Game Genres

1. Game Genres Ms. MacLeod

2. What is a genre? game genre are categories based on combination of subject matter, setting, screen presentation/format, player perspective and game playing strategies. 

3. The Genre Market • In looking at people playing games, a company must look at what players want to play and what kind of system that they are played on.  The largest and fastest market is the mobile market.  (android or the OS systems) • What do you think?  What do you play?  What system do you use?  These are questions that are important. 

4. Game Genres About a dozen types of video games. – Each game belongs to one or more genre Games in the same genre may look vastly different, yet they share many of the same properties. – Similar design issues and problems. – In some cases, similar gameplay mechanics.

5. Types Of Genres • Adventure Games • Action Games • Role-Playing Games (RPGs) • Strategy Games • Fighting Games • Dance/Music/Rhythm • Simulations • Sports Games • Casual Games • Educational Games • Puzzle Games • Online Games

6. Adventure Games • Story-based games, use puzzle solving to move the story along. – Can be text based (requiring a parser of some kind) or graphical (point and click). – Can be first or third person. - interesting characters and a good plot. • Generally not real-time games. – No time limit on turns, usually. – Action-adventure hybrids can be real-time.

7. Adventure Games Pictures • Zork I (TextAdventure) • Myst IV: Revelation (Graphical Adventure) • Tomb Raider (Action-Adventure)

8. Action Games • Eye hand cordination • Real-time games, require quick reactions. – Opponents are computer generated or human. • Less cerebral than adventure games. – Players are looking for fast-paced action. – Some add adventure, strategic, or tactical elements for a different kind of experience

9. Action Games • UT2004 (FPS) • Mario 64 (Platform) • Pac-Man (Maze) • Metal Slug (Shooter)

10. Role-Playing Games (RPGs) • In RPGs, the gamer generally directs a group of heroes on a series of quests. – Huge world with unfolding story. – Players micromanage their characters. – Characters tend to grow in strength and abilities. – Combat is typically an important element – used to accumulate experience, money and strength. • Fantasy RPGs feature complex magical systems and diverse races of characters.

11. Role-Playing Games (RPGs)Pictures • Final Fantasy X • Star Wars knights of the old republic • Fable • Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

12. Strategy Games • Players manage a limited set of resources to achieve a predetermined goal. – Resource management entails deciding what units to create and how to deploy them. – Trade offs in time, money, and raw materials.

13. Strategy Games • Can be either turn-based or real-time. – Turn-based strategies give you time to think and implement decisions at your own pace. – Real-time strategies (RTSs) have all opponents thinking and acting at the same time. • Opponents are computer generated, human or both.

14. Strategy Games Pictures • Age of Mythology • Full Spectrum Warrior • Command and Conquer • StarCraft 2 • Rome: Total War

15. Fighting Games Control figures on the screen and use a combination of moves to attack and defend from attacks. – Players expect a set of basic attacks and counters to start – Most fights last only a few minutes, but there may be many rounds in a complete bout.

16. Fighting Games Pictures • Soul CaliburII • Virtua Fighter 4 • Mortal Kombatmarvel vs DC

17. Dance/Music/Rhythm • Dancing, Sing, or playing musical instrument-style controller to create music or rhythmic patterns. • Dance Dance Revolution is probably the single largest franchise. Of the rest, many require a specialized controller like DDR, but several don't • Examples of this form include Parappa the Rapper, Dance Dance Revolution and Bust a Groove, GitarooMan. • Music Others are like Activision’s Rock band 3 or Guitar Hero.

18. Dance/Music/Rhythm Pictures

19. Simulations • Simulations (sims) attempt to emulate real world operating conditions with great detail. – The more serious the simulation, the more important accuracy is. – Great time and effort may be required to learn all of the intricacies of the game.

20. Simulations • Most simulate some kind of complex machinery, such as aircraft, tanks, cars, and so on. – The result is racing games, flight simulators, etc. • Less serious simulations are simpler, easier – Often referred to as “arcade simulations.”

21. Simulations Pictures • Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec • Microsoft Flight Simulator

22. Sports Games Participate in a sporting event or activity. – As a player, owner, manager, or coaching. – Can be a single match, series, entire season or life-time of the team or franchise. • Being good at a real sport does not translate to the video game, but that is the point!

23. Sports Games Must accurately and realistically reproduce the rules and strategies of the sport. – Arcade versions with relaxed rules or reduced realism can also be entertaining.

24. Sports Games Pictures Madden NFL NHL Tony Hawk

25. Casual Games Casual games are easy-to-play, short session games with little or no learning curve. – Includes adaptations of traditional games like chess, hearts, and solitaire. – Includes television games like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – Other simple games like Reversi & Minesweeper.

26. Casual Games • Players often already familiar with rules. • Players generally want to drop into and out of these games quickly.

27. Casual Games Pictures • Solitaire • Who Wants to be a Millionaire? • Minesweeper

28. Educational Games Designed to teach as they entertain. – Sometimes called “edutainment”. • Generally aimed at a younger audience than most other gaming products. – Designers work closely with subject matter experts to ensure the content is appropriate for the target group.

29. Educational Games Pictures • Reader Rabbit • Carmen Sandiego • Disney Learning Adventure

30. Puzzle Games For the intellectual challenge of problem solving. • The puzzles are an end in themselves and are not integrated into a story. • Puzzles can be non real-time or real-time. – There are little or no time constraints in non real-time puzzles. – Real-time puzzles have some timing elements and contain some action.

31. Puzzle Games Pictures • The Incredible Machine • Tetris • Puzzle Bobble

32. Online Games Online games may include any other genre and their distinguishing feature is multiplayer network play. – Some accommodate only 2-4 players, but others work with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of players. – Known as Massively Multiplayer (as in: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or MMORPG).

33. Online Games Often, communities grow around these games. • Online gaming is still in its infancy, with many technical and business difficulties unsolved.

34. Online Games Pictures • City of Heroes • EverquestII • UltimaOnline • World of Warcraft

35. Platform This is a sub genre the focus on the players moving quickly through an environment often jumping and avoiding objects. It is believed that the platform genre began in 1981 with the release of the games Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog. As companies began to develop platform games for home consoles and computers instead of arcade machines (i.e. Super Mario Bros). • Examples of 2D screen-based platform franchises include Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong, Lode Runner, Mario Bros. • evolve more as a 3D market - Super Mario 64.

36. Platform Pictures

37. Why is knowing this important? Successful game design requires understanding of the possibilities • When designing a game, it is good to identify the genre first. • Recognizing genres in gaming can translate to other disciplines, as all fields have their own collection of genres.