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Games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n individuals or groups of individuals choose strategies designed to maximize their own winnings or to minimize their opponent's winnings; the rules specify the possible actions for each player, the amount of information received by each as play progresses, and the amounts won or lost in various situations. Von Neumann and Morgenstern restricted their attention to zero-sum games, that is, to games in which no player can gain except at another's expense. This restriction was overcome by the work of John F. Nash during the early 1950s. Nash mathematically clarified the distinction between cooperative and noncooperative games. In noncooperative games, unlike cooperative ones, no outside authority assures that players stick to the same predetermined rules, and binding agreements are not feasible. Further, he recognized that in noncooperative games there exist sets of optimal strategies (so-called Nash equilibria) used by the players in a game such that no player can benefit by unilaterally changing his or her strategy if the strategies of the other players remain unchanged. Because noncooperative games are common in the real world, the discovery revolutionized game theory. Nash also recognized that such an equilibrium solution would also be optimal in cooperative games. He suggested approaching the study of cooperative games via their reduction to noncooperative form and proposed a methodology, called the Nash program, for doing so. Nash also introduced the concept of bargaining, in which two or more players collude to produce a situation where failure to collude would make each of them worse off. The theory of games applies statistical logic to the choice of strategies. It is applicable to many fields, including military problems and economics; the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Nash, John Harsanyi, and Reinhard Selten for their work in applying game theory to economics.

Gaming Casino-style gambling. The original meaning of the term, gaming may also refer to gambling over the Internet. Playing electronic games. Games can be played by an individual with a specialized game machine (video game console) or a computer and gaming software. Many games are designed for multiple players, who can interact and compete with each other using a computer over a LAN or the Internet. That also includes traditional card games; for example, four people, each in different locations around the world, can play bridge together over the Internet. Considered to be the inventor of the first video game, Ralph Baer's idea in the early 1950s of adding games to the TV sets he was building at Loral was rejected. Fifteen years later, he designed several prototypes on his own. Magnavox licensed his technology and introduced it as the Odyssey game machine in 1972, which used plastic overlays on the TV screen for a dozen games including ping-pong. Later, Nolan Bushnell had a similar version created for arcades, and "Pong" quickly became the premier product of his company, which he had renamed Atari. See video game console, gamer, Atari and advergame. Trends and attitudes towards gaming In the early 1980s, games as we know them today were not as widely popular. Computer games were often hard to get by and the distribution channel was not available. But a popular mail order system was allowing many people to get into games. It could also be said computer games help popularise the notion of owning a computer and this help establish the personal computer as we see them today. The Apple II (made by Apple Computer and designed by Steve Wozniak) was chiefly designed to play games, and it was the first truly popular personal computer.

Game Popularity One way to judge the popularity of computer and video games is by looking at sales figures. The three biggest markets for these games in 2003 were the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom [1] (http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=2908) and each indicated that dedicated video game hardware made up the bulk of the industry. Furthermore, the total income of the North American video game industry now surpasses the total income of the North American film industry. According to the DNP Group, sales of computer games in the US have been declining since the late 1990s and are only a fraction of market[2] (http://www.npd.com/). This is despite the findings that the US entertainment software industry as a whole is growing. Computer game sales were strong as recently as the mid-1990s and appeared to be growing at that time. Looking at computer game sales alone can be a misleading, because there are many free computer games and ones that make money through other means, such as subscription-based MMOGs and shareware games. DFC estimated that global MMOG revenues in 2003 would be over $1 billion USD[3] (http://www.dfcint.com/game_article/aug04article.html). Sales of games distributed by download are often not tracked by traditional methods. According to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), Half-Life 2 debuted at #3 in UK sales, which some commentators said was below forecasts and attributed the discrepancy to unknown sales made through Valve Software's Steam distribution system. Computer games are still big business in South Korea. Developers there boast MMORPGs such as Lineage and Ragnarok Online with millions of subscribers and a third of the world's MMOG revenue. StarCraft gosi (expert players) are celebrities in a game that some have dared to call the country's national sport. The success of computer and online gaming there is usually credited to South Korea's push for broadband Internet connections in the home and earlier bans on Japanese products (these restrictions were removed by the late 1990s). Several websites and publications devoted solely to games have been created, including Nintendo Power, Gamepro, Official Playstation Magazine, Gamespot, and IGN.