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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.
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.
Trophies are an incentive-based system for the completion of various objective in PS3, Vita, and PS4 titles.
These games take the select button literally. Pushing up and down (or any other button) to select an option will do nothing.
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.
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.
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 whose titles consist of a single word.
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 leaderboard is a way for players of any multi-player game to know where they rank within the game's community.
Bonus levels, rounds, or stages give players a chance to gain extra points, powerups, or lives. Occasionally bonus stages will play completely different than the rest of the game, like as a slot machine or pinball minigame.
The continue is a classic gaming concept, and usually arises when the player "dies" or fails in the game. Usually some loss is tied to a continue, in a form of a "life" or something of other value.
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, commonly refers to the programmed behaviors of NPCs in a game, whether it's the fact that a soldier takes cover behind a wall in Gears of War, or that townspeople cheer upon your arrival to their village in Fable.
Third-party developers and publishers occasionally engage in the practice of releasing a title or piece of DLC on only one platform for any number of reasons. Sometimes these are permanent while others are only platform exclusive for a certain window of time.
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.
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.
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.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
Whether by item or otherwise, temporary invincibility provides the user a brief moment where they are impervious to attack.
Games whose main character is ball-shaped, sometimes with a face and/or hands/feet, but mostly just spherical.
The Namco Super Pac-Man is an 8-bit arcade system board that was initially used by Namco in 1982. It was the company's first board to use a Motorola M6809 processor (using two of them) instead of a Zilog Z80.
Pixel art refers to digital images composed of visible pixels, drawn with individual pixel-level intent and precision.
Potentially deadly in the real world, annoying and funny in the animated world.
A type of gameplay where the main goal is to eat or collect a certain amount of stuff. At the same time, enemies will try to eat the player character.
"Vore" is an internet term for a sexual fetish for the act of a creature swallowing someone else whole while they are still alive. The act is also seen in many video games, in a decidedly less sexual manner.
Some games feature protagonists that are not humanoid in nature. These are creatures that do not have human characteristics (i.e. stand on 2 legs, have 2 arms, a body and a head).
Games whose main character is so egotistical that the whole game just HAS to be named after them.
The strategy of demonstrating how awesome something is by putting the word "super" in its title. Incredibly popular among developers making games for the Super Nintendo, which itself counts as an example.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
Ahh, eating... We can't live without it, and, apparently, neither can some characters. From snakes to dots, games have odd ways of dishing out their dishes.
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