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Not all scientists are mad and/or hell-bent on dominating worlds. Some are just your ordinary egghead with a coat.
Any game wherein the player can control the action through multiple controllers.
Japanese PC online digital distribution service for emulated retro games, launched on 24 November 2001, years before similar services from Steam, Virtual Console, or XBLA.
In video games, dithering is a graphical technique using pixel patterns to simulate additional colors or transparency. While far more common on CRTs, many games still use the technique, especially games which use pixel art.
Early and smaller PS2 games were produced on CD-ROM rather than DVD-ROM. They are easily recognized by the iconic, deep blue color of the underside of the disc.
A dog is an animal, of which there are estimated to be 400 million of in the world. Said to be man's best friend, they naturally appear in many video games.
Games often use letters like X and Z in the title to make their game seem more edgy, blatantly misspelling the title of their game in the process.
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.
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.
These games take the select button literally. Pushing up and down (or any other button) to select an option will do nothing.
A person who plays football (soccer). Eleven of these make up a team.
Not all bosses can handle the player by themselves. Many use waves of lesser enemies to fight for them while they rest, and some even let these minions do all the work.
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.
"Comic Book Included" is for video games that have an actual physical comic book that come with them (See "Comic Book" for comic books in the games themselves). Sometimes the comics help the player play the game, sometimes they're just a fun diversion.
What lies ahead, and is distant from the present.
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.
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.
The original helicopter.
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.
Palette-swapping are sometimes used to denote the different strengths and abilities of your adversaries.
Reptiles known for their hard shells.
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.
A branch of the United Galaxy military, the UGSF also represents the elaborate backstory linking together countless Namco-Bandai games, such as Galaxian, Galaga, Bosconian, and even Dig Dug.
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 concept where the game must be restarted if you are killed. It is a mechanic found in most arcade games, but the term is usually used in reference to the RPG genre where the mechanic is less common, particularly "roguelike" games as well as strategy games such as Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics where characters die if they are defeated in battle. Often used as a significant plot device.
Homebrew software is a slang term for unofficial software and games for consoles and handhelds which don't generally support it, such as the Wii or Nintendo DS.
Sometimes you want a challenge, sometimes you wanna coast.
The opposite of open-ended gameplay, linear gameplay uses scripted events, Quick time events, cut scenes, and a restricted path to tell a story exactly how the writer intends, and control elements of the action.
Verticality relates to the scale of spaces in a game and the player's ability and freedom to traverse them. It implies that a player has freedom of movement that extends to vertical planes through abilities, vehicles, or level design.
Games released coinciding with new hardware.
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