Action
An action game requires players to use quick
reflexes, accuracy, and timing to overcome obstacles. It is perhaps the most
basic of gaming genres, and certainly one of the broadest. Action games tend to
have game play with emphasis on combat. There are many sub genres of action
games, such as fighting games and first-person
shooters.
Ball and paddle
The predecessor of all console game genres, a
ball-and-paddle game was the first game implemented on a home console (Pong). Later renditions have included Breakout, which was a driving influence behind the Apple II
computer, and Arkanoid, an arcade staple for many years. A
version of Breakout called Block Buster was also packaged with the first handheld console with
swappable cartridges, the Micro vision.
Beat 'em up and hack and slash
Beat
'em up and hack and slash games have an emphasis on
one-on-many close quarters combat, beating
large numbers of computer-controlled enemies.Game play involves the player
fighting through a series of increasingly difficult levels. The sole
distinction between these two genres are that beat 'em ups feature hand-to-hand
combat, and hack and slash games feature melee
weaponry, particularly bladed weapons. Both genres feature little to no use of
firearms or projectile combat. This genre became popular in 1987 with the
release of Double
Dragon, leading to
a large number of similar games. The fighting style is usually simpler than for
versus fighting games.
In recent times, the genre has largely merged with that of action-adventure,
with side-scrollinglevels
giving way to more open three-dimensional areas, and melee combat co-existing
with shooting and puzzle elements.
Fighting game
Fighting
games emphasize one-on-one combat between two characters, one of which
may be computer controlled.These games are usually played by
linking together long chains of button presses on the controller to use
physical attacks to fight. Many of the movements employed by the characters are
usually dramatic and occasionally physically impossible. Combat is almost
always one-on-one, though there are some exceptions such
as the Super Smash Bros. series and Guilty Gear Isuka, pitting up to four combatants in
the fight at one time. This genre first appeared in 1976 with the release of Sega's Heavyweight Boxing and later became a phenomenon,
particularly in the arcades, with the release of Street Fighter II.
Maze game
Maze games have a playing field which is entirely a maze, which players must navigate. Quick
thinking and fast reaction times are encouraged by the use of a timer, monsters
obstructing the player's way, or multiple players racing to the finish. The
most famous game of this genre is PAC-Man.
Pinball game
Pinball
games are designed to replicate the look and feel of a real-life pinball table in
virtual reality. Most pinball games feature the same game play style, where the
player controls a right and left flipper, and tries to make the ball hit
various parts of the play field to gather up points. The control
scheme in pinball games is, for the most part, the same. On consoles, left and
right "shoulder" buttons are often used to approximate the left and
right flipper buttons of a real-world pinball game. In some cases, a pinball
game may feature more than two flippers: two are generally located at the
bottom of the play field, and others (generally only one or two more) are found
above the bottom two. Some games automatically fire the ball into the
play field, while others require the player to press a button to pull down the
spring-loaded plug and fire the ball into the play field. One significant way
that video game pinball games can progress beyond pinball table emulation is
the inclusion of features impossible to incorporate in a real pinball table,
such as multiple table layouts or direct ball control. Pinball games have
become more popular in recent years on handheld systems, as opposed to
consoles.
Platform game
Platform
games (platformers) are a sub genre of action game. These games involve
traveling between platforms by jumping (very occasionally other means are
substituted for jumping, like swinging or bouncing, but these are considered
variations on the same mechanic). Other traditional elements include running
and climbing ladders and ledges. Platformers frequently borrow elements from
other genres like fighting and shooting (such as the Castlevania series, which incorporates
role-playing). They are most often associated with iconic cartoon mascots like Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, Megaman, Samus and Rayman,
though platform games may have any theme. The term itself first came into use
to describe any game in which the player traveled between platforms, and Space Panic, a 1980 arcade release, has been
cited as the first platform game for featuring obstacles and gaps to jump over, making it a platformer by the
modern sense of the term.Pitfall! can also be classified as an early
platformer. Traditionally, platform games were 2D,
with players viewing the environment from a profile, "cutaway"
perspective. This could be done easily with sprites and was simple for early computers to handle. 3D
computer graphics have opened these games up for movement in all directions. However, 3D
perspectives make it more difficult to judge distance, which is an important
part of platformers. Because of this, many 3D platformers have a feature to
make this easier,[citation needed] such as a player shadow that will
always be cast straight down, tracking their location on the ground while the
character is jumping. At their peak, platformers were the most popular games on
the market.The genre experienced a sharp decline, from 15% of total market share in 1998 to 2% in 2002.Although there
are many 3D platform games, few have proven to have the universal appeal of
their older games.However, this could merely be a result of a changing market
and an increase in game variety.
Shooter
A shooter game focuses primarily on combat
involving projectile weapons, such as guns and missiles. They can be divided
into first-person and third-person shooters, depending on the camera
perspective. Some first-person shooters use light
gun technology.
First-person shooter
First-person
shooter video games, commonly known as FPSs, emphasize shooting and combat from the
perspective of the character controlled by the player. This perspective is
meant to give the player the feeling of "being there", and allows the
player to focus on aiming. Most FPSs are very fast-paced and require quick
reflexes on high difficulty levels. The fast-paced and 3D elements required to
create an effective looking FPS made the genre technologically unattainable for
most consumer hardware systems until the early 1990s. Wolfenstein 3D was the first widely known FPS, and Doom was the first major breakthrough in
graphics; it used a number of clever techniques to make the game run fast
enough to play on consumer-grade machines. Since the release ofDoom,
most FPS games now have a multi-player feature to allow competition between
multiple players. Games such as Team
Fortress, Halo, Killzone, Metroid Prime, Unreal Tournament, Call
of Duty, and TimeSplitters are in the ever-expanding first-person
shooter genre.
MMO FPS
Massively multiplayer online
first person shooter games (MMOFPS) are a genre of massively multiplayer online games that combines first-person
shooter gameplay with a virtual world in which a large number of players can
interact over the Internet. Whereas
standard FPS games limit the number of players able to compete in a multiplayer
match (generally the maximum is 64, due to server capacity), hundreds of
players can battle each other on the same server in an MMOFPS.
Light gun shooter
Light gun shooters are a genre of shooter genre
designed for use with a pointing
device for computers and a control
device for arcade and home
consoles.The first light guns appeared in the 1930s, following the
development of light-sensing vacuum tubes. It
wasn't long before the technology began appearing in arcade shooting games, beginning with the Seeburg
Ray-O-Lite in 1936. These early light gun games used small (usually moving) targets
onto which a light-sensing tube was mounted; the player used a gun (usually a
rifle) that emitted a beam of light when the trigger was pulled. If the beam
struck the target, a "hit" was scored. Modern screen-based light guns
work on the opposite principle—the sensor is built into the gun itself, and the
on-screen target(s) emit light rather than the gun. The first light gun of this
type was used on the MIT Whirlwind computer. Some "light gun"
games actually use guns mounted on joysticks, giving the illusion of using a
light beam, but all control is transferred through the movement of the stick;
notable examples of this include T2:
The Arcade Game,
Shoot 'em up
A shoot 'em up (or shmup for short), or arcade shooter, is a
genre of shooter game in which the player controls a
character or vehicle (most often aspacecraft) and
shoots large numbers of enemies, while dodging incoming projectiles. Games in
this genre call for fast reactions and memorization of enemy patterns. The
genre became prolific with the release of Space Invaders in 1978 and this popularity
continued as the genre evolved throughout the 1980s and 90s. Shoot 'em ups
currently retain a niche appeal, particularly in Japan.The roots of the genre
can be traced back to Spacewar!, developed in 1962 and later
released as an arcade game.
Tactical shooter
Tactical
shooters are variations on the first- and third-person shooter genre, which focus on
realism and emphasize tactical play such as planning and teamwork (for example,
co-ordination and specialised roles) such as in SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs and Medal of Honor (series). In single player modes,
the player commands a squad of AI controlled characters in addition to their
own; in multi-player modes, players must work in teams to win the game. Winning
is likely to be dependent on capturing an objective of some sort rather than
gaining the most kills.
Rail shooter
A rail shooter is a sub-genre of the first-person
shooter in which the player's navigation through the game environment is not
under their explicit control. A rail shooter restricts the player's
interactions to the tactical objectives in each scene, and progresses between
scenes by moving the player's camera into specific positions along the game
map.
Third-person shooter
Third-person
shooter video games, known as TPSs or 3PSs, emphasize shooting and combat from a
camera perspective in which the player
character is seen at a distance. This perspective gives the player a wider view of
their surroundings as opposed to the limited viewpoint of first-person
shooters. Furthermore, third-person shooters allow for more elaborate movement
such as rolling or diving, as opposed to simple jumping and crouching common in
FPS games. Greater interaction with the player's environment is often possible.
The emphasis remains on shooting, however; these games lack the platforming and
puzzle elements of action-adventure shooting games. Some 3PSs have a function
that allows you to switch to first-person in-game, such as in the "Star
Wars Battlefront" and classic "Ratchet And Clank" series. Third
person shooters have recently begun incorporating dedicated cover systems, an
example of which would be Gears of War.
Other genres of games have begun incorporating elements of third person
shooters, such as the RPG Mass Effect.
Action-Adventure
Action-adventure games combine elements of their two
component genres, typically featuring long-term obstacles that must be overcome
using a tool or item as leverage (which is collected earlier), as well as many
smaller obstacles almost constantly in the way, that require elements of action
games to overcome. Action-adventure games tend to focus on exploration and
usually involve item gathering, simple puzzle solving, and combat.
"Action-adventure" has become a label which is sometimes attached to
games which do not fit neatly into another well known genre.
The first action-adventure game was the Atari 2600 game Adventure (1979). It was directly inspired by the original text adventure, Colossal Cave Adventure. In the process of adapting a text
game to a console with only a joystick for control, designer Warren Robinett created a new genre. Because of
their prevalence on video
game consoles and the absence of typical adventure games,
action-adventure games are often confusingly called "adventure games"
by gamers.
Stealth game
Stealth
games are a somewhat recent sub-genre, sometimes referred to as
"sneakers" or "creepers" to contrast with the
action-oriented "shooter" sub-genre. These games tend to emphasize
subterfuge and precision strikes over the more overt mayhem of shooters. Most
have first- or third-person shooter elements.
Survival horror
Survival
horror games focus on fear and attempt to scare the player via traditional horror fiction elements such as atmospherics, death, the undead, blood and gore. One crucial game play element in many of these games is
the low quantity of ammunition, or number of breakable melee weapons.
Adventure
Adventure
games were some of the earliest games created, beginning with the text adventure Colossal Cave Adventure in the 1970s. That game was originally
titled simply "Adventure," and is the namesake of the genre. Over
time, graphics have been introduced to the genre and the interface has evolved.
Unlike adventure films, adventure games are not
defined by story or content. Rather, adventure describes a manner of gameplay
without reflex challenges or action. They normally require the player to solve
various puzzles by interacting with people or the environment, most often in a
non-confrontational way. It is considered a "purist" genre and tends
to exclude anything which includes action elements beyond a mini game.
Because they put little pressure on the player in the
form of action-based challenges or time constraints, adventure games have had
the unique ability to appeal to people who do not normally play video games.
The genre peaked in popularity with the 1993 release of Myst, the best-selling PC game of all time up to that
point. The simple point and click interface, detailed worlds and casual pace
made it accessible, and its sense of artistic surrealism caused news outlets
such as Wired
Magazine, The
New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle to declare that the gaming industry
had matured. It had four proper sequels, but none
managed to experience the same level of success. The success of Myst also inspired many others to create
similar games with first person perspectives, surreal environments and minimal
or no dialogue, but these neither recaptured the success of Myst nor of earlier personality-driven
adventures.
In the late 1990s the genre suffered a large drop in
popularity, mass-market releases became rare, and many proclaimed the adventure
game to be dead. More accurately, it has become a niche genre. Adventure games
are not entirely uncommon, but they tend to be very low budget in anticipation
of modest sales. The genre was somewhat rejuvenated with the release of The
Longest Journey in 1999, which emphasized stronger story elements and more interaction with
different characters. A recent resurgence of adventure games on Nintendo
consoles might signify a new interest in the genre.
Real-time 3D adventures
Around this time, real-time 3D adventure games
appeared. These included Nightfall in 1998, realMyst in 2000, and Uru: Ages Beyond Myst in 2003. They augmented traditional
adventure gameplay with some of the attributes more commonly associated with
action games. For example, freedom of motion and physics based behavior.
Text adventures
The earliest adventure games were text adventures,
also known as interactive
fiction. Games such as the popular Zork series of the late 1970s and early 1980s allowed the
player to use a keyboard to enter commands such as "get rope" or
"go west" while the computer describes what is happening. A great
deal of programming went into parsing the player's text input.
Graphic adventures
Graphic adventure games emerged as graphics became more
common. Adventure games began to supplement and later on replace textual
descriptions with visuals (for example, a picture of the current location).
Early graphic adventure games used text-parsers to input commands. The growing
use of mice led to the "point-and-click"
genre of adventure games, where the player would no longer have to type commands.
The player could, for example, click on a hand icon and then on a rope to pick up the
rope.
Visual novels
A visual novel (ビジュアルノベル bijuaru noberu) is a game featuring mostly static graphics, usually
with anime-style art. As the name might suggest,
they resemble mixed-media novels or tableau
vivant stage plays. Many visual novels track statistics that the player must build
in order to advance the plot, and permit a variety of endings, allowing more
dynamic reactions to the player's actions than a typical linear adventure plot.
Many visual novels are dating sims,
including bishōjo
games. Visual novels are especially prevalent in Japan, where they make up nearly 70% of PC
games released. They are rarely produced for video
game consoles, but the more popular games are sometimes ported to systems such as the Dreamcast or the PlayStation
2. The market for visual novels outside of Japan, however, was
nearly non-existent prior to the success of the Nintendo DS, for
which several Japanese visual novels were released in the West, such as the Ace Attorney series.
The interactive
movie genre came about with the invention of laserdiscs.
An interactive movie contains pre-filmed full-motion cartoons or live-action sequences, where the
player controls some of the moves of the main character. For example, when in
danger, the player decides which move, action, or combination to choose. In
these games, the only activity the player has is to choose or guess the move
the designers intend him to make. Interactive
movies usually differ from games that simply use full motion video, FMV, extensively between scenes
in that they try to integrate it into the gameplay itself. This has been used
in everything from racing games to fighting games. A few adventure game have
tried to use the term to liken the storytelling of their games to those in
movies, most notably the later Tex
Murphy games and the more recent Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy),although they are more aptly
classified as genre hybrids. Elements of interactive movies have been adapted
for game cut scenes, in
the form of Quick
Time Events, to keep the player alert. Games like Resident Evil 4 present obvious in-game prompts for
the player to react to. Not doing so usually results in the player character
either getting hurt or outright killed.
Role-playing
Role-playing video games draw their gameplay from traditional role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Most cast the player in the role
of one or more "adventurers" who specialize in specific skill sets
(such as melee combat or casting magic spells) while progressing through a
predetermined storyline. Many involve maneuvering these character(s) through an overworld,
usually populated with monsters, that allows access to more important game
locations, such as towns, dungeons, and castles. Since the emergence of
affordable home computers coincided with the popularity of paper and pencil role-playing games, this genre was one of the first in
video games and continues to be popular today. Gameplay elements strongly
associated with RPGs, such as statistical character development through the
acquisition of experience
points, have been widely adapted to other genres such asaction-adventure games. Though nearly all of the
early entries in the genre were turn-based
games, many modern role-playing games progress in real-time. Thus,
the genre has followed the strategy game's
trend of moving from turn-based to real-time combat. The move to real-time
combat began with the release of Square's
(now Square Enix's) Final Fantasy IV, the first game to use the Active Time Battle system; this was quickly followed by truly real-time
role-playing games such as the Mana series, Soul Blazer and Ultima VII. Some throwbacks to older turn
based system did exist such as theGolden
Sun series for Game
Boy Advance.
Western RPGs and Japanese RPGs (JRPGs)
Cultural differences in
role-playing video games have caused RPGs to tend towards two sets of
characteristics sometimes referred to as Western and Japanese RPGs (also
referred to as "JRPG" or "JRPGs"). The first (Western RPGs)
often involves the player creating a character and a non-linear storyline along which the player
makes his own decisions. In the second type (JRPGs), the player controls a
party of predefined characters through a dramatically scripted linear storyline (though there are additional features such
as Xenoblade
Chronicles which contains action elements and sandbox environments, and The Last Story which incorporates stealth gameplay
and strategy). There are described advantages to -and dedicated fans of- each
system, including fans of Western RPGs in East Asia and Japanese RPGs in
Europe/North America. Western RPGs include the Fallout series and Elder
Scrolls series, while JRPGs include the Final
Fantasy series andDragon Quest series.
Use of fantasy in RPGs
Due to RPG origins with Dungeons and Dragons and other
pen and paper role-playing games, the most popular setting for RPGs by far is a
fantasy world, usually with heavy medieval European influences with Diablo series (by Blizzard), Final
Fantasy series, Elder
Scrolls series and Baldur's
Gate series (all different kinds of RPGs) all sharing a basic fantasy setting. However
exceptions do exist, with some more notable ones being the east Asian Jade Empire setting, and the science fiction
settings of Knights of the Old Republic and Mass
Effect by Bioware. The Fallout series is set in a post-apocalyptic retro-futuristic America in which nuclear war
destroyed a world in which culture had never advanced beyond that of the 1950s.
Sandbox RPGs
Sandbox RPGs allow the player a huge amount of freedom and usually
contain a somewhat realistic free-roaming (meaning the player is not confined
to a single path restricted by rocks or fences etc.) world. Sandbox RPGs are
almost always western rather than Japanese and contain similarities to other
sandbox games such as the Grand Theft Auto series with a large number of interactable
NPCs, large amount of content and typically some of the largest worlds to
explore and longest playtimes of all RPGs due to an impressive amount of
secondary content not critical to the game's main storyline. Sandbox RPGs often
attempt to emulate an entire region of their setting. Good examples of this
small subgenre are Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 by Bethesda and the Gothic series by Piranha
Bytes.
Action RPGs
The action role-playing game or action RPG is a type of role-playing video game which incorporates elements from action games or action-adventure games. The first action
role-playing games were produced by Nihon
Falcom in the 1980s, such as the Dragon Slayer series and Ys series. Later so-called "Diablo clones" are also part of this
genre. Although the precise definition of the genre varies, the typical action
RPG features a heavy emphasis on combat, often simplifying or removing
non-combat attributes and statistics and the effect they have on the
character's development. Additionally, combat always takes place using a real-time system (hence the
"action") that relies on the player's ability to perform particular
actions with speed and accuracy to determine success, rather than mainly using
the player character's attributes to determine this. Typically action RPGs
focus more on the collection of randomized treasure than story progression that
is found in other types of RPGs.
MMORPGs
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games,
or MMORPGs, emerged in the mid to late 1990s as a commercial, graphical variant of text-based MUDs, which had existed since 1978. By and
large, MMORPGs feature the usual RPG objectives of completing quests and
strengthening one's player
character, but involve up to hundreds of players interacting with
each other on the same persistent world in real-time. The massively multiplayer
concept was quickly combined with other genres. Fantasy MMORPGs like The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, remain the most popular type of
MMOG, with the most popular "pay-to-play" game being World of Warcraft (by Blizzard), which holds over 60%
of the MMORPG market, and the most popular free game being RuneScape (by Jagex), yet other types of
MMORPG are appearing. Sci-fi MMORPGs, which began with Phantasy
Star Online, hold a smaller part of the MMOG market, with the popular space sci-fi
game EVE Online being the most notable. Other
massively multiplayer online games which do not have a conventional RPG setting
such as Second Life may still sometimes be classed as
RPGs, or they may be more accurately described as MMOG's (discussed elsewhere
in this article).
Rogue RPGs
The roguelike video game sub-genre borrows its
name and gameplay elements from the 1980 computer game Rogue. Superficially, a roguelike is a two-dimensional dungeon crawl with a high degree of randomness and
an emphasis on statistical character development. Though traditionally
featuring a text user interface, many such games utilize graphic tiles to
overcome character set limitations.
Tactical RPGs
The tactical role-playing game sub-genre principally refers to
games which incorporate gameplay from strategy
games as an alternative to traditional RPG systems.[24] Like standard RPGs, the player
controls a finite party and battles a similar number of enemies, but this genre
incorporates strategic gameplay such as tactical movement on an isometric grid.[24] The genre has its origins in tabletop role-playing games, where each player has
time to decide his or her character's action.
Simulation
Simulation video games is a diverse super-category of
games, generally designed to closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional
reality.
Construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulations (or CMSs) are a type of simulation
game which task players to build, expand or manage fictional communities or
projects with limited resources.
In city-building
games the player acts as overall planner or leader to meet the needs and wants of
game characters by initiating structures for food, shelter, health, spiritual
care, economic growth, etc. Success is achieved when the city budget makes a
growing profit and citizens experience an upgraded lifestyle in housing,
health, and goods. While military development is often included, the emphasis
is on economic strength. Perhaps the most known game of this type is SimCity, which is still popular and has had
great influence on later city-building games. SimCity, however, also belongs to the God Games genre since it gives the player
god-like abilities in manipulating the world. Caesar was a long-running series in this
genre, with the original game spawning three sequels.
Business simulation games generally attempt to simulate an
economy or business, with the player controlling the economy of the game.
A government simulation game (or "political game")
involves the simulation of the policies, government or politics of a country,
but typically excludes warfare. Recently, these types of games have gained the
moniker "serious
game".
Life simulation
Life
simulation games (or artificial life games) involve living or controlling one or more
artificial lives. A life simulation game can revolve around individuals and
relationships, or it could be a simulation of an ecosystem.
Biological simulations may allow the player to
experiment with genetics, survival or ecosystems,
often in the form of an educational package.
An early example is SimLife, while relatively recent ones are Jurassic Park:Operation Genesis and Spore. In other educational simulations such as Wolf, the player "lives the
life" of an individual animal in a relatively realistic way. Hailed as one
of the greatest life simulation games, however, is Creatures, Creatures 2,
Creatures 3, where the player breeds generations of a species in a hugely
detailed ecosystem.
Unlike other genres of games, god games often do not have a set goal that
allows a player to win the game. The focus of a god game tends to be control
over the lives of people, anywhere from micromanaging a family to overseeing
the rise of a civilization.
Pet-raising simulations (or digital
pets) focus more on the relationship between the player and one or
few life forms. They are often more limited in scope than other biological
simulations. This includes popular examples of virtual
pets such as Tamagotchi, the Petz series, and Nintendogs.
Social simulation games base their gameplay on the social
interaction between multiple artificial lives. The most famous example from this genre
is Will Wright's The
Sims.
Vehicle simulation
Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player
with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles.
A flight
simulation tasks the player with flying an aircraft, usually an airplane, as
realistically as possible. Combat flight simulators are the most popular sub-genre of
simulation. The player controls the plane, not only simulating the act of
flying, but also combat situations. There are also civilian flight simulators
that do not have the combat aspect.
Racing
games typically place the player in the driver's seat of a high-performance
vehicle and require the player to race against other drivers or sometimes just
time. This genre of games is one of the staples of the computer gaming world
and many of the earliest computer games created were part of this genre.
Emerging in the late 1970s, this genre is still very popular today and
continues to push the envelope in terms of graphics and performance. These
games "tend to fall into organized racing and imaginary racing categories". Organized racing simulators attempt
to "reproduce the experience of driving a racing car or motorcycle in an
existing racing class: Indycar, NASCAR, Formula
1, and so on." On the other hand, imaginary racing games involve
"imaginary situations, driving madly through cities or the countryside or
even fantasy environments". These "imaginary" racing games are
sometimes called arcade racing games, in contrast to their more realistic
"racing simulation" counterparts. Rollings and Adams note that
"racing games are often sold in the sports category," but "from a design standpoint, they really belong in
... vehicle simulations".
Space flight simulator games are a sub-genre that involve
piloting a spacecraft. Space
simulators are different from other sub-genres, and are not generally
considered to be simulators, as their simulated objects do not always exist and
often disregard the laws of physics. However, simulators of real spacecraft do
exist: Orbiter is one example.
Train
simulators simulate the vehicles, environments and often economics associated with
railway transport. These are frequently historical in nature, reminiscing on
the evolution and emergence of the railroad in various countries and the
economic booms that often accompanied them.
Vehicular
combat or car combat games focus on fast-paced action, as the player
operates a car or other vehicle and attempts to
disable or destroy CPU or human opponents. Vehicular combat
games often allow a player to choose from a variety of potential vehicles, each
with their own strengths and weaknesses. Vehicular combat was born out of
racing/shooter combinations like Spy Hunter, RoadBlasters and Rock
'N' Roll Racing, but differs in that the players can, if desired, take their vehicles off
predefined routes and do battle wherever they please. A sub-genre of vehicular
combat is Mecha combat, where vehicles generally
include giant robot-like tanks.
Strategy
Strategy
video games focus on gameplay requiring careful and skillful thinking and planning in
order to achieve victory. In most strategy video games, says Andrew Rollings,
"the player is given a godlike view of the game world, indirectly
controlling the units under his command."[25] Rollings also notes that "The
origin of strategy games is rooted in their close cousins, board games."[25]Strategy
video games generally take one of four archetypal forms, depending on whether
the game is turn-based or real-time and whether the game's focus is upon
strategy or military tactics. Real time strategy games are often a multiple
unit selection game (multiple game characters can be selected at once to perform
different tasks, as opposed to only selecting one character at a time) with a
sky view (view looking down from above) but some recent games such as Tom
Clancy's EndWar, are
single unit selection and third person view. Like many RPG games, many strategy
games are gradually moving away from turn based systems to more real-time
systems.
4X game
4X refers to a genre of strategy video
game with four primary goals: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. A 4X
game can be turn-based or real-time.
Perhaps the best known example of this genre is Sid
Meier's Civilization series. 4X games often cover a very large period of
time, giving the player the control of an entire civilization or species.
Typically these games have a historical setting, encompassing a large amount of
human history (Empire
Earth, Civilization) or a science fiction setting where the player
controls a species set to dominate the galaxy (Master of Orion,Galactic Civilizations).
Artillery game
Artillery is the generic name for either early
two or three-player (usually turn-based)
computer games involving tanks fighting each other in combat or
similar derivative games. Artillery games were among the earliest computer
games developed; they can be considered an extension of the original uses of
computers themselves, which were once used for military-based calculations such
as plotting the trajectories of rockets. Artillery games are a type of strategy
game, though they have also been described as a "shooting game."
Real-time strategy (RTS)
The moniker "real-time
strategy" (RTS), usually applied only to certain computer
strategy games, (however, this genre is probably the most well known of
strategy games and is what most websites mean when they say "strategy
games") indicates that the action in the game is continuous, and players
will have to make their decisions and actions within the backdrop of a
constantly changing game state. Real-time strategy gameplay is characterised by
obtaining resources, building bases, researching technologies and producing
units. Probably the most popular RTS game is Blizzard's Starcraft, which
is played competitively in South Korea and televised to large audiences. Other
notable games include the Warcraft
series, Age of Empires series, Dawn of War, Command
and Conquer and Dune II (essentially the first RTS game).
Very few non-computer strategy games are real-time; A few examples are Icehouse, Battle for Middle-earth II and Halo Wars.
Real-time tactics
A real-time
tactics game shares feature of the simulation and wargame genres, for example the
battle system (though not the entire game) in the Total
War series. These titles focus on operational aspects and control of
warfare. Unlike in real-time strategy games, resource and economical management
and building plays no part of the gameplay. These games often feature an
overarching "campaign map" with different regions the player must vie
for control of -not dissimilar to the board game Risk.
Base building in the traditional sense is usually relegated to building up the
infrastructure of regions you own.
Tower defense
Tower
defense games have a very simple layout. Usually, computer-controlled monsters
called creeps move along a set path, and the player must place, or
"build" towers along this path to kill the creeps. In most tower
defense games different towers have different abilities such as poisoning
enemies or slowing them down. The player is awarded money for killing creeps,
and this money can be used to buy more towers, or buy upgrades for a tower such
as increased power or range.
Turn-based strategy
The term "Turn-based
strategy game" (TBS) is usually reserved for certain computer strategy games,
to distinguish them from real-time strategy games. A player of a turn-based
game is allowed a period of analysis before committing to a game action, and
some games allow a certain number of moves or actions to take place in a turn.
Like real time strategy games, this genre can include many strategy games which
are not solely turn based games, and games which may contain other features not
related to whether the game is turn based or not.
Some recent turn-based strategy games feature a
different gameplay mechanic, with a simultaneous resolution of the turns, every
player preparing their future actions in the planning phase, then letting the
game follow the orders given at the same time, causing orders to be interrupted
by the opponent(s) actions, changing the gameplay from reacting to the
opponent's action into guessing them. No definite name has been decided for
this new genre, but STBS - Simultaneous Turn-based Strategy - seems to be the
unofficial name. The first game of the genre was Combat
Mission.
Turn-based tactics
The gameplay of turn-based
tactics games is characterized by the expectation of players to complete their
tasks using the combat forces provided to them, and usually by the provision of
a realistic (or at least believable) representation of military tactics and
operations.
War game
War games are a sub genre of strategy
video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map. Wargames generally
take one of four archetypal forms, depending on whether the game is turn-based
or real-time and whether the game's focus is upon military strategy or tactics.
Multiplayer online battle arena
Multiplayer online battle arena is a recently emerged genre in
gaming. Defense of the Ancients (DotA), Dota 2, League of Legends (LoL) and Heroes of Newerth (HoN) are the current popular games of
this genre.
Other notable
genres
Music game
Music
games most commonly challenge the player to follow sequences of movement or
develop specific rhythms. Some games require the player to input rhythms by
stepping with their feet on a dance pad, or
using a device similar to a specific musical instrument, like a replica drum
set. These games have changed the way players' interact with their consoles by
making the gaming experience more active and sociable, and paving the way forexergaming. Music
video games have also influenced the music industry by significantly raising
the number of legal downloads of songs.[27] Other games avoid rhythm-based
gameplay and instead focus on pitch-based, memory-based, or sandbox-style
gameplay. Recently, music games such asGuitar Hero, Rock Band and Sing
Star have achieved huge popularity among casual gamers.
Party game
Party
games are video games developed specifically for multiplayer games between many
players. Normally, party games have a variety of mini-gamesthat
range between collecting more of a certain item than other players or having
the fastest time at something. Such games include the Mario Partyseries, Crash Boom Bang!,
and Rayman Raving Rabbids. Versus multiplayer games
are not generally considered to be party games.
Programming game
A programming
game is a computer game where the player has no direct
influence on the course of the game. Instead, a computer
program or script is written in some domain-specific programming language in order to control the actions of
the characters (usually robots, tanks or bacteria, which
seek to destroy each other). In SpaceChem, for example, players design
circuits used for creating molecules from raw materials. Final Fantasy XII also includes some elements of a
programming game, as the player creates the AI of his characters, although the
player can also choose to directly control the action.
Puzzle game
Puzzle games require the player to solve logic
puzzles or navigate complex locations such as mazes.
They are well suited to casual play, and tile-matching puzzle games are among the most popular casual
games. This genre frequently crosses over with adventure and educational games.
Some arcade games, in particular Tetris variants, are often labeled puzzle games, despite the
fact that gameplay depends on hand/eye coordination and quick reflexes, rather
than thought and logic.
Sports game
Sports
games emulate the playing of traditional physical sports.
Some emphasize actually playing the sport, while others emphasize the strategy
behind the sport (such as Championship Manager). Others satirize the sport for
comic effect (such as Arch
Rivals). One of
the best selling series in this genre is the FIFA (video game series) series. This genre emerged early in
the history of video games (e.g., Pong) and remains popular today.
Trivia game
Trivia games are growing in popularity,
especially on mobile phones where people may only have a few
minutes to play the game.
Board game / Card game
Many popular board
games and card games have computer versions. AI opponents can help improve one's skill at traditional games. Chess, Checkers, Othello
(also known as Reversi), and Backgammon have world class computer programs. Mah-jongg and related games are immensely
popular in China and Japan. Go is popular in East Asia, though
it is infamously difficult to program a computer
to play Go well. Magic:
The Gathering has had computer versions for some time.
Video game genres by purpose
While most video games are designed as entertainment,
many video games are designed with additional purposes. These purposes are as
varied as the nature of information itself—to inform, persuade, or stimulate.
These games can have any kind of gameplay, from puzzles to action to adventure.
Adult video game
Adult
video games, like adult movies or other media, are intended for an
adult audience. In general, the purpose of adult games is to provide erotic entertainment, rather than just
gameplay. There exists a wide variety of adult games, though many lack
mainstream appeal and represent a niche category. The object of an adult game
may differ from a mainstream video game, in that the reward can be a visual
representation of nudity, partial nudity, or sexual activity rather than
points, etc. Some games may focus on humor or drama rather than arousal, or
simply have normal gameplay accompanied by nudity.
Advergame
Advergames,
in the context of video game genres, refers to promotional software specifically
made to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The first advergames
were distributed on floppy disk by the Chef
Boyardee, Coca-Cola, and Samsung brandwhile the first cereal box advergame
was Chex Quest in 1996. The majority of advergames are found
online and mostly include simple and cheaply made Flash games.
Art game
Art
games are designed so as to emphasize art or whose structures are intended to
produce some kind of non-ludological reaction in its audience. Art games
typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often
standing out for aesthetic beauty or complexity in design. This concept extends
to the realm of modified ("modded") gaming when modifications have
been made to existing non-art-games to produce graphic results intended to be
viewed as an artistic display, as opposed to modifications intended to change
game play scenarios or for storytelling. Modified games created for artistic
purposes are sometimes referred to as "video game art."
Casual game
Casual
games have very simple rules or play techniques and a very low degree of strategy.]They also require no long-term time
commitment or special skills to play, making them easy to learn and play as a
pastime. There are comparatively low production and distribution costs for the
producer.Casual games typically are played on a personal computer online in web
browsers, although they now are starting to become popular on game consoles.
The purpose of the casual game is to entertain, but with a much lower
commitment than other video games.
Christian game
Christian games attempt to provide the dual purposes of spreading the Christian religion to non-believers through the medium of
video games, and providing gamers who identify as Christian with a common pool
of games that neither challenge their beliefs nor offend them. Christian video
games were first developed by Wisdom Tree for the NES without license. While largely regarded as derivative
titles by the mainstream gaming culture.Christian games have nevertheless
expanded in distribution since their inception.
Educational game
Educational
games, as the name implies, attempt to teach the user using the game
as a vehicle. Most of these types of games target young users from the ages of
about three years to mid-teens past the mid-teens, subjects become
so complex (e.g. Calculus) that
teaching via a game is impractical. Numerous sub-genres exist, in fields
such as math or typing
Electronic sports
Electronic Sports games are multi player games that are usually played
competitively at the professional level. These games are often targeted at the
"hardcore" gaming audience, and are usually first-person
shooter games, requiring twitch-based reaction speed and coordination, or real-time
strategy games, requiring high levels of strategic macro- and micromanagement.
Exergame
An exergame (portmanteau of "exercise"
and "game") is a
video game that provides exercise. "Exergames" sub-divide into two
main implementations, those with a game specifically designed to use an
exercise input device (for example, the game Wii Fit using the Wii Balance Board)
and those implementations using a genre of a game. Games fit into the category
of entertainment, and similarly "exergames" are a category of
"exertainment" (formed from "exercise"
and "entertainment").
"Exertainment" refers to one aspect of adding entertainment to an
exercise workout.
Serious game
Serious
games are intended to educate or train the player. These games tend to promote
"education, science, social change, health care or even the
military." Some of these games have no specific ending or goal in the game. Rather,
the player learns a real life lesson from the game. For example, games from websites such as ”Newsgaming.com” and “gamesforchange.org”
raise political issues using the distinct properties of games.
0 komentar:
Post a Comment