What are some of the differences between video games and computer games?

What are some of the differences between video games and computer games?

Bill Kunkel (Editor-in-Chief, "Tips & Tricks" Magazine) gives expert video advice on: What are the most influential first-person shooters?; What is one of the best strategy video games available?; What are some of the most influential role-playing video games? and more...

Well, it's interesting because the history of the video games industry has meant that they have both been in the same place. I mean, when computer games first started, they were very weak attempts to duplicate arcade games. And basically, in the beginning, arcade games and the coin-operated games were the source for all the inspiration, because that's where the money was going. The Research and Development was enormous. They spent fortunes as every game was uniquely designed. The cabinet was designed that determined what kind of monitor would go in it. So, basically in the beginning, video and arcade games were both essentially trying to mimic what was going on in the arcades, but the computers couldn't do that very well. The problem was that a video game system with a miniscule amount of memory that's dedicated exclusively to producing images, animation and sound, can generally do that better than a computer, which is programmed to be a spreadsheet. It's got to be able to do all these other functions.