Computer and video game genres: Encyclopedia II - Computer and video game genres - Major genres

Computer and video game genres - Major genres

Computer and video game genres - Fighting

Fighting or beat 'em up games emphasize one-on-one combat between two players, one of whom may be computer controlled. These games usually focus on martial arts, which are usually dramatic and physically impossible, and other forms of unarmed combat. Some of these games may also employ handheld weapons such as swords, or ranged attacks such as chi-based energy blasts.

This genre arose in the mid-1980s and became a phenomenon with the release of Street Fighter II; the genre is still popular today.

Notable series of games include King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter.

Computer and video game genres - First-person shooter

First-person shooters (FPS) emphasize shooting and combat from a specific perspective. Most FPSs place the player behind a gun or other weapon with the player's "hand" holding the weapon. This perspective is meant to give the player the feeling of "being there." Most FPSs are very fast-paced and require quick reflexes.

To be an effective game, an FPS must be both fast and three-dimensional, which put them out of the reach of most consumer hardware until the early 1990s. Doom was the "breakout" game of the genre; it used a number of clever techniques to make the game run fast enough to play on average machines.

Some of today's most popular FPS series are Half-Life, Doom, Metroid Prime, Unreal, Quake, and Halo.

Computer and video game genres - Massively Multiplayer Online Games

Massively-multiplayer online games are virtual worlds in which potentially thousands of players may interact together over the Internet. Most of these games are subscription-based, but with the new age of MMO games they can be one time buy games with no monthly fees. MMORPGs emerged in the mid to late 1990s as a commercial, graphical variant of text-based MUDs, which had existed since around 1979. The massively multiplayer concept was quickly combined with other genres.

• Fantasy MMORPGs are the most popular type of MMOG. Ultima Online, EverQuest, Final Fantasy XI, Lineage, World of Warcraft and Runescape are some of the more popular MMORPGs. Though other types of MMO are appearing, this catagory still remains by far the most popular.

• Sci-fi MMORPGs hold a smaller part of the MMO Market. One of the first examples of this type of MMOG isAnarchy Online. Many other Sci-fi MMORPGs have launched with the popular space sci-fi game EVE Online being the most notable.

• MMOFPSs are a category of computer games that combines first-person shooter gameplay with a large number of simultaneous players over the Internet. It is a category of massively multiplayer online games. PlanetSide, Control Monger and Gunz are a few notable games of this genre.

Computer and video game genres - Racing

Racing games are one of the most traditional of genres. They typically place the player in the driver's seat of a high performance vehicle and require the player to race against other drivers or sometimes just time. Emerging in the late 1970s, this genre is still very popular today and continues to push the envelope in terms of graphics and performance. There are two main sub-genres within racing: arcade and simulation. Arcade racers tend to have exaggerated physics, fanstastical settings and course layouts, and unrealistic damage handling. Simulation racers focus more on accurate handling and performance of real-world cars, many times partaking in real-world events, such as the Indianapolis 500 or the Dakar Rally. Simulation racers tend to have many tweaking options available, from the looseness of the brakes to the gear ratio of the engines.

A popular subgenre of the racing game is the kart racing game, which simplifies the vehicle handling and introduces various obstacles and other quirks to the racetrack.

Notable arcade style racing games include Out Run, Mario Kart. Notable simulation style racing games include Gran Turismo

Computer and video game genres - Role-playing

Computer role-playing games (CRPGs or simply RPGs) often place the player in a fantasy or science fiction setting and drive the gameplay via a prominent storyline. Most of these games have the player acting in the role of a specific type of "adventurer" who specializes in a certain set of skills (such as combat, or casting magic spells). These various types of adventurer are called "classes" and players can normally control one or more of these characters.

Most of these games are similar to traditional role-playing games played with pencil and paper (notably D&D) except, in this case, the computer takes care of all the record keeping and nondeterministic elements such as die rolling. Since the emergence of affordable home computers coincided with the popularity of pencil and paper role-playing games, this genre was one of the first in video games and continues to be popular today.

Though nearly all of the early entries in the genre were turn-based games, modern CRPGs have introduced a real-time aspect. Thus, the CRPG genre has followed the strategy game's trend of moving from turn-based to real-time combat.

Notable entries in the role-playing genre include Final Fantasy, Ultima, Fallout, Baldur's Gate, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Computer and video game genres - Simulators

Simulation games aim to simulate the experience of controlling a vehicle (such as flying an airplane) as realistically as practically possible, taking into account physics and other real-world limitations. Some require a great deal of reading before the game can even be attempted, while others include a simple tutorial. Microsoft Flight Simulator is perhaps the most well known flight simulator.

Combat flight simulators are a subgenre of simulation. Falcon 4.0 and IL-2 Sturmovik are examples of the genre.

Space Combat Sims are a subgenre that usually leans into strategy or action. Examples include Freespace, Independence War and Wing Commander.

Computer and video game genres - Sports

Sports games emulate the playing of traditional physical sports such as cricket, baseball, soccer, American football, boxing, golf, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, bowling, rugby, etc. Some emphasize actually playing the sport, while others emphasize the strategy behind the sport (such as Championship Manager). Others satirize the sport for comic effect (such as Arch Rivals). One of the best selling series in this genre is the Madden NFL series.

This genre emerged early in the history of video games and remains popular today.

Computer and video game genres - Strategy

Strategy games focus on careful planning and skillful resource management in order to achieve victory, and are therefore classified as "thinking games". These games may be turn-based or realtime, but there are some that mix the two types of play (such as X-Com). This genre has had a consistent following since the mid-1980s.

A popular subgenre of strategy is god games, examples of which include the very popular The Sims (which generally simulates home-life and social interactions), SimCity, SimAnt, and SimEarth. Unlike other genres of games, god games do not have a set goal that allows a player to win the game.

Strategy games can also be divided into turn-based and real-time games. Turn-based games were originally the more common form of strategy game, the computers of the time being too slow for real-time interaction; they go back to Star Trek games played on teletypes. Early home computers were soon adopted for wargames, and the genre expanded from there.

The vast majority of strategy games could be called "war strategy games" as they have heavy focus on military combat. For real-time games the focus is generally on military battle tactics(e.g. reconnaissance, flanking, etc.), while turn-based games are more focused on strategy (i.e. looking at war from the perspective of a General or even the leader of the nation).

Examples of games in the real-time genre include Warcraft, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires and Total Annihilation. Additional noteworthy examples are Ground Control, Sudden Strike and Mech Commander, which focus on a set amounts of units, and do away with the resource gathering and unit production aspects of most RTS games.

Examples of turn-based games include Sid Meier's Civilization, the Heroes of Might and Magic series, the Fire Emblem series, and Shattered Union.

Web based strategy games are a less popular variant where the player doesn't need any additional software installed at their computer because the games have web site interfaces. Such games often last for several months, before the round ends and the game restarts. Some of these games are extremely popular and have hundreds of thousands of players. Examples of web based strategy games are Planetarion, Dawn of Myth and Terra Incognita.

Massively Multiplayer Online RTS (MMORTS) is an extremely small subdivision, but has proven to have great potential. Games of this sub-genre include Shattered Galaxy, Mankind and the recently scrapped in development Sovereign.

In City-building games, an offshoot of strategy games, the player acts as overall planner or leader to meet the needs and wants of game characters by initiating structures for food, shelter, health, spiritual care, economic growth, etc. Success is achieved when the city budget makes a growing profit and citizens experience an upgraded lifestyle in housing, health, and goods. While military development is often included, the emphasis is on economic strength.

SimCity and Populous were both popular and influential city-building games.

Computer and video game genres - Third-person shooters

Third-person shooters (TPS) employ a third person perspective for the player. This is normally just behind the game character, but it is sometimes an isometric perspective. Some shooters default to either a first- or third-person perspective but allow the player to choose between the two; others switch between the two at predetermined points in the game.

The Grand Theft Auto series falls into this genre, as do such games as Heretic II, Jet Force Gemini, Max Payne, Mafia,Magic Carpet, Oni and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Major genres", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki