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These games are based off of established licenses, such as movies, comics, or TV shows. Examples are the James Bond 007 and Spider-Man franchises.
Sure, these days have almost every game sporting the newfangled 3D, but way back when, everyone had to live with plain old 2D. 2D, or two dimensions, limit the game to scrolling backgrounds, but some games even now make use of this basic concept.
It's arguably the one move that symbolizes the medium to those outside it. The ability to jump, be it onto a building, a platform, or a skull, is one of the all time most important abilities ever put in a video game.
A two-dimensional image or animation overlaid into a scene. The foundation of early 2D games, making up everything from props to the player-controlled character.
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
Third-party developers and publishers occasionally engage in the practice of releasing a title or piece of DLC on only one platform for any number of reasons. Sometimes these are permanent while others are only platform exclusive for a certain window of time.
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.
Video games that, for better or for worse, are based on an existing non-video game franchise. Usually drawn from movies, tie-in games have also been made about TV shows, novels, and even one-hit wonder pop bands.
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
Games whose main character is so egotistical that the whole game just HAS to be named after them.
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.
The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.
The Virtual Console is a platform service that first appeared on Nintendo's Wii and later on the 3DS and Wii U. Games from past consoles are emulated to run on the new hardware with the added benefits of system-level save states and other features.
Who needs 2D when we've got 3D? 3D, or 3 dimensions, is what we're used to seeing in almost every game these days, letting us do all sorts of awesome stuff like run in circles!
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
Whenever there's a new Pixar, superhero or Harry Potter movie they have to make one of these.
A proprietary video codec (.bik/bk2 extension) developed by RAD Game Tools and used in a very large number of video games.
Some television shows are ripe for interactive adaptations. Like Grey's Anatomy, or The Young Ones.
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.
Greatest hits is a general term for re-releases of games which have sold a certain number of copies, as part of a program managed by the console manufacturer.
Cartoon characters are personas from cartoons, which are animated moving sequences that are usually drawn but can be computer animated and can come from television, movies, anime or even the web. They can be humans, animals, or even things usually not thought of as living.
Games made for a younger audience, usually between 3-9.
Two or more characters are featured on the game's box art.
This concept is for games in which at least one of the main characters is male.
From Beat-em-ups to fighting games to modern FPS, one dude hitting another has made an enjoyable pastime.
A sequel (also called a follow-up) is a game that carries forward the gameplay concepts, and often the story, of a previous game to which it is officially linked.
The Xbox 360 has limited compatibility with original Xbox games through software emulation. Originally there were 213 Xbox games compatible with the Xbox 360, now there are 478.
Bosses are enemies that fight you at the end of a level or at a significant point in the story.
Sometimes you want a challenge, sometimes you wanna coast.
Characters controlled by the game for players to interact with, as opposed to player characters which are controlled by whomever is playing the game.
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