The absurdity of such expression games has been wittily explored in the spy novels of Robert Littell and, with particular brio, in Peter Ustinov's 1956 play, "Romanoff and Juliet".
That we now exist in a medium that's willing to accept personal expression games, games that aren't conceived in a build-a-better-product mindset, games that don't fit into the old review score structure that prized function over form.
The cult of the bushranger is the source of such folk songs as "Bold Jack Donahoe" and "Wild Colonial Boy," as well as the expression "as game as Ned Kelly".
During the last episode, I spent most of my time mentally replacing the awed facial expressions of cast members gazing at Karen as she sings with the horrified expressions of "Game of Thrones" characters staring at King Joffrey as he tortures minions.
That thought has found expression in games for many decades.
But recently, lawyers from United States Patent and Trademark Office turned down his first attempt to register the expression for games and other playthings.
Skipping over "Bones" (Fox, 2005), "Criminal Minds" and "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 2005), we arrive at "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS, 2007), whose remarkable rise in popularity has tracked the most significant change in American popular culture as a whole: the rise of nerd taste, from its stereotypical techie-Trekkie manifestations like "Big Bang" to more bookish expressions like "Game of Thrones".
Some games allow for higher degrees of creative expression within the game, while a select few, like the upcoming Fantasia: Music Evolved, allow you to create something that you can keep or share when the game is over.
Both are legally entitled to do this because as long as the outward expression of a game (its art, music, writing etc) is distinct then a game is considered distinct under copyright law.
