Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Aggressive Door-Opening

Used by protagonists when opening a door that is locked, or just for looking really cool.

Alert

Alert is a state a game may enter after the player has been overtly detected by enemies, and often brings increased enemy opposition (in numbers, aggression, etc.) while a cooldown timer or meter appears by which the player can gauge the expiration of Alert.

Alternate Fire

A secondary function for a single weapon, such as launching a grenade from a rifle.

Artificial Intelligence

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.

Assault

Assault is an objective-based multiplayer game mode that involves an attacking team trying to destroy an objective that is guarded by a defending team.

Betrayal

Betrayal is when a person breaks the trust and faith that others have placed in them.

Bink Video

A proprietary video codec (.bik/bk2 extension) developed by RAD Game Tools and used in a very large number of video games.

Blood

Necessary to sustain life in organic creatures, the crimson fluid known as blood tends to make appearances when the body's structure is compromised in some way, a very, very common occurrence in videogames.

Book Tie-in

Games that are based upon books or novels.

Camouflage

Camouflage is a means of staying hidden by altering the texture and/or pattern of a person, animal or object to conceal them against their environment. Camouflage can be found naturally in plants and animals, and it is commonly used by militaries to assist in covert operations.

Camping

An age-old, widely-hated strategy in multiplayer games: stay in one spot and kill passers-by. Also refers to a more benign activity in MMOs.

Carry Another Character

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, is an arm of the US government devoted to espionage activities. The Agency plays a significant role in plenty of games.

Checkpoint

A point within the game whereby the game saves its current state whether it be for the purpose of a more convenient respawn point or a gameplay design (such as in racing).

Close Quarters Combat

CQC and CQB are close range combat techniques.

Cloth Physics

Cloth modeling is the term used for simulating cloth within a computer program, usually in the context of 3D computer graphics.

Console-to-Handheld Connectivity

A map of the level is displayed on the GBA-screen which includes locations of enemies and items and acts as a warning system, emitting a sound if enemies are detected. The GBA also lets players remotely control devices like keypad locks, automated turrets, and computers.

Context Sensitive

An action that is sensitive to context. Like going up to an object and pushing a button, which would normally perform a different action, to interact with it.

Continue

The continue is a classic gaming concept, and usually arises when the player "dies" or fails in the game. Usually some loss is tied to a continue, in a form of a "life" or something of other value.

Corrupt Government

Law makers and fat cats who will sell the population down the river just to gain more power and money.

Crosshair

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.

Crouch

The act of bending at the knees from a standing position. Crouching is an essential part of many shooters and platformers, and can be used by players to stay behind cover or avoid incoming projectiles.

Cutscene

A non-interactive sequence within a game most often used for plot advancement.

Darkness

Darkness is used in games to restrict access, increase tension, or just to set a mood. Often the player has access to a light source that can mitigate its effect.

Death

The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games, death is the process of a biological being ceasing to be alive.

Deathmatch

A gameplay mode that pits two or more players in a fight to the death. John Romero is credited with coining the multiplayer term "deathmatch."

Difficulty Level

Sometimes you want a challenge, sometimes you wanna coast.

DNAS

DNAS was Sony's solution to all of the online cheating on PS2 games. It was also introduced as a means to discourage and prevent illegal copies of games to be played online.

Dog

A dog is an animal, of which there are estimated to be 400 million of in the world. Said to be man's best friend, they naturally appear in many video games.

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital is an audio compression technology codec first used in movie theaters. It's now commonly used in many modern day audio/video media formats, including video games.