Category talk:Video Games

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Current revision as of 23:57, 23 July 2026

[edit] Difference from Category:Games

What's the difference between this and Category:Games? Obviously Category:Board Games wouldn't fit as a subcategory here, but everything else in the Games category seems like it could fit just as easily here, and vice versa. Gfdgsgxgzgdrc 06:25, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Hmm, yeah, I can't see anything that clearly distinguishes the two categories and unifies their respective contents, with both having a mix of very old and more "modern" games, and also of playable and non-playable games: Category:Games has Slumber Party Games, which is also that category's only game of the non-video type (due to the article excluding Clapping Party), while Category:Video Games has the non-playable Typing Tutor Turbo. I should also note that the Category:Videlectrix Games subcategory also has a mix of playable and non-playable games. The Games category also has the unfinished Homestar Runner RPG, while the Video Games category also has some games menus, but only two (Handheld Games Menu and Scrolling Shooter Games Menu) of the three "playable" (including the Second Games Menu) and five total menus.

At the very least, everything in the Games category apart from Games and Slumber Party Games seems like it should fit in the Video Games subcategory. DEI DAT VM^┌_{datvm center}\^{super contra}_┘ 10:53, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

This category was a more recent creation, and although I'm a fan of video games (to the point that I'm probably the most knowledgeable person in my region on certain video games), as someone who's no fan of seemingly arbitrarily created new categories (especially if, as noted, there are no obvious differences!), I instead suggest moving everything back to Category:Games. RickTommy (edits) 23:46, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

As the person responsible for creating this category, I would like to explain the rationale behind this new category, but I am having a hard time remembering what I was thinking a year ago. So, looking back, every game on this site is essentially a Video Game, so there isn't any overlap between this and Category:Games, in practice. I think my rationale was whether or not the game is a Video Game in universe? But that's definitely not a rationale that I kept to the letter. My intent wasn't to create this category arbitrarily but to better delineate the different types of games especially now that board games are a thing. Unfortunately, even I'm having a hard time drawing clear lines between what's an in-universe Video Game vs. just a "plain old game".

A good example of something that I've miscategorized would be: Astro-Lite 2600, which is based on Lite-Brite which is a physical game. This is also the reason why Homestar Runner's "Sid" Game remained in Games. This diff for Who Said What Now? reinforces that thought: I was trying to categorize based on whether or not the game is a board game or video game, or something else in-universe. Present me would disagree with past me about that specific decision. Note that Strong Bad Talker also wouldn't be a video game.

Other games that I think would definitely fall under the "Video Game" category would be: Nighttime Driving Type Game (based on Night Driver (video game)) and Typing Tutor Turbo (Which should be a parody of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, but looks like Space Invaders and Galaga).

But then what about Make-O Your Own Stinko and Egg Throwing Game? "Make-O Your Own Stinko" is based on a "Video Game Franchise" but it's about making comics. And "Egg Throwing Game" is about a "real-world activity" played in Video Game form (same for Kick The Cheat (game)).

I also added Super Kingio Bros. because it is parodying Video Games not just games in general.

Long story short: looking back, my intent was to try to delineate between Games (as a general concept), and Video Games (a more narrowly defined concept), not having taken into consideration that everything in this site is essentially a video game. I think a narrower, in-universe definition would be helpful, but even that can run into ambiguities since Video Games, in essence, are trying to emulate the real world in Electronic form. At a minimum, I do think we should try to delineate between "this is just a game, in general" and "this is relating to the video games as a specific concept", but to do so successfully, we'd need to draw clearer lines here.

Hopefully, I've gotten my point across, and I'm open to suggestions. If, ultimately, this isn't the right approach then we can bring everything back to the Games category. As I'm writing this, it occurred to me that "Super Kingio Bros." could also be a Video game reference. However, what's the difference between a "Reference" and a game that completely parodies another? Are they same thing? --Stux 08:49, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

Hm, seeing it laid out like that makes the pages chosen for each category make a little more sense. Still, with Category:Games having a description of "Behold, the games of homestarrunner.com!", it seems like it was intended to contain games playable by the viewer, as opposed to in-universe games. That seems like a more important distinction to me than "is this based on the concept of video games or of traditional games". DEI DAT VM^┌_{datvm center}\^{super contra}_┘ 23:57, 23 July 2026 (UTC)