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Running at 60 FPS is standard for arcade & PC games, but hardware restrictions of consoles often force developers to aim for lower framerates in order to preserve visual detail or allow greater scale. 3D console games hitting 60 FPS are thus uncommon, though the trend of re-releasing games on newer hardware has technically resulted in more 3D console games hitting 60 FPS.
Anaglyph 3D is a form of stereoscopic 3D that uses filters (usually opposing colors) to display images to each eye separately.
Games that have animals (except humans) as the main character. The character must be playable.
Anthropomorphism is the concept of an object, concept or character that has human qualities or traits, such as speech, a level of intelligence similar or higher than a human's and self consciousness. "Anthro" means "of human" and related to the concept of humanity.
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.
ASCII is often used as a way to replace images where they can't be used, i.e. maps in a text based guide. In the past, adventure-games have also used ASCII-art.
Bosses are enemies that fight you at the end of a level or at a significant point in the story.
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.
During boss battles, sometimes the boss kills their own henchmen. This concept is often used as a way of demonstrating a boss' wrath.
Bullet time is a gameplay mechanic that allows players to slow down time. Depending on the game itself, the player often slows down along with the world around them, however occasionally the player can simply move at normal speed while the game world continues to slow.
Some game characters just cannot swim. This usually means automatic death as soon as they hit the water.
Hand-drawn or computer-generated animation.
Cartoon physics refers to games which do not conform to regular physics, but the "laws" are for a humorous bent rather than conforming to reality. Sometimes it ignores physical laws, like gravity, or tweaks them, like not being totally blown away by dynamite.
A style of animation that gives games a more hand drawn look.
The new badass way to look, as seen on 90% of hit video game covers.
Climbing is a common tradition in games, particularly platformers. There is often a particular type of surface that can be climbed, and it has a recognizably different look than other surfaces in the game. Climbing ladders or stairs doesn't count.
Collectibles are items such as coins, rings, gems, packages etc. that can be gathered, usually for some kind of reward, or sometimes to simply beat a level. Often (almost too often) the source of earning achievements and trophies on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The cutscenes are nothing but the pages of a comic book. Audio is usually dubbed over to give them a little more life.
Written words that are used to describe sounds, sometimes used in comic book—inspired games, like XIII.
Sony's official initiative of bundling multiple PlayStation versions of a game into a single purchase/package.
Sony's PS3, PS4 & Vita feature to take a save from the one system to another system and continue playing.
A non-interactive sequence within a game most often used for plot advancement.
The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.
Any object or illusion used to draw an enemy's attention, in order to lure the enemy or distract from the user's activities elsewhere. Both players and enemies have been able to create decoys in many games.
Some games have included developers commentary. These comments can be in text form, audio that plays in the game or the menus, or video. Sometimes they are just added in the collectors editions.
Dialogue trees are a feature through which the player selects responses from a list of choices, eliciting reactions from NPCs and determining the path of the conversation and story.
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.
Generally used to fool other characters or parties into thinking you're one of them or belong there for purposes of deception, spying, or accessing data.
A double jump is the ability to jump while already in mid-air to get some extra lift. In reality, double jumps are not possible and violate fundamental laws of physics.
Dragons were originally messengers from heaven, according to early Buddhist texts. In games, they can be among the most fearsome of adversaries, but there are some exceptions.
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