Editor's note: I'm a tad competitive when it comes to games. As long as I'm the last one standing, I don't particularly care how I got there (except by cheating -- I won't stoop that low!). Michael takes a more nuanced approach to victory, offering guidelines for those of you curious if, say, an online Madden game where your opponent disconnects with three seconds left really counts as a win. -Brett

Most video games revolve around some form of competition. Be it player versus player, man versus machine, or a self-contained struggle for points and progress, the fun and enjoyment of playing often comes from the fine balance between the prospect of winning and the risk of losing. And while everybody wants to win at some point or another, most people recognize that they can't win all the time. In fact, it's entirely possible to win at a video game and still technically lose.

I'm an extremely competitive person by nature. My goal when I play a game is to achieve victory, and it's through victory that I find enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment. I've been known to take it easy on a new player from time to time, but I never tie my kid gloves very tightly, and they often slip off to reveal a shiny set of brass knuckles. Whether it's a no-holds-barred Team Deathmatch or a "friendly" game of Mario Party, I play to win. I was once called a "steel-eyed sniper" playing Super Bust-A-Move due to the intense death mask visage I wear when I focus intently on popping multicolored bubbles.

However, despite my lust for victory, I sometimes find it very difficult to justify a win, even though the game tells me explicitly that I've succeeded. The following are examples of the kinds of situations I often find myself in that force me to challenge my own theories on what constitutes a win or a loss.

Did I win, or did you lose?

Despite what the "feel good" self-help gurus say, I don't believe that you can have a winner without a loser. It's generally accepted that the winner of a competition had greater skill -- or, depending on the game, luck. My problem with this rule is that sometimes the loser isn't named as a result of the winner but because the loser loses.

Take an average game of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, for example. I'm sure everybody who has played the game has been in a situation where a player in a Stock game has accidentally fallen off a cliff or failed to recover from a fall, with no action taken from the winning player to cause that fall. It's clear from the trophy screen who won the match, but did the winner really win here?

I feel that in cases of user error, a win isn't really a win. If a player hasn't done anything to affect the other player, then he or she can hardly be responsible for the outcome of the match. My only issue comes when the loser commits intentional self-sabotage. While I'd love to say that that player still deserves the loss, it's hard not to feel robbed of a win.

In the end, you should deal with these situations on a case-by-case basis. If it's a friendly match, then you discount the win. If it's a serious encounter, or a deliberate act of sabotage, then it's time to take a good, long look at who you choose to play games with.

The disconnect between skill and victory

Most competitive gaming happens online. The high-speed Internet connections found in many homes these days make it easy for gamers to find each other and throw down for supremacy. The problem with counting online wins as valid comes when players disconnect during matches, either intentionally or through network issues.

Personally, I think that if a person disconnects during a match to stave off a loss, I've won. I can rationalize the win by saying that I outmatched that person by such a wide margin that he or she conceded victory to me. But what if the disconnect was through no fault of the user and occurred because of a network issue or a tripped Ethernet cable? Should that win be considered a real win?

Unless the reason for disconnecting is clear, online wins due to one player dropping can't be counted as real wins. The nagging voice in our heads will always wonder whether the match would have played out differently if we played it out fully. Even if an online game counts disconnecting as a win, I don't.

Winning by association

If you're into Modern Warfare 2, you've probably been in a situation where you've won a team game with a double digit score. It happens. Sometimes, some members of your team are so skilled or lucky that they can carry those who can't shake their death streaks. Technically, you won the match because you were a part of the team, but I still feel raw about the win.

Unless I contributed something to my team's success, I don't feel right calling that sort of victory a true win for myself. Matchmaking put me on that team, or luck and circumstance led me to the friends in my party. Maybe I soaked up bullets that were meant for another player, but it still doesn't feel right to win by association.

Your cheating heart can make you weak

While I can justify using whatever means the game provides to win, I have a hard time justifying wins gleaned through cheating as real wins. Glitches, exploits, and codes that modify the game in a player's favor go against the whole spirit of fair competition, and in those instances, I don't consider them real wins.

However, some people need or prefer to use cheat codes to beat single player games. Though it may seem hypocritical, I have no problem with people doing this. A win against a cheap computer is still a win, so long as some effort was put into the victory. If that's what an individual player considers fun, far be it from me to tell him or her otherwise.

Sucking the fun out of the experience

The hardest wins for me to justify are the ones that occur because I take a game too seriously. Completely dominating a casual gamer at Wii Sports Resort who has never played the game before might feel great initially, but afterward, sportsmanship kicks in and all I can taste is the the sour flavor of cheap victory.

Games are supposed to be fun, whether you're competitive or not. If anybody playing isn't having a good time, or if you're frustrating yourself or others, then it's time to re-examine your approach to playing games. Winners who aren't having fun, or take fun from other people, will always be losers to me -- and I include myself in that group when I take things too far.

Overall, fun may be the best way to tell if you're winning. Don't let anybody tell you that playing on Easy or rocking a Kill/Death ratio less than 1.0 makes you a loser. It might sound trite, but if you're enjoying what you're doing, and you stick with it, then any experience you have will be a win.

How do you feel about competition and victory in video games? Do you have your own code of honor regarding wins? Leave a comment and let me know.