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A powerful release of energy. This energy is usually expelled in all directions very quickly, typically giving off orange or red flames.
Fever mode is a frantic form of bonus round, found in some puzzle or arcade games, triggered by player achievement such as reaching a required score or hitting a enemy or zone. During fever mode the player can rapidly score more points or do more damage than in regular play.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
Games that are designed to inspire the purchase of a specifically branded food product.
Whether it be Mario vs. Bowser, Jedi vs. Sith, Link vs. Ganon, or Elves vs. Orcs, the forces of good are in an eternal battle with the hordes of evil.
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.
A heads-up display is a graphical overlay of vital information used in most modern games.
Health is a value that gauges how much damage players can take in a game before they die or pass out. Also known as life in some games. Health is usually represented by a bar or a percentage instead of an exact amount. Found in most non sport games
A console game is high definition if it operates at a resolution of at least 720p, or 1280x720. A console able to achieve this resolution is HD-capable. For a variety of reasons, the term does not apply to PC games.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
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.
A situation where the player-controlled character loses their life immediately. The quickness of that demise is often a stark departure from the balance of power, and sometimes the rules, established by the developers during the rest of the game.
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 new gametype in Halo: Reach. the objective of the game is for the attacking elites to breach security and steal a precious data core while the spartans try to shut them out.
Games released coinciding with new hardware.
A leaderboard is a way for players of any multi-player game to know where they rank within the game's community.
Some games replace letters or words in a title with numbers or symbols, usually to add more of a "badass edge" to them.
Games that allow the player to choose which level to play next, rather than a fixed linear order.
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.
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.
Music speeds up as the time runs out or a particular part of the game gets harder. Found in Street Fighter, Mario games, Sonic games, etc.
Games which procedurally generate levels or other content based on music tracks, whether they're directly off of CDs or digital files.
An online digital distribution system for arcade games in Japan.
Never Ending Games is a self-explanatory concept in which a game is unbeatable and never ends, due either to the game having no true ending or because the game is not saved (or truly continued) after the last section of the game.
Nintendo's online service. It supported the Wii and Nintendo DS.
Wii games with downloadable content that you have to pay for.
Any game that does not have any written or spoken dialogue in it, regardless if it has characters or not. This includes any text or recorded dialogue that is spoken by a character or narrator, but not text such as "Press Start".
Characters controlled by the game for players to interact with, as opposed to player characters which are controlled by whomever is playing the game.
DLC that is technically available on the disc, but requires the player to buy a key separate from the game to activate it.
An on-rails game behaves much like a train: while sometimes the player can choose which path is taken, they cannot deviate from it. Sometimes on-rails games even go so far as to decide when the player moves.
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