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Game Types/Genres
Analogous to text having literary genres such as biography, poetry, essay, and fiction;
the gaming environment has built onto this foundation and created their own set of genres.
Below you will find some game genres defined to create a foundation to build your own knowledge.
Genre
 | "A particular style or category of
works…characterized by a particular form, style, or purpose" (Oxford University Press,
).
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First Person Shooter (FPS)
| "Designating a computer game in
which the player's view of the action is as though through the eyes of the protagonist"
(Oxford University Press, ).
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| "First Person Shooter is the
definition for a computer game genre which is played in the first person view while shooting
is the main action of the game. A typical element of the game is the virtual arm of the player.
Pointing with a weapon to the center of the screen this arm stays in the foreground all the time"
(Bartholl, ).
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| Examples include: Quake, Doom,
Wolfenstein 3D, Half-Life, Halo, Counter-Strike, etc.
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Role Play
| "To enact a role or participate
in a role-play; to adopt the characteristics and behaviour of another person, either consciously
(esp. as a technique in training, psychotherapy, etc.) or unconsciously (in conforming to an
established social role or model of behaviour); to take part in role-playing, or in a role-playing game"
(Oxford University Press, ).
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| Examples include:
Final Fantasy series, Silent Storm series, Deus Ex, Harvest Moon series, etc.
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Strategy/Simulation
| Simulation:
"the technique of imitating the behaviour of some situation or process
(whether economic, military, mechanical, etc.) by means of a suitably analogous
situation or apparatus, especially for the purpose of study or personnel training."
Strategy- "a plan for successful action based on the rationality and interdependence
of the moves of the opposing participants" (Oxford University Press,
).
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| Strategy: "a plan
for successful action based on the rationality and interdependence of the moves of
the opposing participants" (Oxford University Press,
).
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| Examples include:
Sims series, Zoo Tycoon, Civilization series, Age of Empires series, etc.
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Real Time Strategy (RTS)
| Type of game where
the player assumes the role of a general charged with developing his base, manufacturing
combat units and destroying his adversary (Oxford University Press,
).
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| Examples include:
Tropico, Black and White, Pikmin series, Warcraft III, Command & Conquer etc.
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Multi-Genre
| A game consisting
of more than one category of game type based on method of game play, goal types, etc.
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| Examples include:
Space Rangers series, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Winnie the Pooh, Spongebob Square Pants 2, etc.
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Other genres of video games include, but are not limited to: sports games, movie games,
action, action-adventure, fighting, massive-multiplayer online games (MMORPGs), platform game, etc.
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Photo by jtorif2m
()
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