Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Issue 36
Demo Derby
Game Mess Mornings 04/22/24
GrubbSnax
8-4 Play 4/19/2024: LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS
8-4 Play
The Community Spotlight 2024.04.20
The Community Spotlight 2024.04.13
Community Endurance Run XIV - April 12-14
Game » consists of 10 releases. Released May 26, 2022
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.
8-bit can be a reference to actual computing power, or it can be a retro look for videogames that want to recall a bygone era.
Achievements are extra challenges added into video games that sometimes carry a point value or unlock bonus material, and are sometimes solely for bragging rights.
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.
Bonus levels, rounds, or stages give players a chance to gain extra points, powerups, or lives. Occasionally bonus stages will play completely different than the rest of the game, like as a slot machine or pinball minigame.
A non-interactive sequence within a game most often used for plot advancement.
It's all in the family.
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.
A type of gameplay where the main goal is to eat or collect a certain amount of stuff. At the same time, enemies will try to eat the player character.
Ahh, eating... We can't live without it, and, apparently, neither can some characters. From snakes to dots, games have odd ways of dishing out their dishes.
To elude, escape, or get away from. Some games require players to escape from some people or things to perform some objective or avoid death.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
These spooky entities are the spirits of the dead, returned from beyond their graves for generally sinister purposes. There's generally about even odds whether a particular ghost will be helpful or malevolent towards the living, but some ghosts just want to be left alone entirely.
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.
An intermission is a little scene shown between rounds to give the player a break. It may advance the storyline or just be humorous. The intermission can be seen as a grandfather to the cutscene, as they often featured humerous animations that weren't necessarily related to the gameplay at all.
A level that is impossible or nearly impossible to complete because of a programming error or oversight. Often times the screen number is a power of 2 or 10.
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.
This concept is for games in which at least one of the main characters is male.
A mascot is an iconic character heavily used in the advertising and marketing of a product, franchise, business, or company. Notable mascots include Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ulala, Mickey Mouse, and the Big Daddies.
Ever since Pac-Man, games have had us navigating mazes.
Some games feature protagonists that are not humanoid in nature. These are creatures that do not have human characteristics (i.e. stand on 2 legs, have 2 arms, a body and a head).
Enemies that are adamant in their will to hunt you down. Example: Pac-Man ghosts.
Pixel art refers to digital images composed of visible pixels, drawn with individual pixel-level intent and precision.
Trophies are an incentive-based system for the completion of various objective in PS3, Vita, and PS4 titles.
Power Ups can be used to give the controlling character, or any other character, temporary or permanent upgrades.
Being able to travel off one side of the screen and in from the other side.
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.
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.
A digital distribution service owned by Valve Corporation. Originally created to distribute Valve's own games, Steam has since become the de facto standard for digital distribution of PC games.
Valve's counterpart to Microsoft's popular achievement system.
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