Also remember to join IRC, learn about it here.
Video game
Played alone, or with others.
- URL: Unknown
- Location: Unknown
- Date: Unknown
- Facebook: Unknown
- Twitter: Unknown
- Known For: Wasting vast amounts of time
Summary
| —Kevin Maroney |
A video game is any kind of pastime you can play by interacting with electronics, like a computer or console hooked up to a TV.
In nearly 40 years, video games have evolved from simple pixels bouncing off each other to highly immersive games that people have no problem wasting their time on. Since video games now are heavily interactive, especially with other people, they have found a warm and special place on the internet. There are countless games and many different types of games, allowing one to find that special game for them.
Console Wars
Since the 80's, when gamers had a variety, consoles a bleak war has existed, turning the internet into a wasteland of trolling and yelling. These wars were known as the Console Wars. "Console Wars" is when two nerds, with two different gaming consoles, meet on the internet, and "discuss" which one is better. The discussion usually boils down to the two yelling at each other and calling each other names. The main reason this comes about is due to people only being able to afford one console, so they have to viciously defend why they bought it. The console a person chooses to get is also reflective of what games they like, since Nintendo games are exclusive to Nintendo consoles, Microsoft games exclusive to Microsoft consoles, and so forth. While each console has it's pros and cons, it doesn't matter BECAUSE PC IS BEST AND THE CHEAPEST AND NUMBER 1 WOOOOOOO!!1!
Types of Games
Action-Adventure
Pure Adventure games are those that have players run around in a fully realized world, embarking on quests and trying to obtain items to defeat an evil. Kind of like Lord of the Rings but in video game form. The Legend of Zelda is considered the best Adventure series, but Shadow of the Colossus considered being the best game of all time. Action-Adventure, though, is a very loose term, since Super Mario 64 is considered an Action-Adventure game, as well as Metal Gear Solid, Assassin's Creed, Metroid, and Megaman, so it doesn't necessarily have to be like Zelda. Recently, the genre has been know for making the more arty games of the video game world with Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, and Ico.
Fighting
Fighting games are just that, you beat your opponent into submission. There isn't really much variety across the genre, since every fighting game relies on learning combos, and really exist in a 2D plane. Fighters also have the habit of being the ones that are often turned movies, despite their non-existent plot (or in some cases, super convoluted plots), and almost always a series. Fighting games, though, are perhaps one of the more social games since they basically have to be played with others, leading to short and fun matches with friends. Some Fighting series are Tekken, Dead or Alive, Super Smash Bros., Marvel vs. Capcom, and Street Fighter.
Horror
Games intended to scare people with varying amounts of success. The genre often has the more looked-over titles, especially from it's early computer days. While there are great horror games, the genre is populated by Resident Evil, an action series more than a horror series. Silent Hill 2 is considered a stand-out, along with Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream, Alone in the Dark, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
MMO
See more about MMO here.
Platform
The first real games that got the people's attention. Platform games are games that requires players to time jumps across gaps or jumps onto creatures while avoiding dangers. genre is essentially ran by Nintendo, as all the platformers appear on their consoles. Back in the 90's there were a variety of game companies that ran solely on platformers (like Rare), but are now being bought up by larger companies. Platforms have some of the greatest game of all time, like Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64. Today, the platformer is dead or dying, surviving really only on Mario sequels. Platformers also have a very close relationship to Action-Adventure due to their striking similarities and lack of differences.
Puzzle
The most under-rated of all games, even though must earlier games were puzzle games. There are a variety of puzzle games due to it's ability to intersect other genres, to much to really list, but some quick run downs are Pac-Man, Tetris, Abe's Odyssey, and Luminous.
RPG
RPGs, or Role-Playing Games, are those that allow players to build their own characters from the ground up, allowing their characters to specialize in certain abilities, their character's name, how the character acts to others, how their party is organized, and thus often having a freer form on how one can play their game. These are your Elder Scrolls of the video game world since players are allowed to fully build their own character. At least the good RPGs do, other RPGs simply have you level up stats and learn abilities with no true input. Japan has always been king of this genre, since it essentially created it with Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. Japan has mined their RPG making abilities so much so, that their is a sub-genre called 'JRPGs, or Japanese Role-Playing Games, due to the Japanese "unique" way of telling stories of lots and lots of melodrama and character development. Well-know JRPGs and RPGs are Elder Scrolls: Marrowind, Tales of Symphonia, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, Mass Effect (an RPG with shooter elements), Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Tirgger, and Pokemon.
Shooters
The "hip" game that all them "yougin's" are into these days. They are exactly what they imply. You go around shooting stuff, usually in first person, though there are third person shooters. Shooters really got their start with Doom, Duke Nukem, and Serious Sam, which bloody, gory, action-packed, and most importantly fun. Early shooters even had tongue in cheek humor from time to time. Today, the genre is equivalent to blockbusters at the movies, selling hundreds of millions of copies due to their accessibility, flashy graphics, and the ability to play online with others. The modern shooter is head-speared by Halo, Call of Duty, and Gears of War.
Simulators
Simulators are games that allow people to do things they can easily do in real life, but on a console! Never a very popular genre, at least outside of a female audience, the game is ran by the game The Sims, in which one can play God! The genre has been getting a bit more popular with Facebook games like Farmville, but so far Farmville only seems like a fad.
Strategy
Strategy games are games that usually have you take a position of a general in command of an army, and having you try to defeat the other army. These games are know for being one of the harder genres out there, due to their advance AI, allowing for a more realistic combat. The genre has stuck solely to the PC, and despite it's attempt to breakout onto consoles, it very comfortable on the PC. Some Strategy games are Shogun, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, and possibly Pokemon depending on your exact definition of strategy.
Origins
The earliest games can be traced back to 3000 BC, and include some that are still used today, like dice. The earliest video game is the subject of some debate, but the earliest successful widely available video game is arguably Pong, released by Atari in 1972.
Current status
Modern video games have advanced well beyond their primitive predecessors. Modern video games have high quality graphics, sound, and often have the ability to allow players who are geographically distant to play against each other.
Facts
- The first video game patent was applied for in 1947.
Images
 A guide to ESRB rating |
 Classic hardcore gaming vs modern hardcore gaming |
Related Pages
You can find additional phenomena here.
Explore our other categories for information on different subjects!
You can find additional subcultures here.
Explore our other categories for information on different subjects!
