Is winning correlated with fun when playing video games

That's an interesting question which could spark much debate, but for what it's worth, I'll venture forth my opinion.

"Fun" is completely objective. For many gamers, the fun is to be had from simply playing the game. Good controls, an engaging story, jaw-dropping visuals, and great sound/music are all key elements to making a game "fun" or "great" or whatever! Winning the game is only a small part of the whole experience.

It's arguable that many fun games can't even be won. Take, for instance, "The Sims". There really is no way to win that game, but you can certainly have fun just playing it.

A lot of gamers also take joy out of deliberately breaking the rules in a game - sometimes losing can be a lot of fun or even funny, depending on the game itself.

Furthermore, there have been plenty of times when I've been saddened from beating a game. ("The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time" comes to mind!) The experience is now over, and the game will never move me again the same way it did when I first played it. Sometimes winning can be a bitter-sweet experience, if it means the game is over.

All in all, I don't think this question has an easy answer... a game can certainly be fun even if you don't win, however winning should be enjoyable and/or rewarding. It should definitely be fun to win, but why can't the whole experience be fun? Can an entire bad book be justified by its great ending? I guess it depends on the book, and I guess it also depends on the game.