[game_preservation] Descriptive terms for Video Games

[Jim Leonard]

On 6/15/2011 4:35 AM, Andrew Armstrong wrote:

> For instance, many games include multiplayer (surely some form of genre

> we'd all agree!),


I don't agree.  "Multiplayer" is not a genre, it is a gameplay mechanic 
modifier.  If someone describes a game as multiplayer and then stops, 
you still have no idea what kind of game it is, other than it allows 
more than one person to play, usually simultaneously.


> Also, Jim, interesting to see why RPG isn't under Adventure! Always

> confused me a bit that :)


Not to get morose or preachy, but I never really got over that.  It 
forced me to choose whether or not I would retain structural control and 
direction over MobyGames, or lose the community.  I chose to keep the 
community because I saw it as more important for the long-term health, 
growth, and maintenance of MobyGames.

I don't have the message board thread handy, but I believe the example 
everyone rallied for was Nethack/Roguelike games.  They saw those games 
as "pure" RPG, deserving of its own genre, missing the fact that 
roleplaying is a subset of every adventure.
-- 
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org)            http://www.oldskool.org/
Check out some trippy MindCandy at        http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
A child borne of the home computer wars:  http://trixter.oldskool.org/