I was having a conversation with a coworker about the relationship between boardgames and videogames. His only knowledge of board games extends only to Monopoly, Risk, etc. He questioned why board games still exist since video games were obviously better and technically obsolete them. While computers can show a lot of pretty pictures and compute a lot of information, there are some qualities of board games that still outshine.
With that in mind, I tried to come up with this comparative list:
Innovation:
BG - Most modern board games are striving to stand out amongst the crowd. You'll rarely find clones, and innovation is what keeps the business lively.
VG - Because video games are a big business, their ultimate goal is to make money. There are certain "types" of games that sell very well, so little innovation is neccessary.
Multiplayer:
BG - Board games can support large crowds in one social gathering.
VG - Video games usually top out at 2 players (locally) and even then the genres are limited to racing, fighting, and co-op among others.
Interaction:
BG - 99% of board games require face to face human interaction.
VG - Many video games have virtual interaction with others over a network.
Time Frame:
BG - You usually know how long a board game will last and they have a definitive end.
VG - You could literally play through the whole night and have to set personal "end times."
Family Oriented:
BG - Have you ever played a board game with your grandma?
VG - Have you ever played a video game with your grandma?
Please share your own thoughts.
I am very serious about old school 2D shooters, playing for highscores. The purpose of 2 player simultaneous in space shooters can only be for fun, because it always is chaos, you can*t play your full skill when someone else is on the screen. When we played videogame hockey or racing we wanted to have a good time. Playing alone can be serious, with 2 people it can*t be. To me.
Board games are the opposite. Playing vs each other is always serious.
Everyone thinks alot before he makes his move. That*s greater than to have a short race vs each other.
Least of boardgames are played solitaire but you get what I mean.
The new generations of multiplayer games however can provide you something that old videogames could not - you can meet players all around the world, it is very "real" to me as the participating people are real, no CPU controlled opponents, thats something great, it*s like playing football on the backyard may be interesting, but playing something vs. People internationally gives you a feeling like you are a bit like a world cup famous champion as people say "hi" to you that you never met in person but they know your name, skill and stuff, hence I consider Multiplayer Online Gaming more a way of modern sport rather than a videogame (I*m the generation of PacMan and Mario Bros ;)) and don*t compare these games now vs the Boardgames.
I compare classic videogames to Boardgames, the 8 and 16 Bit stuff.
I can*t say videogames make the board games obsolete.
Videogames are sorta action, board games are cultural way of spending time with other people. The reason why I became a total videogame addict back in my youth was probably because I could play these games alone, but whenever my family gathered for boardgames I participated.
If more people would consider multiplayer online gaming a sport - like I do - no one would say real sport is obsolete because of that and put the tennis rackets in the cellar. They are both different shoes.
Same goes to board games and classic videogames.
Just because some people think boardgames are limited to family stuff like throwing a dice and hoping the right number will appear doesn*t mean videogames ARE superior. That*s like you have seen PacMan and say videogames are not looking any realistic just because you didn*t try Doom3.
A complex boardgame can be much more chalenging tahn any videogame if you pick the right one, it*s something you sit over, not just look at on a screen.
My personal theory btw is most kids today prefer videogames anyway even if they had the opportunity to play boardgames with someone else because the state of education especially in the media sinks lower and lower - check those animated cartoons now and those from 20 years ago, or lecture - its all going down, so todays kids don*t even have the patience or concentration ability anymore to sit down and play a boardgame, it*s all about hectic and pushin buttons.
Thats why boardgames sell for nothing on Ebay and Videogames sell high.
Despite I used to be a hardcore videogame player I must say it is very sad boardgames are underestimated nowadays. If you take a simple game like Gameboy Pokemon, imagine how more complex, strategic and great this could be in a boardgame when you don*t have 2 attacks but 20, and when you learn a new ability you don*t "forget" the other previous just because theres* not enough space on the rom cart (lol).
Boardgames are not a direct coutnerpart of videogames, so videogames can*t replace them imo.
And the best at a Boardgame will always be - when you take it out of the box it doesn*t say "I don*t run under WinXP." :P