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Arising alongside the development of game designers in the 80's, game play was used soley within the context of video or computer games, though now its popularity has begun to see use in the description of other, more traditional, game forms.
Controversy & Resignation
Many current game design practicioners and theorists will argue that game play is a largely meaningless or empty term, superceded by other concepts established in the repertoire of perception, anthropology, and general diversified psychology. Others see the very term as an indication current game design (art) theories remain primitive and underdeveloped noting that, for example, cinema does not require "movie-watch" nor novels "book-read" in order that these mediums be described formally. Current academic discussions tend to favor more practical terms such as "game mechanics".
Despite these arguments, the use of game play has become a core member of popular computer gaming culture nomenclature, as it succinctly indicates a domain of perceptual concepts not readily accessible by other phrases.