Unprofessional Fridays 05/10/24
Unprofessional Fridays
839: REVENGEANCE
Giant Bombcast
Game Mess Mornings 05/10/24
GrubbSnax
The Community Spotlight 2024.05.11
The Community Spotlight 2024.05.04
The Community Spotlight 2024.04.27
Platform »
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.
These games take the select button literally. Pushing up and down (or any other button) to select an option will do nothing.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
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.
Extraterrestrials appear in many video games in a variety of styles. Sometimes they're evil, sometimes they're benevolent, and sometimes they're very similar to humans.
Trophies are an incentive-based system for the completion of various objective in PS3, Vita, and PS4 titles.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
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.
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.
Games that have animals (except humans) as the main character. The character must be playable.
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.
Games released coinciding with new hardware.
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.
Ever since Pac-Man, games have had us navigating mazes.
Pigs are pink, oinking mammals with a button nose and curly tail. They are rumored to eat a lot and be dirty. They don't fly, but they do bring home the bacon.
This concept is for games where at least one of the main characters is female.
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.
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.
Whether it be a close up shotgun blast, far away sniper rifle, explosive, or backstab, the "one hit kill" is a popular kill strategy. Usually hard to master and even harder to avoid, the instant kill is loved and hated by gamers everywhere.
A term used to describe the flow of action in a typical action game, where the pace is pre-defined to feature fast action and require quick reflexes. As the name suggests, these are games where the player character can run and shoot at the same time.
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 game perspective that views the action from above, commonly at a fixed position and/or rotation.
Side-scrolling games present the world as viewed perpendicular to the direction the characters are facing on screen. With a heavy focus on lateral movement, objectives are often met by moving from one end of a stage to the other.
Digging is a strategic mechanic of many games. Digging allows the ability to unearth valuables and strategize pathways.
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.
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.
A boss fight is a culminating challenge that pits the player against one or more enemies representing a greater threat and/or difficulty than those previously faced. These scenarios typically feature unique antagonists.
Palette-swapping are sometimes used to denote the different strengths and abilities of your adversaries.
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.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Use your keyboard!
Log in to comment
Log in to comment