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Game » consists of 0 releases. Released Feb 29, 1996
Games where the characters are 2D bitmap images (sprites), but the environment and scenarios are made in a 3-Dimensional space. This technique was commonly used on consoles like the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo DS. Many 90's First-Person Shooters and early 3D RPGs also used this technique. Some used it as a stylistic choice like Paper Mario and Rakugaki Showtime.
A bar, usually at the bottom of the screen, which tells you what direction enemies, locations, or main quests are.
A sight placed on the HUD used to aim and provide a point of reference to the player when looking and interacting with the game world. Although they often aim weapons, they have a variety of uses and have appeared in many games in many different forms.
Dashboard view puts the player in the helmet of the driver. Usually in cars or other vehicles. Most commonly in next-gen racing games and shooting games which have vehicles
Industry jargon used to describe a troubled development cycle that results in long delays, extended periods without new info, and often radical changes to the game.
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.
When the player's actions trigger a change in the game's soundtrack. This adds a cinematic quality to the gameplay.
Any weapon that shoots laser and plasma beams or energy bolts rather than conventional bullets.
Missions during which players are tasked with protecting a non-playable character or object from harm until a certain goal is met.
First-Person is a vantage point that attempts to simulate looking through a game character's eyes. It is most commonly found in first-person shooters, racing games, and visual novels, and to a lesser extent in other genres, such as RPGs, 3D platformers, and adventure games.
FMVs are pre-rendered videos used in place of real-time graphics. Using FMV was an attempt to make videogames look "more like movies", sometimes with CGI animation and others with live-action actors speaking directly to players. The downside is that FMV requires a lot of disk space, and live-action FMV in particular can look terrible by comparison.
General MIDI (also known as GM or GM 1) is a standardized specification for electronic musical instruments that respond to MIDI messages. It is used in the large majority of older DOS and Windows games.
Humans are bipedal, sapient primates capable of abstract reasoning, language, and emotions.
Cutscenes involving real actors on a set or in front of a chroma key screen.
It's easy to lose oneself in the heat of battle. Luckily, some games will alert the player as to when they are close to death.
For games that feature a mission briefing before gameplay.
Characters controlled by the game for players to interact with, as opposed to player characters which are controlled by whomever is playing the game.
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!
Rain can heavily increase the atmosphere of a video game. Some games use it to add detail to an environment, while other games use it to make it difficult to see.
These games are designed to be played by one person, and one person only.
A proprietary video codec developed by RAD Game Tools.
Crunchy frozen water fallen from the sky. Many games feature a snow world, a snow level, or otherwise-connected regions of wintery landscapes.
Typically representing the elite of humanity's Space Forces, Space Marines have appeared in numerous games such as the Doom series and Warhammer series.
Like pirates, only spacier. Frequent antagonists in sci-fi games, especially the Metroid series.
The ability to see the world in a different way. Reveals paths, secrets, enemies, among other things.
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.
Whether it's Super Scaler or Mode 7, growing and shrinking sprites/textures is a concept often used in sprite-based games. It was a popular technique used to create three-dimensional games with sprites, mostly during the 16-bit to early 32-bit eras. Sprite-scaling was an early form of 3D texture-mapping.
A squad is a group of military personnel who work together as a group. Popular in both single-player and multiplayer games, the other players within the squad can be either AI or other people.
Why go it alone when you can roll with a team? Squad Tactics let you issue commands to a whole crew of A.I controlled squad mates, who can(among other things) plant bombs, fire at specific targets, take cover, and talk smack.
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.
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