Welcome to the first of a series of posts about genres; what they mean, how they work, and what they bring out of the player when they are being played. I’ve chosen to write about this because: a) it’s fairly easy to write about, because half the article will be just describing stuff, and b) there’s a lot to say, as a new genre of game is created and subsequently exploited every five years or so, and so I can keep writing about genres without worrying about running out of something to talk about.
But what is a genre, anyway? In terms of a book, where the term originally came from, it related to what elements one could expect to be included in the plot; a romance book is going to have boinking at some point, a sci-fi book will involve science as a source of power, and usually there’s an alien or two. When books were slowly translated to film, it brought along with it the same definitions; what you could expect from the movie could be easily pinned down by some critic stating its genre. “Oh, it’s a horror movie; that means there will be a cat jumping out of something at some point.” “Oh a romantic comedy, that means that there will be a relationship between two horrible human beings will blossom, and probably a dick joke or ten.”
But when video games (and board games) started to rise to prominence in the 70’s and 80’s, the old genre definitions didn’t cut it anymore. First, the early technical limitations made it impossible to adequately portray the backstory…there were only so many pixels to display on the screen. So most games didn’t have genres as they were then defined, it was just some anteater trying to eat some ants. Second, when the computers could handle it and they started adding elements like dragons and whatnot, games that were obviously fantasy games didn’t play the same as others with the same moniker. “Well, I liked the last game that involved swinging a sword around, but I just don’t get this one. Why do I have to tell the guy to attack? Just do it!”
So it soon became clear that other definitions were needed, the genre soon described what actions you were expected to take while playing. Do you have to move the electronic facsimile of a car down a road? Well, it’s a racing game. What if you’re controlling a plane and you have a gun? Hmm, not quite racing, let’s call it a shoot-‘em-up. Oh, it’s a spaceship now? Um, it doesn’t control any differently than the plane game, it’s still a shoot-‘em-up. Now you’re playing a dude wandering the mean streets? Jeez, man, hold still, okay, let’s say it’s a beat-‘em-up, regardless of the backdrop.
These various methods of play soon expanded greatly as the industry grew and new options for potential gameplay were created. Roleplaying games require a lot of discspace, and sandbox games require even more. An interest in different peripherals has always been present, but it wasn’t until the success of Guitar Hero that the rhythm genre really grew in prominence. Some genres have nearly collapsed due to technology advancements, such as the adventure genre, which has only in the past couple of years has seen a recovery.
Of course, a game’s genre may be helpful for basic definition, but fairly inadequate for completely telling what to expect. A lot of sandbox and action adventure games use gameplay elements from other genres for short segments of play. Roleplaying elements have been slowly injected into games of all types, and are becoming an everpresent element in most mainstream games. Sports games from the 1980’s are practically indistinguishable from sports games today, yet the genre name remains the same and the expectation of gameplay has changed.
But it does stand that everyone knows whether they will give a certain game a chance or not based on this simple single word definition it is given. Some people know they just can’t stand anything called a roleplaying game, while others couldn’t care less about sports games or racing games. Genres allow those who game to quickly set up a community and understand what interest they may have in any given game, regardless of what the story or setting is. It’s a great tool, and the fact that new “genres” keep emerging only speaks to the versatility of gaming in general, that we are constantly finding new ways to play.
And this is what I want to explore. I’ll start at the top, with genres that I know a lot about, and then slowly move down to stuff that will require a bit of research. So come back soon as I start with my favorite and the most vilified genre, roleplaying games.
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