Videogame Isn’t One World, But It Should Be

I saw a tweet today that reminded me of something I’ve been meaning to write for a long time.

Most style guides (especially the almighty AP) dictate “video game” so I would use that if writing professionally. But if it were up to me, “videogame” would be the proper usage because videogames are now their own thing.

Compound words are (technically) an adjective and a noun. They are a thing (the noun) and a descriptor of that thing (the noun that’s functioning as an adjective). A flowerpot is a pot for flowers. A notebook is a book for notes.

When the noun and noun-as-adjective are used together commonly enough, the combination of words changes from a category or variation of one commonly known thing (a pot but for flowers, a book but for notes) into its own commonly known thing (a flowerpot, a notebook).

For instance, rail road was two words when you needed to explain to people that a train traveled on a road made of rails, but once everyone knew what it was, it became railroad. Once the thing that needed a descriptor to be understood becomes popular on its own, the space disappears.

For a brief time, “rail road” was used more frequently in writing. When railroads became more common, “railroad” took over.

Plus, when a two-word compound becomes one word, it becomes more specific. A bookshelf isn’t just a shelf for books, it’s a specific piece of furniture. An earthquake isn’t just a quake in the earth, it’s a specific geological event.

Videogames aren’t just games played on video screens, they’re a specific type of creative work that mixes interactivity with audio and video. They’re not games of the video variety, they’re videogames.

Plus, surprisingly, videogames as a compound word is more inclusive. Some videogames have very little game. Some videogames have very little video. And that’s ok because they’re not video games, they’re videogames.

A bookshelf doesn’t stop being a bookshelf when we put other things on it, but a book shelf does.

Finally, using videogames as one word is a small, subtle step toward reflecting the medium as its own form. Not as an off-shoot of games, or as a variation of videos, but as its own thing. Videogames have always been a product of the technologies that power videos and games, but the product created by combining those technologies is greater than the sum of its parts.

Great enough, perhaps, to deserve its own word.

Anyway, if anyone at the AP is reading this, I’m available to give this presentation in person.