Official gaming terms
1st Party: Console titles published by the company that also produces the hardware (ex. Halo is published by Microsoft for Xbox)
3D: Today’s standard gaming vantage point; objects within a game are styled with three dimensions, lending a realistic depth to a game’s characters and scenery.
3Rd Party: Console titles produced by a software publisher other than the company that makes the platform. (ex. Atari is a 3rd Party publisher for Microsoft’s Xbox)
Analog control: Unlike digital control, which simply registers a button push or joystick direction, analog control is highly sensitive and takes into account to what degree the button or joystick is pushed. In 3D games, this allows you to use the same joystick to walk or run.
Anime: an animated cartoon drawing style typified by short characters with large eyes. In video games, this style in most evident in RPGs, especially those released in the 90s.
Anti-Aliasing: A programming technique (or hardware capability) that automatically smoothes jaggy edges, and is especially useful for making low-resolution images look better.
Attract Mode: Most evident in early consoles like the Atari 2600, this mode causes a game not being played to cycle through colors on the screen.
Bit: In the early 90’s, this term was often used to indicate the technical capabilities of a console. For example, the NES was 8-bit and the Genesis was 16-bit. The term was originally intended to describe the number-crunching power of the CPU (central processing unit), but unscrupulous video game PR firms abused the term for their own purposes, rendering it meaningless (mainly Atari). Today, most console power is not judged in terms of bits but instead by processor speed.
Boss: In many video games, each stage ends with an encounter with a creature or robot that is typically much larger and tougher than the normal enemies. Which begs the question: Why do they hire henchmen that are weaker than they are?
Cheats: Special codes that allow you bypass the normal limitations of a game. Typical cheats allow you to gain extra lives, become invincible, access different stages, give players big heads, etc. Some cheats are built into games, while others can only be accessed using devices like the Game Shark.
“Cheated Death”: A term used to describe how you miraculous survived a hopeless situation.
Combo: A term used mainly in fighting games, a string of moves that can be executed in rapid succession. In some games, these cannot be resisted.
Component Video Cable: Currently the state-of-the-art in console video cables, separates the video into three wires that carry the red, green, and blue signals. These wires have five plugs, including the red/white plugs for audio. Component is a step up from S-Video.
Composite Video Cable: A video cable with a single yellow plug (usually along with the red/white audio cables). Produces better quality than RF but not as good as S-Video.
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Console: A system dedicated to playing video games. This does not include PCs or handhelds.
Copyright: The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.
Cut-Scenes: Short intermissions typically presented between stages to convey a storyline. These can be live or computer-generated videos clips, and are usually non-interactive.
Digital control: Until the mid-90s, most video game controllers were digital, only registering each direction or button push as “off” or “on”. Analog controls, which became popular on the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, provide a much finer degree of control. The joystick that contained a shaft and a pivotal point was patented by Stephen D. Bristow of Atari Gaming Systems in 1977.
Double-Jump: In certain platform games, you can perform a second jump after the first while in mid-air, allowing you to reach high platforms.
Easter Eggs: Hidden features inside of video games. The first Easter Egg was a hidden room inside the Atari 2600 game “Adventure” (1980). These can also take the form of built-in cheat codes.
Engine: Engine is a reference to the application that is used to power a game. In todays games there is generally one primary engine (The graphics engine) and a few smaller engines that power other aspects of the game (AI, Sound). People refer to the whole product as the engine.
ESA: Entertainment Software Association.
EULA: End-User License Agreement
Fatality: In fighting games, the typically gruesome act of killing your opponent after defeating him. Popularized by Mortal Kombat (1992).
First-Person: A point of view which allows you to see the action through your characters eyes. You never see you own body, except for maybe your arms. Was made popular by flight simulators and shooters like Doom.
Flicker: Common in early video game consoles, this problem made the objects look transparent and hard to see, and was the result of system limitations or poor programming.
“Force Feedback”: A controller reaction, where the controller “shakes” (vibrates) when you are near an explosion or are shot by an enemy.
Frag: To kill an enemy in a first-person shooter video game. Originally coined in Vietnam from use of the fragmentation grenade.
Frame Rate: A term that describes the smoothness of motion in a game. The image on a television screen is really a series of still images shown in rapid succession. A normal television show is broadcast at 33 fps (frames per second). Some games cannot maintain this rate due to system limitations or poor programming, and the result is choppy animation that’s hard to watch. Higher frame rates (like 66 fps) results in more attractive, fluid animation.
Full Motion Video (FMV): Popularized by the Sega CD in the early 90s, FMV games allowed the player to interact with live or computer-generated video. Most of these game weren’t much fun, and soon FMV was relegated to introductions, cut-scenes, and ending sequences.
Game Genie: A product popular in the early 90’s that allowed you to enter “cheat” codes into games.
Game Shark: A product that became popular in the late 90’s that let you use “cheat” codes on your games.
“Glory Seeking”: Taking a particularly dangerous course of action for the opportunity to score bonus points. For example, pursuing the vegetables in Dig Dug.
Isometric View: Instead of viewing the action directly from above or directly from the side, an isometric view allows you to look at the action from an angle. This is popular in football games.
ISP = Internet Service Provider:
MMORPG, MMP or MMO: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
MSO’s = Multi-Service Operators:
Multi-tap: A device that allows you to plug in more controllers than the console has ports for.
