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The system is partly a memory of its past, just as in origami, the essence of a bird or a horse is both in the nature and order of the folds made. The question that must be answered when faced with a problem of planning or design of a system, is what exactly is the system? It is therefore necessary to know the nature of the inner structure before plans can be made.-Wolfgang Jonas, "On the Foundations of a 'Science of the Artificial'"
Introducing Systems
Games are intrinsically systemic: all games can be understood as systems. What do we mean by this? Let's begin our investigations of games and systems by looking at some common understandings of the word "system."
System
A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.
A functionally related group of elements, especially:
The human body regarded as a functional physiological unit.
An organism as a whole, especially with regard to its vital processes or functions
A group of physiologically or anatomically complementary organs or parts: the nervous system; the skeletal system.
A group of interacting mechanical or electrical components.
A network of structures and channels, as for communication, travel, or distribution.
An organized set of interrelated ideas or principles.
A social, economic, or political organizational form.
A naturally occurring group of objects or phenomena: the solar system.
A set of objects or phenomena grouped together for classification or analysis.
A condition of harmonious, orderly interaction.
An organized and coordinated method; a procedure.[1]
Some of these definitions focus on the biological or natural idea of the word "system" (2a, 2b, 2c, 5). Others reference mechanical systems (2d) or systems of transportation and communication (2e). Still others focus on the social meanings of the word (4, 7) or on ideas and knowledge (3, 6, 8). Despite differences in emphasis, there is something that all of these def-initions of "system" share. Look for it in the very first definition on the list, which describes systems as "a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole." This understanding of a system as a set of parts that relate to form a whole contains all of the other special cases of this same concept. When understood in this way-as a set of parts that together form a complex whole-it is clear that games are systems. In a game of Soccer, for example, the players, the ball, the goal nets, the playing field, are all individual elements. When a game of Soccer begins these elements gain specific relationships to each other within the larger system of the game. Each player, for example, plays in a certain position on one of two teams. Different player positions have roles that interrelate, both within the system that constitutes a single team (goalie vs. forward vs. halfback), and within the system that constitutes the relationship between teams (the goalie guarding the goal while an opposing forward attempts to score). The complex whole formed by all of these relationships within a system comprises the game of Soccer. As systems, games provide contexts for interaction, which can be spaces, objects, and behaviors that players explore, manipulate, and inhabit. Systems come to us in many forms, from mechanical and mathematical systems to conceptual and cultural ones. One of the challenges of our current discussion is to recognize the many ways that a game can be framed as a system. Chess, for example, could be thought of as a strategic mathematical system. It could also be thought of as a system of social interaction between two players, or a system that abstractly simulates war. [1]<dictionary.com>.
