Computer and video game genres
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Computer and video games are generally categorized into genres. Due to a general lack of commonly agreed-upon genres or criteria for the definition of genres, classification of games are not always consistent or systematic and sometimes outright arbitrary between sources. Within game studies there is a lack of consensus in reaching accepted formal definitions for game genres, some being more popular than others. For example, some schemas are largely semiotic, while others rely more strongly on configurative patterns of interface and mechanics.
Following is a listing of commonly used computer and video game genres with brief descriptions and examples of each. This list is by no means complete or comprehensive. As with nearly all varieties of genre classification, the matter of any individual computer or video game's specific genre is open to personal interpretation. For an alternative arrangement of super- and sub-categories see the List of computer and video games by genre article.
Many of these categories overlap due to the subjective nature of many genres. For example, the Legend of Zelda series has elements of action, adventure and role-playing. This overlapping is further pronounced as more games are being produced and styled as hybrids, blending elements characteristic to one or more popular genres (for example, action-RPGs like Diablo, Vagrant Story, and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance). Sometimes themes can determine a genre. There are Christian-based video games which can be in most any genre, but have Christian themes. Also, there are Active games which can also be in any genre, but encourage players being physically active in the gameplay.
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[edit] Major genres
[edit] Action
Action games are perhaps the most basic of gaming genres, and certainly one of the broadest. Action games are characterized by gameplay with emphasis on actions that the player must perform reflexively, in realtime. Fighting and first-person shooters both fall into this category.
[edit] Action-adventure
Action-adventure games focus on exploration, and usually involve item gathering, simple puzzle solving, and combat.
The first action-adventure game was the Atari 2600 game Adventure (1978). It was directly inspired by the original text adventure, Colossal Cave Adventure, but in 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 console gamers.
Two of the most notable series of action-adventures are the Legend of Zelda series and the Grand Theft Auto series.
[edit] First-person shooter
First-person shooter video games, commonly known as FPSs, emphasize shooting and combat from a first-person perspective of the character they are controlling. 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 of Doom, most FPS games now have a multi-player feature to allow competition between multiple players. To ensure decent performance, it is common for the games to limit the number of players at between 8-64 players in the same game. A notable exception is World War II Online, which was the first game to bring fast paced first-person shooter action to MMOG framework, allowing thousands of players to simultaneously play in the same world.
Notable FPS series include Half-Life, Doom, Unreal, Quake, Far Cry, Counter-Strike, Halo, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Battlefield.
[edit] Fighting
[edit] Versus fighting
- Main article: Versus fighting game
Versus Fighting games (also known as beat 'em ups, particularly in the UK) emphasize one-on-one combat between two characters, one of whom may be computer controlled. These games usually focus on martial arts and other forms of unarmed combat. Many of the movements employed by the fighters are usually dramatic and occasionally physically impossible. Less regularly the characters engaged in combat may also employ handheld weapons such as swords and/or ranged attacks such as chi-based energy blasts.
This genre arose in the mid-1980s and became a phenomenon, particularly in the arcades, with the release of Street Fighter II. The genre is still popular today, although it has failed to see the extreme popularity it once did.
Notable series of games include Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros., King of Fighters, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter.
[edit] Beat 'em up
- Main article: Beat 'em up
Scrolling beat 'em up (or brawler) games have an emphasis on one-on-many close quarters combat, beating large numbers of computer-controlled enemies. The fighting style is usually simpler than for versus fighting games. This genre became popular in 1987 with the release of Double Dragon, leading to a large number of similar games. Gameplay in these side-scrolling beat 'em ups involves the player fighting through a series of increasingly difficult levels. Critics denounced this genre as being repetitive and boring. [1][2] In recent times, the genre has largely merged with that of action adventure, with side-scrolling levels giving way to more open three-dimensional areas, and the melee combat co-existing with shooting, puzzles and missions.
Notable beat 'em up game series include classic Double Dragon, Battle Toads, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and modern Dynasty Warriors, Viewtiful Joe, The Warriors and Samurai Warriors.
[edit] Role-playing
Computer role-playing games (CRPGs or simply RPGs) often place the player in a fantasy or science fiction setting and drive the gameplay via a prominent storyline. Most of these games have the player acting in the role of a specific type of "adventurer" who specializes in a certain set of skills (such as combat, or casting magic spells). These various types of adventurer are called "classes" and players can normally control one or more of these characters.
Most of these games are similar to traditional role-playing games played with pencil and paper (notably D&D) except, in this case, the computer takes care of all the record keeping and nondeterministic elements such as dice rolling. Since the emergence of affordable home computers coincided with the popularity of pencil and paper 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, have been widely adapted to other video game genres.
Though nearly all of the early entries in the genre were turn-based games, modern CRPGs have introduced a real-time aspect. Thus, the CRPG genre has followed the strategy game's trend of moving from turn-based to real-time combat.
Notable entries in the role-playing genre include Planescape: Torment and series like Baldur's Gate, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Final Fantasy, Ultima, Pokémon and Dragon Quest.
These frequently separate into two distinct styles: those where your character is completely of your own creation (as in Neverwinter Nights), and those where you take control of an existing character, defining only limited aspects of a character (like in Final Fantasy). These styles are sometimes referred to as Western and Japanese Role-Playing Games respectively, although there are numerous exceptions to these descriptors.
[edit] Massive Multiplayer Online Games
Massive-multiplayer online games are virtual worlds in which potentially thousands of players may interact together over the Internet. Most of these games are subscription-based, but recently some MMOs have allowed for players to purchase the game one time and play online with no monthly fees. MMORPGs emerged in the mid to late 1990s as a commercial, graphical variant of text-based MUDs, which had existed since around 1979. The massively multiplayer concept was quickly combined with other genres.
- Fantasy MMORPGs are the most popular type of MMOG. Ultima Online, EverQuest, Final Fantasy XI, Lineage, World of Warcraft, RuneScape, City of Heroes and MapleStory are some of the more popular MMORPGs. Though other types of MMO are appearing, this category still remains by far the most popular.
- Sci-fi MMORPGs hold a smaller part of the MMO Market. One of the first examples of this type of MMOG is Anarchy Online. Many other Sci-fi MMORPGs have launched with the popular space sci-fi game EVE Online being the most notable.
- MMOFPSs are a category of computer games that combines first-person shooter gameplay with a large number of simultaneous players over the Internet. It is a category of massively multiplayer online games. World War 2 Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Battlefront and Gunz are a few notable games of this genre.
[edit] Platform game
Platform games, also called platformers, are games in which downward gravity restricts the player to travelling on horizontal surfaces, which are referred to as platforms.
This is one of the earliest genres of computer games, being arguably the most prominent and popular during its time. While the genre declined with the increasing popularity of 3D graphics, it is still well-supported and continues to garner huge new games, such as those of the Mario, Metroid, and Mega Man series. Traditionally, platform games were 2D, viewing the environment from a side-on, 'cutaway' perspective. This could be done easily with sprites and was simple for early computers to handle. 3D computer graphics have removed the necessity for this restricted view, and can create platform worlds in full 3D. However, this loses the simplicity of control and gameplay of the 2D games. Nonetheless, 3D platformers are not uncommon. Also, while it may not always be the case, the so called 2.5D games are essentially platform games, with 3D rendered graphics but 2D platforming/side-scrolling gameplay.
Traditional elements of platform games include running, jumping, and climbing ladders and ledges. Fighting and shooting are also frequent elements.
Notable platform games and series include Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man series, Donkey Kong, Contra, Lode Runner, Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot and the Prince of Persia series.
[edit] Simulation Games
Simulation games aim to simulate an experience, such as flying an aircraft, as realistically as practically possible, taking into account physics and other real-world limitations. Some require a great deal of reading before the game can even be attempted, while others include a simple tutorial.
[edit] Simulators
Simulators are often closely connected with serious simulators, and some of them find use in actual training for military or civil purposes.
[edit] Flight
Combat flight simulators are the most popular subgenre of simulation. Falcon 4.0 and IL-2 Sturmovik are examples of the genre.
There are also civilian flight simulators, Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane being the most popular examples.
[edit] Military
There are simulation games built around different warfare, or covering a wide range of types. For example, a well-known example of tank simulator is Abrams. Ships and submarines simulators like Silent Hunter are among the less popular.[citation needed] Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is a general combat simulator, including simulation of just an infantry soldier along with tanks, aircraft and boats. Its improved version, VBS1, is used for actual military training.
Millitary FPS games that aim to be realistic are refered to as a Tactical shooter, because they usually strive to need strategy and cooperation to win, compared to skill and reflexes in other less realitic games.
[edit] Space
Space Combat Sims are a subgenre on border with action or strategy games. Examples include Star Wars: X-Wing, Descent: FreeSpace, Independence War, Wing Commander, Freelancer, X: Beyond the Frontier and Homeworld. Space simulators are different from other subgenres, 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.
[edit] Train
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. Examples of train simulators include Microsoft Train Simulator and Trainz.
[edit] God games
A popular subgenre of simulation games is god games, examples of which include the genre-setting Populous, the very popular The Sims (which generally simulates home-life and social interactions), SimAnt, and SimEarth. Unlike other genres of games, god games often do not have a set goal that allows a player to win the game.
[edit] Economic simulation games
Economic simulation games generally attempts to represent aspect or the entirety of an economy or business. Popular examples are Railroad Tycoon and Startopia.
[edit] City-building games
In city-building games, which is really a specialised sub-genre of economic simulation 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.
[edit] Sports
Sports games emulate the playing of traditional physical sports such as cricket, baseball, soccer, American football, boxing, golf, basketball, skateboarding, ice hockey, tennis, bowling, rugby, etc. 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 Madden NFL series.
This genre emerged early in the history of video games and remains popular today.
[edit] Racing
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. There are two main sub-genres within racing: arcade and simulation. Arcade racers tend to have exaggerated physics, fantastical settings and course layouts, and unrealistic damage handling. Simulation racers focus more on accurate handling and performance of real-world cars, many times allowing the player to simulate partaking in real-world racing events, such as the Indianapolis 500 or the Dakar Rally. Simulation racers tend to allow the player to alter the performance of the vehicles, from the looseness of the brakes to the gear ratio of the engines, but this has also been applied in a more arcade-style racing game Need For Speed: Underground.
A popular subgenre of the racing game is the kart racing game, which simplifies the vehicle handling and introduces various obstacles and other quirks to the racetrack.
Notable arcade style racing games include Out Run, Mario Kart, and the Project Gotham Racing series. Notable simulation style racing games include Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport.
[edit] Strategy
Strategy games focus on careful planning and skillful resource management in order to achieve victory, and are therefore classified as "thinking games". These games may be turn-based or realtime, but there are some that mix the two types of play (such as X-Com). This genre has had a consistent following since the mid-1980s. Though a large portion of strategy games tend to be wargames, many are not based or focused on war. Common alternative foci are simulation and management of economic transactions, of building things, of managing large-scale affairs, etc.
[edit] Strategy wargames
Most strategy titles tend to be wargames and are either turn-based or real-time games. Real-time wargames are generally of real-time strategy (RTS) or real-time tactical (RTT) game types. Turn-based games were originally the more common form of strategy game: the computers of the time being too slow for real-time interaction. They go back to Star Trek games played on teletypes. Early home computers were soon adopted for wargames, and the genre expanded from there.
Web based strategy games are a less popular variant where the player does not need any additional software installed at their computer because the games have web site interfaces. Such games often last for several months, before the round ends and the game restarts. Some of these games are extremely popular and have hundreds of thousands of players. Examples of web based strategy games are Planetarion, Dawn of Myth and Terra Incognita.
Massively Multiplayer Online RTS (MMORTS) is an extremely small subdivision, but has proven to have great potential. Games of this sub-genre include Shattered Galaxy, Mankind and the recently scrapped in development Sovereign.
A group of games of this category are known as 4x games (short for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate), though the denomination has not gained popular recognition as a genre, with notable examples such as Master of Orion, Galactic Civilizations and Sid Meier's Civilization.
[edit] Real-time strategy and turn-based strategy games
- Main articles at Real-time strategy, Turn-based strategy
The vast majority of strategy games could be called "strategic war games" as they have heavy focus on military combat. Of these one major subtype of titles is usually classified as real-time strategy games, the focus of which is generally on simplified and stylised military battle tactics (e.g. reconnaissance, flanking, massed rushes, etc.), while turn-based games are more focused on strategy (i.e. looking at war from the perspective of a general or even the leader of the nation). Both these distinctions tend to place great emphasis on logistical aspects of battle: resource and economic micro-management and base and unit production. There is a recent trend towards hybrid games that include components typically associated with turn-based and real-time strategy games.
Examples of games in the real-time strategy genre include Warcraft, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires and Total Annihilation. Examples of turn-based games include Sid Meier's Civilization, the Heroes of Might and Magic series, and Shattered Union. Examples of hybrid games include Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, Age of Empires III, and upcoming Sins of a Solar Empire.
[edit] Real-time tactical and turn-based tactical games
- Main articles at Real-time tactics, Turn-based tactics
A different genre which focus on a set number of units, and do away with the resource gathering and unit production aspects of RTS games is real-time tactical, or RTT, games. Noteworthy examples are the fantasy Warhammer: Dark Omen game, one of the first purely RTT titles, the futuristic Ground Control, which distilled the combat operational aspects of Command & Conquer and Total Annihilation into a purely tactical form, the Close Combat series, where the player controls units in the Second World War, and the Total War series, reasonably realistically recreating empire building and epic battles in various historical eras. These games place greater emphasis on purely tactical aspects, contrasted to the production-economical focus of RTS games, and consequently have much more advanced facilities for operational-tactical unit control and planning and implementation of more advanced battlefield tactics, which is intentionally stylised, simplified and naïve in RTS titles. There is also a relatively small genre of turn-based tactics games predominantly consisting of skirmish-oriented versions of popular computer role-playing games.
[edit] Notable genres
[edit] Adult
Adult video games, adult movies or other media, are intended for an adult audience. 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 or computer 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.
[edit] Adventure
Adventure games were some of the earliest games created, beginning with Colossal Cave Adventure in the 1970s, later developing into the Zork series, and rising to popularity in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. They cast the player as the protagonist of a story, normally requiring the player to solve various puzzles using various artifacts. The earliest adventure games were textual (text adventures or interactive fiction). In these early adventure games, the player uses a keyboard to enter commands such as "get rope" or "go west" and the computer describes what is happening.
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). These graphical adventure games still used textual input. There is still an active community of interactive fiction authors and players, although major commercial enterprises are rare.
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.
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. However, as of 2005, the adventure game genre is showing signs of a revival, with games such as Trace Memory, Fahrenheit, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Dreamfall being produced.
Notable titles include Day of the Tentacle, Myst, the King's Quest series, the Monkey Island series, The Longest Journey, and Grim Fandango. The more action-oriented adventure games, such as Full Throttle, incorporate other modes of gameplay.
[edit] Arcade
Arcade games are traditionally the coin-operated video games found in arcades during the 1970s and 1980s. These games were characterized as quick play action games that had an addictive quality. Arcade games are easy to learn, yet difficult to master. Since the decline of coin-operated games, "arcade" has become a genre in its own right. Arcade games can now be found in many sites that contain browser-based games.
[edit] Artillery
Artillery games are turn-based ballistics-simulation games in which players fire upon each other or at specific targets by specifying the angle of their salvo and at what force. Shots are affected by gravity and usually wind. These games are usually two-dimensional, but occasionally they are three-dimensional.
Notable titles include Scorched Earth, the Worms series, and Gunbound.
[edit] Educational
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 user 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 subgenres exist, each for a different field (math games, typing games and so on).
Notable games in the genre include the Carmen Sandiego series, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and the Oregon Trail series. Programming games like Robocode and Core War may also be put in the educational category. A somewhat less serious approach to the genre is typified by the typing tutor The Typing of the Dead.
[edit] Maze
Maze games have a playing field which is entirely a maze. Some may be simple puzzle games in which the player must navigate to the exit, others may be action-based.
An example sub-genre of the action-based maze game is the maze chase game in which the player needs logical thinking to foresee where the enemies come. One must be able to foresee hostile attacks about the flanks to escape from them. The most famous game of this genre is Pac-Man. This genre frequently crosses over with Puzzle, but it often gets by completely without jigsaw puzzle elements and demands only reaction and planning. Notable games include Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man
See also: List of computer and video maze games and List of maze chase games.
[edit] Music
Music games are typically arcade games that challenge the player to follow sequences of movement or develop specific rhythms. Some games require the player to tap out rhythms using a game controller or keyboard while others require the player to actually dance in sync to music. This genre arose in the late 1990s with the increasing popularity of rap music and the success of Dance Dance Revolution.
Notable music games include Amplitude, beatmania IIDX, In The Groove, PaRappa the Rapper, "Pump It Up" and Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and popular import hit Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.
- See also: Audio game
[edit] Party
Party games are video games developed specifically for multiplayer games between many players. Normally, party games have a variety of different types of mini-games that range between collecting more of a certain item than other players or having the fastest time at something. Versus multiplayer games are not generally considered to be party games. Popular party games include the Mario Party series, Super Monkey Ball, Wario Ware, and Fuzion Frenzy.
[edit] Pinball
Pinball games are, essentially, pinball table emulators, designed to replicate the look and feel of your common pinball table. Most pinball games feature the same gameplay style, where you control a right and left flipper, and try to make the ball hit various parts of the playfield to gather up points. 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 (multiple table layouts, or direct ball control for example), although some games strive to provide a more realistic experience and avoid this type of game play.
The control scheme in pinball games is, for the most part, the same. In today's consoles, left and right "shoulder" buttons are often used to approximate the left and right flipper buttons of a real-world pinball game. Some games automatically fire the ball into the playfield, while others require you to press a button to pull down the spring-loaded plug and fire the ball into the playfield.
In some cases, a pinball game may feature more than two flippers. Two are generally located at the bottom of the playfield, and others (generally only one or two more) are found above the bottom two.
Pinball games have become more popular in recent years on handheld systems, as opposed to consoles.
Some notable games in this genre include Sonic Spinball (Sega Mega Drive), Metroid Prime Pinball (Nintendo DS) Odama (Gamecube) and Pokémon Pinball (Game Boy Color).
[edit] Puzzle
Puzzle games require the player to solve logic puzzles or even navigate complex locations such as mazes. 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.
Famous puzzle games include Tetris, Lemmings, Minesweeper, and Boulder Dash; see list of computer puzzle games for more.
[edit] Stealth
A somewhat more recent genre, sometimes referred to as a "sneaker" to make contrast with the action-oriented "shooter" subgenre. These games have much in common with the first- or third-person shooter types, but tend to emphasize subterfuge and precision strikes over the more overt mayhem of shooters. Examples of the stealth genre include the Thief series, the Metal Gear series, Splinter Cell series, and Beyond Good & Evil. "Rouge Ops" is also a stand-alone game that fits this category.
[edit] 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. Many of these games include first-person shooter elements.
The genre is thought to have originated with Alone in the Dark and to a lesser extent System Shock, and was popularized by the Resident Evil series. Other notable games in the genre include Silent Hill and Fatal Frame (Project Zero).
[edit] Traditional
Most popular board games, card games, and the like have been computerized to some degree or another. Computer game programs can be worthy opponents and 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, Japan.
- Go, popular in East Asia. It is infamously difficult to program a computer to play Go well: see Computer Go.
- Magic: The Gathering has had computer versions for some time.
- Clubhouse Games is a game for Nintendo DS that features Online Play.
[edit] Vehicular combat
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.
Famous vehicular combat games include the Carmageddon series, Interstate '76, and the Twisted Metal series. Some of the newer, less known games are Bandits: Phoenix Rising and Hard Truck: Apocalyptic Wars
[edit] Superseded genres
[edit] Interactive movies
Interactive movies came about with the invention of laserdiscs. These games are 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 or action, or combination to choose. In these games, the only activity the user has is to choose or guess the move the designers intended him to make.
With the evolution of the more flexible 3D graphics, interactive movies are quickly disappearing.
Notable games of this category include the Tex Murphy games, Dragon's Lair and Space Ace.
[edit] Light-gun games
Light gun games use a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games. 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 targets (usually moving) 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.
Notable games of this category include Duck Hunt and the Virtua Cop, House of the Dead andTime Crisis series, also to a lesser extent the game Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy which mixed film style story and graphics with small elements of action "QTE" events.
[edit] Scrolling shooters
Scrolling shooters, a sub-genre of "shoot 'em ups" or "shmups", place emphasis on shooting, and usually simplify other gameplay aspects of in deference to this. Several of the earliest arcade games (such as Space Invaders) could be classed as shoot 'em ups, although in practice they are usually not.
The games that typify the shoot 'em up genre are scrolling shooters - shoot 'em ups that are traditionally played on a long, 2D, scrolling playing area. Scrolling shooters are generally classified by their direction of scroll: the most common are horizontal (side view) and vertical (top view) shooters. Two examples are R-Type and Raiden respectively.
There are also fixed shooters, which take place on a single screen; for example, Robotron: 2084.
The scrolling shooter has a long history, with its roots in the early 1980s. It has a mixed following nowadays, however, classic-style 2D shooters are still being made, commonly rendered in 3D graphics. Ikaruga is a popular modern shoot 'em up with a clever gameplay twist.
[edit] References
- Crawford, Chris (1982). "Chapter 3: A Taxonomy of Computer Games". The Art of Computer Game Design. Wolf & Peron. ISBN 0-88134-117-7
- Lindley, Craig A. (2003). "Game Taxonomies: A High Level Framework for Game Analysis and Design, Gamasutra, October 3 , 2003
- Wolf, Mark J. P. (2002). "Chapter 6: Genre and the Video Game". The Medium of the Video Game. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-79150-X
- Apperley, Thomas H (March 2006). "Genre and game studies: Toward a critical approach to video game genres" PDF (95.1KB). University of Melbourne and Simulation & Gaming, Vol. 37, No. 1, 6-23.
- Bateman, Chris and Boon, Richard (2004). "A Guide to Computer Game Genres". International Hobo. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- Boutros, Daniel (2006-08-04). "A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games". Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- Bowen, Kevin (2003-03-23). "Top Ten Dying Game Genres". GameSpy. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- Terdiman, Daniel (2006-03-26). "What's wrong with serious games?". CNet. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
[edit] See also
- Audio game, games based on sound
- Game classification
- List of gaming topics
- Serious game
Adventure • Active game • City building • Beat 'em up • Economic simulators • Educational • Fighting • First-person shooter • Flight simulator • God game • Life simulators • Massively multiplayer • Music • Platform • Puzzle • Rail shooter • Racing • Real-time strategy • Real-time tactics • Role-playing • Run and gun • Shoot 'em up • Simulation • Sports • Stealth • Strategy • Survival horror • Tactical role-playing (a.k.a. Turn-based tactics) • Third-person shooter • Turn-based strategy • Vehicular combat
