Be honest: when it comes to gaming terminology, either you’re so tuned in to the lingo of the game world that you might as well have a cybernetic chip implanted in your frontal lobe OR you’re afraid that people are talking about you by using some bizarre future language invented by Gene Rodenberry.

If you’re one of those few people in the latter group, our couple of weeks on video game addiction will likely be a problem for you here and there.  But don’t fret.  We’re here to clue you in to some of the basic terminology you’ll hear spoken on the podcast by designers and gamers.  Let’s get started.

Gamer:  A person that plays games regularly.  Also can refer to anyone immediately playing a video game, regardless of how often they play. 

EX) “Look, I play Warcraft every couple of days for like 30 minutes. That guy plays for 7 hours a stretch.  He’s a true gamer.”

System:   A system refers to any video game playing machine.  An Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo are all types of systems. 

EX) “Dude, my system is so stacked that I can actually import my entire mp3 library into Call of Duty while I’m playing.”

MMORPG:  Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.  MMORPG’s (sometimes called just MMO’s) are online games that are played over the internet in virtual worlds that are hosted on servers.  Players pay a periodic subscription fee to continue playing. The game generally has no end and can be played forever. World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Champions Online, Everquest, and Star Trek Online are MMO’s.  

EX)  “That new all orc MMORPG is just a knockoff of Warcraft.  It’s stupid.”

Sim-game (or Sim):  Stands for simulation.  Sim-games simulate something as it actually is in real life as best as possible.  The more real world it seems, the more likely it is a sim.  Sim City, The Sims, Madden Football, NBA2K are all versions of different types of sims.

EX) “Man, that game is a podcast sim. Yeah, you totally have to start your own podcast and get people to subscribe.  It’s hard as @#$!”

GUI:  Stands for Graphical User Interface.  When people talk about gui’s, they simply mean what you see on the screen when you play. It has an added element of interactivity and involvement to the game as well.  Think of GUI’s as like the dashboard of a car. 

EX) It’s a podcast sim, but the GUI is all messed up.  I can’t figure out where anything is on the screen. There’s too much going on.  

Console:   A console is a game-system that is for video games alone.  It is derived from old stand lone box systems like Nintendo’s and Sega’s that had no other purpose. Today’s consoles can play movies, music, import photos and even be used to chat online with friends.  XBox, Playstation, Nintendo-Cube, Wii.   

EX)  “I can’t wait until they finally make it to where you can play MMO’s on a console.  I hate using the PC mouse.”

PC-games:  Games designed to be played on a home computer.  Most if not all MMORPG’s are PC-games.  Because handheld controllers where add-ons, many PC developed games are notably different than console games because they are designed with out the idea of the swiftness of a controller in mind.  They are named after microsoft PC’s because they had a lock on the computer gaming market for years.  Games like MYST, Riven, World of Warcraft, Total Warfare are examples of PC-games. 

EX) “PC games are so annoying. Why can’t they make them for Mac’s?  How hard is that?  I mean, doesn’t Bill Gates have enough money?

MUD:  Stands for multi-user dungeon.  MUD’s were text-based games that were take-offs on the original paper and pencil Dungeons and Dragons games.  In a MUD, the “dungeonmaster” (person that gave players their missions and information) was replaced by the computer which presented everything to you in a text form.  A MUD format would be, “You are walking down a hallway when you see two angry orcs.  What do you wish to do?”

EX) “Dude, I played that MUD for 4 hours straight. I mean, 4 hours.  We’re not talking GTA-watch-cool-explosions-of-colors 4 hours; we’re talking 4 hours of scrolling tiny poorly written text. It was fierce.”

XBOX: Microsoft Console

PS3: 3rd generation of the Playstation console.  

Genre:  The category of game.  Much like movies or TV channels.  Genres range from fighting to shooters to RPG’s to sports sims, etc.

EX) “I don’t know.  Sometimes I think Grand Theft Auto 4 should be classified as a racing game rather than a RPG.”

1st Person Shooter:  Any game where the field of vision of the main character is the same as what’s seen on screen, typically used with shooting of enemies.  The screen takes on a realistic field of vision of the player, with an inability to usually see one’s self in the game.  Medal of Honor, Halo, and Rainbow Six are all versions of 1st person shooters.

EX) “No way. I can’t play 1st person shooters.  I get motion sickness from the choppiness of the movement on the screen.”

Subscription model:  A subscription model is a business model in which gamer pays a subscription (usually monthly) to play a game. This started with MMORPG’s but has spread to console gaming with things like Xbox Live.  

Sandbox:  A sandbox is a type of game in which an expansive world is designed before action is set in it, thereby allowing players to wander aimlessly around that world (sandbox) instead of being forced to follow missions.  Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and Bully are examples of sandbox games. 

EX) “That podcasting game is a sandbox-type game where you walk around this building and you have all these little quests you can go on and missions you do. Ultimately, you’re supposed to make a good podcast, but I spend all my time just wandering around speaker room.”

Cut-scene:  an animated scene in a game that is typically cinematic and filled with action and/or dialogue like a movie.  During a cut-scene, the player is unable to interact with the game.  Cut-scenes often happen in pivotal parts of games.  Many RPG’s will have a climactic final showdown with an enemy and then have a final cut-scene before credits roll.  

EX) “I was playing Final Fantasy with my kid, and we get to a cut scene early on and suddenly she’s looking at me saying, “Daddy, is this a game or a movie?”

Boss:  Arch Enemy in a game.  Usually there are hierarchies of enemies in a game with “baddies” being  your low level enemy and bosses being the big thing to overcome at the end of each major stage of a game.  At the ultimate end of an RPG game, there is usually an extremely difficult to manage boss known as “the Final Boss.”  

EX)  “The final boss on that Conan Game was super hard. I spent 3 hours getting killed over and over and over again.”

This is by no means all of the jargon used in the gaming world, but it is some of the most common.  Most importantly, it's virtually everything you'll need to know to understand what the designers and players are talking about on our show. But please; if you're not familiar with these terms, don't go throwing them around like you'e hep, you'll only look silly.