Ever heard of the Aesthetics of Play? It's a categorization of video games not based on what you do (platformer, FPS) but on the experience you're looking for in the game. The interactive element of video games allow for these eight distinct kinds of gameplay. Allmost all games can be described using two or three of these categories: 1. Sensation: games as sense-pleasures. Games in which you can have experiences that you wouldn't be able to have otherwise. 2. Fantasy: games as make-believe. Skyrim comes to mind, as well as most RPGs: games that transcend reality. 3. Narrative: games as drama. Games whose stories are told, either literally or through experiences. 4. Challenge: games as an obstacle course. Super Meat Boy is a good example of this. These games are often about highscores. Trackmania is a game I adore because it does this so well. 5. Fellowship: social games. Achieving something through working together. Often multiplayer, but not necessary. 6. Discovery: games as uncharted territory. Exploration. What I hope No Man's Sky to become. 7. Expression: games that are a blank canvas. Think of Minecraft, Gmod: games where you can put your creativity in and express yourself. 8. Submission: games as pastime. Games that you play to wind down after a long day at work. Yesterday, I played Euro Truck Simulator while catching up to my favourite podcasts. I find it a useful vocabulary when talking about video games, and what I'm looking for in a game (if I'm playing at all). I'm a big fan of games that have Narrative, Sensation and Discovery. The Uncharted games come to mind there, but so does Portal 2.
Put 2, 3 and 6 together and you have my cyber-cocaine. Mass Effect 1 nailed those points for me.
Haven't heard about that classification. It looks helpful indeed. As for TrackMania... I also had great times with TrackMania Sunrise. Ah, my mind wandered to the hours spent on nailing the tracks for an Author Medal... And then the next one. I always thought it's such a neat game, because it's stripped of all of those unimportant features you have in other games - like earning some reputation, money, new cars, some poor background stories. In TrackMania all you're left is the challenge (as you mentioned) to do it faster than the previous time. All this talk about TrackMania made me want to play it...
If you download the Trackmania 2 (Stadium / Valley / Canyon), you can play the full game for your first 48 hours unlimited free and after that one hour every day for free. And when you're done, you can head to this other thread from today!
In the end I think I'll give up TrackMania, at least for now. It'll be better, if I spend this time practising on the guitar, reading and looking for a job. Maybe after I'll find a job, I'll give it a try.