. Toy-boy is from 1981.

Even for the more strict words in other languages, "play thing" that would qualify video games, as they are indeed play things. 



S.T.A.G.E. said:
If you believe its a toy then maybe its a toy to you. In truth, videogames used to have the stigma of being considered toys because companies like Nintendo and Sega marketed them to kids and teenagers. When Sony came they changed videogames from something for kids and teens to adults. Today consoles are essentially multimedia computers today. Thats why Sony expanded the industry beyond the path Nintendo set it upon.


If you believe it's not a toy, explain me why kids are playing games like Skylanders, Infinity, Mario Party... while the functions of a console have grown it doesn't erase the fact that it's a game console= a toy!!!

Cars are multimedia computers too, watches, phones, while expanding its functionnality can't be denyied it does not erase its primary function!!!

PC are great for gaming yet they are not toys, their primary use was work & multimedia!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29CicBxZuw

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I never saw an MP3 player or DVD player as a toy. It is an electronic device.



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sc94597 said:

Something can be a toy at one point and otherwise at a different point. Do there exist telephones or cellular phones that do not have additional recreational value? 

As for the Blu-Ray player, yes it is a toy. The sole use of the device is entertainment. 

You don't use the house to throw parties, the parties are thrown in the house. One can throw a party without a house. For some people an F1 fighter jet, is indeed a toy, they even describe it as such -"look at my new toy to play with." The previous statement is often used in reference to cars, as well. A pen can be a toy as well. "Toy" is not intrinsic to the object, it is determined by the use of the object. There is no trait that we can measure that says, yep this is a toy, other than the assessment of whether or not it is a tool used for recreational activities. 

Here's the etymology of the word 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. Compare 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." Applied as an adjective to things of diminutive size, especially dogs, from 1806. Toy-boy is from 1981.

Even for the more strict words in other languages, "play thing" that would qualify video games, as they are indeed play things. 

I could, then, make the argument, that you don't use a phone to play Angry Birds, Angry Birds is played on the phone. One can play Angry Birds without a phone (there's a browser version, for example, just as parties can be thrown in apartments, your work office, etc).

But if we go by the definition of something being a toy at one point and otherwise in another, and then also say a toy is anything that's used for entertainment, then we have to agree that a game console is, then, both a toy and not a toy. Because its sole purpose isn't just gaming/entertainment. Like I said, they can be used to develop games by people just like you and me, and for many people, that's a job. Sure, you may love the job and be entertained by it but I love my work as well, and I wouldn't call what I do a "play thing".  They can web browse, PS3 helped cancer research, when PS3 had Linux it was used as PC, Kinect allows surgeons to access medical imagery, etc.

Sure, we aren't surgeons, so that example doesn't apply to us. But even still, we use consoles for purposes other than entertainment all the same.

So, can we agree on that, then? That gaming consoles are "a toy at one point and otherwise at a different point". I'm willing to concede that. I'm getting the impression from others in this thread that they are strictly toys.



maverick40 said:
I never saw an MP3 player or DVD player as a toy. It is an electronic device.


Don't worry there are people in here saying that a car or a boat is a toy... hope they don't get in the way of other people using their cars as "toys", I'm pretty sure, they would change their definition of car to "killing machine" or "weapon" used by "murderers" & "criminals"!!!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29CicBxZuw

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One of the definitions for the word "Toy" given by the oxford dictionary.

"An object, especially a gadget or machine, regarded as providing amusement for an adult."

It's a weird one, you can refer to things as a Toy but that doesn't necessarily mean that the object itself is a toy. The word really denotes what you use it for. A child can take a stick and use it as a toy, that doesn't mean it is a toy. A console can be a toy, I wouldn't say that's the best word to describe it though.



Mnementh said:
Game_God said:
Eddie_Raja said:
Yes. So are Lamborghini's and Speed boats. Toys.


No!

Yes they are. Cars may be tools, but when you decide for a Lamborghini then you don't think about getting fast and safe to your work.


Yet it doesn't make it a "toy", it's a car, a mean of transportation. I can juggle with loaded guns, it does not transform the guns into "toys", they are still guns aka weapons.

I do understand that people can view a Lambo as a toy & use it as if it was one (on a circuit or closed road, I hope), but it's still a car!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29CicBxZuw

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BMaker11 said:

I could, then, make the argument, that you don't use a phone to play Angry Birds, Angry Birds is played on the phone. One can play Angry Birds without a phone (there's a browser version, for example, just as parties can be thrown in apartments, your work office, etc).

But if we go by the definition of something being a toy at one point and otherwise in another, and then also say a toy is anything that's used for entertainment, then we have to agree that a game console is, then, both a toy and not a toy. Because its sole purpose isn't just gaming/entertainment. Like I said, they can be used to develop games by people just like you and me, and for many people, that's a job. Sure, you may love the job and be entertained by it but I love my work as well, and I wouldn't call what I do a "play thing".  They can web browse, PS3 helped cancer research, when PS3 had Linux it was used as PC, Kinect allows surgeons to access medical imagery, etc.

Sure, we aren't surgeons, so that example doesn't apply to us. But even still, we use consoles for purposes other than entertainment all the same.

So, can we agree on that, then? That gaming consoles are "a toy at one point and otherwise at a different point". I'm willing to concede that. I'm getting the impression from others in this thread that they are strictly toys.

The phone is what is being used to play angry birds. If there is no phone/computing device you can't play angry birds. I can have a party without any man-made structure. I can have a party in a field, for example. 

And yes, I agree that if a PS3 is only being used to browse the internet for say academic purposes, or if it is being used to help cure cancer then it isn't being used as a toy at those moments. But if you also use the PS3 to play games, or browse the internet for fun then it is a toy. It is only when you don't use it to do these (and other) things that it can be disqualified as a toy. 

I have a gaming PC. I built it mostly for gaming, but I also use it for schoolwork and scientific computing. It is both a toy, and a means of production. If I stopped using it for gaming, then it would only be a means of production. If I stopped using it for schoolwork/scientific computing then it would only be a toy. Whether or not something is a toy depends on the binary of whether or not it is used for recreational purposes. If yes, then yes. If no, then no. This says nothing about its other non-recreational functions though.