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Sure, these days have almost every game sporting the newfangled 3D, but way back when, everyone had to live with plain old 2D. 2D, or two dimensions, limit the game to scrolling backgrounds, but some games even now make use of this basic concept.
Games whose titles consist of a single word.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
The concept of purchasing media and having it delivered over the internet. No physical representation of this content is given, and although the content resides on the user's hard drive they are typically granted a license to the product, rather than ownership of it.
The Virtual Console is a platform service that first appeared on Nintendo's Wii and later on the 3DS and Wii U. Games from past consoles are emulated to run on the new hardware with the added benefits of system-level save states and other features.
The concept of lives in video games evolved to let the player get a second chance after failing once. The most recognizable symbol is the heart.
A two-dimensional image or animation overlaid into a scene. The foundation of early 2D games, making up everything from props to the player-controlled character.
Ever since Pac-Man, games have had us navigating mazes.
A level in which everything is displayed on-screen at once, with no scrolling, flip screen, or 3D movement. Many '80s games consist entirely of single-screen levels.
First-Person is a vantage point that attempts to simulate looking through a game character's eyes. It is most commonly found in first-person shooters, racing games, and visual novels, and to a lesser extent in other genres, such as RPGs, 3D platformers, and adventure games.
Gravity is a physical phenomenon, specifically the mutual attraction between all objects in the universe. In a gaming setting, gravity determines the relationship between the player and the "ground," preventing the player or game objects from flying off into space, and hopefully acting in a predictable/realistic manner.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
This concept is for games in which at least one of the main characters is male.
The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.
Chiptunes are musical compositions that are synthesized by a computer or console sound chip.
These games take the select button literally. Pushing up and down (or any other button) to select an option will do nothing.
8-bit can be a reference to actual computing power, or it can be a retro look for videogames that want to recall a bygone era.
Porting is a term used when a game designed to run on one platform is converted to run on a different platform. Quality varies, though some titles are packaged with extras.
Carefully exploring a large, labyrinthine area full of enemies (i.e., a dungeon) in the hopes of finding treasure, leveling up, or completing a specific task. Having their roots in tabletop games, video game dungeon crawls are found almost exclusively in RPGs.
A powerful release of energy. This energy is usually expelled in all directions very quickly, typically giving off orange or red flames.
Any character you can control in a game is a Player Character (PC), as opposed to a non-player character (NPC), which is a character that can only be controlled by the game.
Special codes or button combinations used to gain powers or advantages in a game. Generally hidden.
Games that have had an Original Soundtrack album released.
These are games you don't need a console to play. You plug in a controller to the TV and you're ready to play.
A game perspective that views the action from above, commonly at a fixed position and/or rotation.
Games that can be played with a CGA monitor and graphics card. CGA, Color Graphics Adapter was the first generation of color graphics for the IBM PC.
Famicom Disk System games that were only available via a disk writing service available in many Japanese game stores. As such, they have no official box art and are harder for collectors to find.
Vertical scrolling is when the screen scrolls along the y-axis. In a vertical scrolling game the player usually starts from the bottom of the screen and moves up. They are also almost always presented in a top-down perspective.
A sequel (also called a follow-up) is a game that carries forward the gameplay concepts, and often the story, of a previous game to which it is officially linked.
Games that have an open gameplay structure that allow players to interact with the world as they choose.
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