Nintendo

Wanna play on my Nintendo after school?

There is nothing wrong with the accoutrements of personal affluence, but if the numbers of personal stereos, Nintendos, mobile phones and cars grow […].

1995, David Gladstone, editor, British Social Welfare: Past, Present, and Future, page 274:

These professionals are the sort whose children play with Nintendos and own bikes

2005, Lila Abu-Lughod, Dramas of Nationhood: The Politics of Television in Egypt, page 280:

Franz: “How do elves make Nintendos?” Dad: “You ask all the hard questions, don't you? I really don't know.”

2005, Larry L. Meyer, No Paltry Thing: Memoirs Of A Geezer Dad, page 128:

The only message at home was from my nephew, letting me know my mother was back home, safe and sound, except for a sore "Nintendo thumb".

2007, Ilene Schneider, Chanukah Guilt, page 106:

(video games) A Nintendo Entertainment System, or other video game system made by Nintendo.

ኒንተንዶ

(video games, by extension) Any video game console, especially by those not familiar with video games.


first time

en-verb

first time (third-person singular simple present first times, present participle first timing, simple past and past participle first timed)

first times (present singular third-person)
first timing (participle present)
first timed (participle past)
first timed (past)

I'm first timing this game.

Looking forward to first time this champion in my ranked games.

(chiefly video games, transitive) To try for the first time.


collider

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The race controller will check for a trigger hit between this player's collider and the start/finish line trigger, but this script has an OnTriggerEnter function to check for triggers used to force a respawn.

2014, Jeff W. Murray, C# Game Programming Cookbook for Unity 3D, page 339:

(video games) A model of the shape of an object for purposes of collision detection.


PKK

(video games) Initialism of player killer killer.


unequip

unequip (third-person singular simple present unequips, present participle unequipping, simple past and past participle unequipped)

unequips (present singular third-person)
unequipping (participle present)
unequipped (participle past)
unequipped (past)

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role-playing video game
role-playing video game

(transitive, video games) In role-playing video games, to deactivate (an item carried by a player).


proxy mine

2000: "twopinacoladas", review of The World is not Enough http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/review/R12476.html
In mid night departure (forest with the air control) base the frame rate ''SUCKS'' out side far worse then PD with 4 players 8 sims and proxy mines.

Proxy mines are always good because the computer doesn't seem to defend against them.

2002: "yc", Super Smash Bros. Melee: Marth http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/516492/18648

2004: "TerranRedneck", review of Custom Robo http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/review/R73394.html
Pods are like "little buddies" that help you out. Some buzz around your rivals head obscuring his vision and annoying him, some serve as proxy mines, while others simply bounce off the walls blowing up on the first bot they meet.

The proxy mines detonate when anyone comes near them (including the one who set the mine) and are absolutely wonderful for laying traps.

2006: "ProtectorOne", Perfect Dark: Multiplayer Scenario FAQ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/file/198275/43519

If you get too close it'll trigger. Shoot it from a safe distance and it will blow up. … Leave the room and go through the door that was previously protected by a proxy mine.

2007: "UnknownMercernary", Die Hard: Vendetta: FAQ/Walkthrough http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/479800/47821

(slang, weaponry, video games) A proximity mine; a mine that explodes when something approaches within a certain distance.


bunny hop

bunny hop (third-person singular simple present bunny hops, present participle bunny hopping, simple past and past participle bunny hopped)

bunny hops (present singular third-person)
bunny hopping (participle present)
bunny hopped (participle past)
bunny hopped (past)

first-person shooter
first-person shooter

(video games) to jump repeatedly while making contact with ground for as little time as possible, often combined with air strafing, especially in first-person shooters.


-mancer

I’ve always thought it was a shame us Cullenmancers missed out on a romance tarot with how beautiful all their designs are.

As a Solasmancer I don't expect more, but I'd hope somehow Solas' experience with the Inquisition has an impact on him going forward.

I agreed with some and disagreed with others, so I'm putting it out there for my fellow Galemancers: what's Gale's [zodiac] sign?

2023 December 22, Theia-Euryphaessa, Reddit:

(fandom slang) A suffix attached to a video game character's name to create a word for a player who romances that character in the game.


OG

en-adj

OG (comparative more OG, superlative most OG)

more OG (comparative)
most OG (superlative)

Accounts with OG names like "Daniel" or "summer" can often fetch a high price.

I joined Twitter pretty early and managed to snag a semi-OG handle.

I'm sure in lots of cases people get paid. In fact there is a black market for OG handles that can reach prices of up to 5k.

2020 May 24, u/jbutens, “How are celebrities able to get social media handles that are exactly their name? Do they buy it from people etc. if it's already taken?”, in Reddit, r/NoStupidQuestions, archived from the original on 2024-02-26:

Tryna fill my friends list with og/semi og names.

2021 May 16, @Horroraholic_, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-02-26:

Just wait untill the doxing / social engineering comes for og accounts

2023 May 11, u/Esco1980, “Why is this change being pushed despite overwhelmingly negative feedback?”, in Reddit, r/discordapp, archived from the original on 2024-02-26:

Shut down http://kyo.rip, haven't touched siege in ages, lots of people using the site to try to brute force accounts, check for og names and just being weirdos and I cba to update or maintain the site anymore. Goodbye

2023 June 6, @KyoDaHotdog, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-02-26:

It's a semi OG name, CocoChopper isn't og in any way

2023 June 11, u/HypeTheMoneyMaker, “Stepping down from CocoChopper for a semi-OG ign 🫡”, in Reddit, r/HypixelSkyblock, archived from the original on 2024-02-26:

(social media, video games, slang) Relating to a username which is a common word, phrase, or name.


VN

(online gaming) Initialism of very nice (complimenting a play).


BG

Along the way, a host of NPCs will join your party—and, as proven in the BG games, no one does NPCs better than BioWare.

2004 February, Jeff Green, “[Reviews] Knights of the Old Republic: BioWare and LucasArts deliver a brilliant Star Wars RPG”, in Jeff Green, editor, Computer Gaming World, number 235, New York, N.Y.: Ziff Davis Media, Inc., →ISSN, page 61, column 1:

All BG fans have a soft spot for Minsc, the ranger with one too many conks on the noggin and his famous Space Hamster, Boo. […] There’s a lot of great user-made content out there for the BG series.

2005 December, William Abner, “Baldur’s Gate: Closet Classic (1998)”, in The 2006 Gamer’s Tome of Ultimate Wisdom: An Almanac of Pimps, Orcs, and Lightsabers, Indianapolis, Ind.: Que Publishing, →ISBN, page 19, columns 1–2:

Interestingly, there’s no alignment system in Dragon Age, unlike previous BG games.

2008 August, “First Shots: Dragon Age: Origins”, in PCGZine, number 21:

When David [Gaider] was hired, BioWare was still at the Whyte Avenue site, ramping up work on Baldur’s Gate II. “I didn’t know anything about BioWare, but had heard of BG I,” David says.

2020 November, Ben Gelinas, “BioWare Labs”, in BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development, Milwaukie, Ore.: Dark Horse Books, →ISBN, part 3 (From Ambition to Reality), page 175, column 1:

(Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(video games) Initialism of Baldur’s Gate (series).

Starting off as a half-elf ranger with a stick, Scooteris was kind of cool by the end of BG and its expansion, with +2 armor and a longbow. But it’s not until TOB [Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal] that he gets equipment that can kill with one blow.

2001 October, Thierry Nguyen, “BioWare gives gamers a fitting send-off to its epic role-playing game: This Is the End, My Only Friend”, in Jeff Green, editor, Computer Gaming World, number 207, New York, N.Y.: Ziff Davis Media, Inc., →ISSN, page 86:

The Baldur’s Gate series (BG with its expansion pack and sequel/expansion pack) has sold nearly 4 million units worldwide. […] Role-playing games like BG also more complicated and required additional QA [quality assurance] time and completely different QA processes.

2003, Erik Bethke, “What Makes Game Development Hard?”, in Game Development and Production (Wordware Game Developer’s Library), Plano, Tex.: Wordware Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, pages 22, column 1, and 24, column 2:

BG’s pausable combat system was a landmark for tactical RPGs, and Dragon Age wants to recreate that same sense of combat orchestration. […] Talky party members with big personalities were a staple of BG, but having thousands of pixels instead of a few dozen to render your allies’ personas means BioWare is eager to develop new favorites for its fans. We’re not sure they’ll be as off-the-wall as Minsc from BG2 […]

2009 March, “Dragon Age: Origins”, in Gary Steinman, editor, PC Gamer, number 185 / volume 16, number 03, South San Francisco, Calif.: Future US, Inc., →ISSN, pages 32–33:

BG maps (75 in total) represent mostly indoor environments while WIII [Warcraft III] maps (36 in total) – imaginary outdoor environments.

2018, Anton Andreychuk, Natalia Soboleva, Konstantin Yakovlev, “eLIAN: Enhanced Algorithm for Angle-Constrained Path Finding”, in Sergei O. Kuznetsov, Gennady S[imeonovich] Osipov, Vadim L. Stefanuk, editors, Artificial Intelligence: 16th Russian Conference, RCAI 2018, Moscow, Russia, September 24–27, 2018, Proceedings (Communications in Computer and Information Science; 934), Cham, Zug: Springer, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 213:

Baldur’s Gate
w:Baldur's Gate (video game)

Initialism of Baldur’s Gate (the first game).


sublevel

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(video games) A level making up part of a larger level.


tate

This is a monitor, not a TV - but I LOVE it for gaming purposes as I can easily rotate the screen. I had to unscrew the rotation mechanism and flip it around so that Tate mode games play the right way up.

2002 September 20, JigsawMan, “What television are you using with your console?”, in uk.games.video.dreamcast (Usenet):

Shiki is good, haven;t played that in tate mode yet. I though^([sic]) Psyvariar was boring to begin with - but that was because I just didn;t 'get' the game. Now I love it. Haven;t played that in Tate yet either. Hence the need for a whizz bang TV!

2003 August 4, Dan, “Good 4:3 TV for Gaming?”, in uk.games.video.misc (Usenet):

Perhaps the next generation of consoles, with more RAM, will finally give us some worthy collections. All vertical games should have 'tate' capability, Menus should be slick, with full-screen detailed adverts, commercials, interviews w/developer, etc.

2003 December 4, EssenceK, “Midway arcade classics”, in alt.games.video.xbox (Usenet):

I think the small size of the screen allows the eye to take in the entire playfield, lessening the chances of dying from some unseen projectile catching your vision off guard. Plus, it's a snap to flip the monitor vertically to play in "tate" mode.

2005 September 21, crymad, “What size TV do you use to play classic games?”, in rec.games.video.classic (Usenet):

Many would likely not orient their screen in a vertical or tate orientation (i.e, turned sideways as a vertical monitor) and many of these games do not have a rotation feature to support vertical/tate monitor orientation (although some do support it but then it means rotating the monitor to play and then rotating back afterward).

2009 October 17, Daniel W. Rouse Jr., “Aspect ratio 16:9”, in alt.tv.tech.hdtv (Usenet):

(video games, attributive) Of video games, a vertical mode.


gibs

At the perfect moment, Romero fired into the barrel, leaving the monster in a bloody pile of gibs.

2004, David Kushner, Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture, page 148:

(video games) The internal organs of certain computer game characters after being splattered to death.


meat shield

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(video games) A so-called "tank" whose main purpose is to hold aggro from mobs and absorb damage.

(video games) A stunned or dead enemy character used as a shield against attacks.


ICA

International Contract Agency
w:International Contract Agency

(video games) Initialism of International Contract Agency.


adventure game

Phipps have put together a well planned and sometimes amusing adventure game here, with text and location graphics, which are simple but attractive.

1984 May, “Living Guide to Spectrum Software: Adventure Games”, in Crash, number 4:

The critics of adventure games are quick to point out that, really, adventure games are not games at all, but merely a series of puzzles strung together with bits of story between them. The puzzles, regardless of their form, serve as locked doors […]

2010, Richard Rouse III, Game Design: Theory and Practice, Second Edition:

Undoubtedly a force in the early days of the graphical adventure game genre was LucasArts. With an army of professional film personnel from which to draw, LucasArts titles gained a huge reputation for outstanding storytelling[…]

2011, Sue Blackman, Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity, page 6:

(video games) A computer or video game of the genre characterized by investigation, exploration, puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters, and a focus on narrative rather than reflex-based challenges.


difficulty level

en-noun

difficulty level (plural difficulty levels)

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(video games) A variable setting in a video game determining how challenging it is to play.


Atari

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Company name, founded in California in 1972, from Japanese 当たり (atari), with reference to the game of Go.

Asked what they liked best about visiting their father, both named playing his Atari game. "What if he didn't have an Atari, would you still go visit him?" Dr. Davis asked.

1988, Jerry Bledsoe, Bitter Blood: A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness, and Multiple Murder, Dutton, →ISBN, page 204:

Even my husband, when he takes a break from playin' his Atari on the TV, makes comments about how weird the livin' room looks without the rain lamp.

2003, Ruby Ann Boxcar, Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Guide to Livin' Real Good, Citadel Press, →ISBN, page 76:

Whatever the reason, you've found yourself wanting an Atari once again. Yes, the very first video game company did produce many different consoles, but when I say "an Atari" you know what I'm talking about: the Video Computer System, a.k.a. the VCS, a.k.a. the 2600, a.k.a. the Atari.

2005, Chris Kohler, Retro Gaming Hacks, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 8:

(video games) An Atari video game system or computer, such as the Atari 2600 or Atari ST.


replayability

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This new game is reported to have excellent replayability, with many features that draw players into the game's engaging world.


replay value

(video games) The entertainment value obtained by playing a computer game more than once; replayability.


EQ

(video games) Initialism of EverQuest, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.


ring out

Calque of Japanese リングアウト (ringu auto), equivalent to English ring (noun) + out (verb)

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Even when Heihachi doesn't score a ring out with these combos, almost half of an enemy's health disappears […]

2003, Michael Lummis, Soul Calibur II Official Fighter's Guide Limited Edition, page 105:

(video games) A win in a fighting game obtained by throwing one's opponent out of the arena.


ring out

en-verb

ring out (third-person singular simple present rings out, present participle ringing out, simple past and past participle ringed out)

rings out (present singular third-person)
ringing out (participle present)
ringed out (participle past)
ringed out (past)

(video games, transitive, intransitive) To throw (an opponent) out of the arena, thereby winning.


geno

(video games, roguelikes, informal) Genocide.


geno

geno (third-person singular simple present genos, present participle genoing, simple past and past participle genoed)

genos (present singular third-person)
genoing (participle present)
genoed (participle past)
genoed (past)

I decided to geno insects because of the risk of swarms in the early game.

(video games, roguelikes, transitive, informal) To (commit) genocide.


PLA

Pokémon Legends: Arceus
w:Pokémon Legends: Arceus

(fandom slang, video games) Initialism of Pokémon Legends: Arceus.


galge

Borrowed from Japanese ギャルゲー (gyarugē), a shortening of ギャルゲーム (gyaru gēmu), a wasei-eigo derived from English gal + game.

(video games) A video game centered around interactions with attractive anime-style girls.


strategy game

A game in which the players' decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome, such as chess, checkers or go.

joc d'estratègia

game in which players' decision-making skills have a high significance


computer chess

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(computer games, chess) The game of chess involving a computer able to play autonomously, i.e. without human guidance.


remaster

remaster (third-person singular simple present remasters, present participle remastering, simple past and past participle remastered)

remasters (present singular third-person)
remastering (participle present)
remastered (participle past)
remastered (past)

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But the remastering shows how nostalgia is driving publishers’ decision making.

2020 August 1, Imad Khan, “Like Old Hollywood Movies, Video Games Get a Polish for New Audiences”, in The New York Times:

(video games) To produce a new version of a video game with updated graphics, often re-recorded music, and added features and content.


jank

Ostensibly a back-formation from janky (“shoddy, poor quality”).

back-form

Bethesda’s jank made a PvP-centric experience hellish. Players kept finding exploits left and right.

2019, Patricia Hernandez, After the backlash, Bethesda is on a long quest to redeem Fallout 76, Polygon:

Maybe Soulstorm is an ideal tribute to the PlayStation era, considering how much period-specific jank is in the code.

2021, Luke Winkle, Oddworld: Soulstorm review, PC Gamer:

Jank is the understated secret sauce of game development. It can make a bad game good and a good game great.

2018, Ryan Cooper, The Joy of Jank, Unwinnable:

The build I played was rough around the edges; I experienced a couple of hard crashes, as well as some placeholder assets and bugs that went beyond the charming old-school jank I was expecting.

2023, Jordan Oloman, STALKER 2 is a merciless trip down memory lane, Polygon:

(video games, slang) Game mechanics of unconventional or flawed design or implementation, and the experience of such mechanics, as to ruin or disrupt play, or break immersion; e.g. bugs and glitches.


laggy

en-adj

laggy (comparative laggier, superlative laggiest)

laggier (comparative)
laggiest (superlative)

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I've given up trying to play on that laggy server.

(computing, Internet, video games, informal) Tending to lag, or respond slowly because of network latency.


gaymer

You're a gaymer aintcha? :)

2003, Gorf, “FA:Fzero Jap”, in uk.games.video.gamecube (Usenet):

> Are you a gaymer then?
No, I'm just a gay man that enjoys computer games in exactly the same way that non-gay men enjoy computer games.

2003, Nick, “Gaymers”, in uk.games.video.gamecube (Usenet):

How is this self-ostracism? Is anyone who would choose to post there thus prevented from posting here, or to any of the planet* websites Gamespy owns? Or to any of the publisher/developer forums available for discussion? I post to a mailing list for gay gaymers, and yet I post here. How am I ostracized?

2003, Julie d'Aubigny, “Gaymers”, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (Usenet):

(slang, video games) A homosexual gamer.


ATB

(video games) Initialism of active time battle.


telefrag

en-verb

telefrag (third-person singular simple present telefrags, present participle telefragging, simple past and past participle telefragged)

telefrags (present singular third-person)
telefragging (participle present)
telefragged (participle past)
telefragged (past)

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(video games, first-person shooter) To frag (a player) by teleporting into the other player.


telefrag

(video games, first-person shooter) A frag caused by teleporting into the other player.


platformer

Conceptually speaking, the platformer may be the most archetypal video-game genre.

2010, Tom Bissell, Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 97:

(video games, informal) A platform game.


text adventure

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(computer games) A computer game in which the player is given a textual description of the environment and uses a command line to interact with it.


light gun

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(video games) A device resembling a gun that allows the player of a video game to target a point on the screen.


collision detection

en-noun

collision detection (countable and uncountable, plural collision detections)

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(computing, chiefly video games) The process or mechanism of determining whether two shapes are partially occupying the same space.


GG

(online gaming, slang) Good game; commonly used at the end of a gaming match; also sometimes used to end an argument.


game with a purpose

game with a purpose (plural games with a purpose)

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Coined by Luis von Ahn in 2008, see citations.

(video games) A computer game that serves some purpose for the people setting up the game by harnessing human abilities in an entertaining setting.


retrogamer

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miniboss

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One of MadWorld's minibosses is about to turn our hero into a flapjack.

2009, Nintendo Power, volumes 237-239, page 58:

(video games) A minor or incidental boss in a video game.


Snake

en-proper noun

Snake (countable and uncountable, plural Snakes)

en:Snake (disambiguation)
en:Snake (zodiac)
en:Snake River

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(video games) An early computer game, later popular on mobile phones, in which the player attempts to manoeuvre a perpetually growing snake so as to collect food items and avoid colliding with walls or the snake's tail.


griefer

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First, be a tree; in other words, ignore the griefer. This approach can be very effective because most griefers want you to get pissed off, and if you don't, they may move on to more fertile targets.

2007, Brian A. White, Second Life: A Guide to Your Virtual World, Que Publishing, →ISBN:

Julian Dibbell's description of griefer culture demonstrates a high degree of congruence with Huizinga's description of the spoilsport. The griefers have indeed “made a new community,” loosely organized on somethingawful.com and the /b/ forum of 4chan.org

2011, Kristie Miller, Marlene Clark, Dating: Philosophy for Everyone, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

“[…]Maybe we can set up a trap for the griefer.” “That's an amazing idea!” said Kyra. “ What type of trap?” asked Steve. “We can create something very valuable that the griefer might want to steal or destroy and we can wait by it until the griefer arrives.

2015, Winter Morgan, The Mystery of the Griefer's Mark: An Unofficial Gamer's Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(online gaming) One who griefs: a player who plays a game primarily to reduce other players’ enjoyment of it.


massively multiplayer online game

en-noun

massively multiplayer online game (plural massively multiplayer online games)

massively multiplayer online games (plural)

(online gaming) A computer game in which a large number of players can simultaneously interact in a persistent world.

massively multiplayer online role-playing game


skill point

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(video games) One of the points allocated to a player character, often when leveling up, to purchase abilities on their skill tree.

(video games) A renewable energy point that may be used alongside magic points, to separate magical and physical abilities.


skill tree

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(video games) A hierarchical visual representation of customizations a player can make to their character. Skill trees can either branch out or eventually fold back to a single point depending on the game. Typically some form of skill point is used as opposed to spending experience points.


technology tree

technology tree (plural technology trees)

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(video games) A hierarchical representation of technology that may be researched and implemented for the whole faction by the player, most often in real-time strategy games.


content key

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downloadable content
downloadable content

(video games) A downloadable content file that unlocks items, characters, levels, or other content that was included with a video game but not immediately accessible (if at all through normal gameplay).


save point

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(video games) A location found in a video game that allows the player to save their game, often found in non-overworld areas such as towns and dungeons, where saving anywhere is not allowed. Gameplay resumes from the save point used.


2-up (countable and uncountable, plural 2-ups)

(video games) An item that grants the player two extra lives in the game.

Before any player registers points, the PAC-MAN scoring table displays in white "1 UP" and "2 UP" where the scores will appear.

1982, Harlington Wood, Jr., Atari v. North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corp., 672 F.2d 607, n. 2 (7th Cir. 1982)

(video games, uncountable) In a game with multiple players, an indicator or identifier of player 2.


"Extra life" sense borrowed from Japanese 1UP (wan appu) and perhaps popularized by Super Mario Bros. (1985); but the term existed earlier in multi-player pinball and other arcade games in the 1960s, where "1Up" and "2Up" were used as flashing notifications to indicate who would play next (or who was "up" next in order). See https://www.inverse.com/gaming/1up-meaning-origin-definition-gaming.

(video games) An item that grants the player an extra life in the game, staving off game over by one more try.

This is the players turn (1-up or 2-up)

1998, Sega Genesis, Frogger 1998 - Walkthrough:

(video games) In a game with multiple players, an indicator or identifier of player 1.


survival horror

survival horror (countable and uncountable, plural survival horrors)

Calque of Japanese サバイバルホラー (sabaibaru horā), from English survival + horror.

cal

(video games, uncountable) A video game genre that emphasizes scarcity of resources (such as health or ammunition refills) in a dangerous setting like that of a horror film.


cut scene

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Coined by game designer Ron Gilbert to describe non-interactive cinematic sequences in the 1987 adventure game Maniac Mansion, in reference to the cuts between scenes in films.

(video games) A typically non-interactive portion of cinematic narrative shown during a video game to advance the story. Cut scenes may be presented with full motion video or may be done with the game engine, in which case they may allow some interactivity.


level cap

(video games) The maximum attainable level of the player character, often in role-playing video games. Level caps may be raised in subsequent playthroughs or expansion packs/downloadable content.


red ring of death

en-noun

red ring of death (plural red rings of death)

Derived from blue screen of death, a type of failure on a personal computer running Microsoft Windows.

(video games) A fatal hardware exception in the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game console characterised by three or four red indicator LEDs around the power button.

Xbox 360 technical problems#General Hardware Failure errors


sidequest

Completion of a sidequest often results in the acquisition of money or items that are otherwise unavailable, or unlocks another sidequest.

The following items are either the objects of a quest or vital components of an optional sidequest.

2003, Bryan Stratton, Stephen Stratton, The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, Prima Games, →ISBN, page 19:

Two tasks I want to discuss are mentioned several times within this chapter: sidequests and adventure paths. These tasks are unique because they offer students a challenge beyond the required work within Michael's classroom. Sidequests are projects that students complete to deepen their understanding of the content.

2022, Adam Moreno, Purpose-Driven Learning: Unlocking and Empowering Our Students’ Innate Passion for Learning, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN:

(video games) A quest given to the player that has no direct bearing on the main story or campaign of the game.


ninja loot

en-verb

ninja loot (third-person singular simple present ninja loots, present participle ninja looting, simple past and past participle ninja looted)

ninja loots (present singular third-person)
ninja looting (participle present)
ninja looted (participle past)
ninja looted (past)

(online gaming) To unfairly loot the corpse of a fallen enemy before other members of the party can divvy the spoils.


save slot

(video games) One of a set of programmer-determined slots (such as files or memory addresses) for creating a saved game.


multi-user dungeon

en-noun

multi-user dungeon (plural multi-user dungeons)

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massively multiplayer online game
massively multiplayer online game

(computer games) A text-based online game in which players enter instructions on a command line to jointly engage in role-playing. MUDs are a precursor to the massively multiplayer online game.


bind on pickup

(online gaming) Describing an item that becomes bound to the player that loots it. The player cannot transfer it to another player; they may only sell it to an in-game vendor or discard it, destroying the item. Used mainly on quest MacGuffins and rare drops. Compare to bind on equip.


bind on pickup

en-verb

bind on pickup (third-person singular simple present binds on pickup, present participle binding on pickup, simple past and past participle bound on pickup)

binds on pickup (present singular third-person)
binding on pickup (participle present)
bound on pickup (participle past)
bound on pickup (past)

(online gaming, of a piece of equipment) To become permanently associated with a player character upon being picked up.


bind on equip

(online gaming) Describing a piece of equipment (armor, weapons, accessories) that becomes bound to a player character when equipped by them. The player may sell/trade/give it to another character so long as they have not used it. After use, the player may only sell it to an in-game vendor or discard it, destroying the item. Used mainly on quest rewards and moderate to rare drops. Compare to bind on pickup.


bind on equip

bind on equip (third-person singular simple present binds on equip, present participle binding on equip, simple past and past participle bound on equip)

binds on equip (present singular third-person)
binding on equip (participle present)
bound on equip (participle past)
bound on equip (past)

(online gaming, of a piece of equipment) To become permanently associated with a player character upon being equipped.


arcade game

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Luckily for fans, these arcade games (as the good old classic titles are now called) used to have rather simple mechanics, and most players could learn to play them, despite their poor or non-existent knowledge of English.

2014, Miguel Á. Bernal-Merino, Translation and Localisation in Video Games:

(video games) A coin-operated video game or amusement device.

арка́дна игра́

‘They’re Twitch Games,’ he grinned, ‘arcade games. An adventure game is one where you use your mind; if you can type, you can play an adventure. If you require anything other than that, you’ve got a twitch game — an arcade game — where your skill of movement is more important than your thinking. […]

1985, Scott Adams, quoted in Graeme Kidd, Great Scott!, in Crash issue 15

It's not an arcade game—there is no crack of the bat or roar of the crowd or even much in the way of a screen display—but for the true fan, there is the excitement of mathematically structured matchups of real current and past teams with a more-than-passing resemblance to real-life outcomes.

1985, PC Mag, volume 4, number 14, page 51:

(video games) A game for a computer or console that shares traits of coin-operated video games, such as short levels, simple and intuitive controls, and rapidly increasing difficulty.


minigame

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If you collect 100 coins, you get to play a balloon-popping minigame.

I promise to enter next time, if you keep the compo like it is now ;-) Or... why not alternating between a minigame compo and a minidemo comp ?

2002, Fabrice Frances, “2002 MiniGame Compo - download and vote!”, in comp.sys.oric (Usenet):

(video games) A small and simple game, especially an incidental game within a larger video game.


respawn

respawn (third-person singular simple present respawns, present participle respawning, simple past and past participle respawned)

respawns (present singular third-person)
respawning (participle present)
respawned (participle past)
respawned (past)

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(video games, of a collected item, weapon or other pickup, or enemy) To reappear at its spawn point.

weapon or other pickup; or enemy; weapon or other pickup; or enemy

Some top 100 websites are circumventing user deletion of HTTP cookies by respawning them using Flash cookies with identical values, […]

2009 September 17, Pinsent Masons, “Hidden Flash cookies track even opt-out users on web's biggest sites”, in Out-law, retrieved 2014-04-24:

How and why he gets stuck in this constant respawn cycle is a bit unclear, […]

2014 March 25, Angela Watercutter, “Tom Cruise Respawns Into Alien War in New Edge of Tomorrow Trailer”, in Wired, retrieved 2014-04-24:

“Everything in this cult of personality is fragile,” Borkowski said, but added that Musk had proven before that he can “re-spawn” when he encountered difficulties.

2024 April 3, Dan Milmo, quoting Mark Borkowski, “How much is Elon Musk to blame for Tesla sales slip?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(video games, of a character) To re-enter play after being killed, often where the game was last saved.


respawn

The race controller will check for a trigger hit between this player's collider and the start/finish line trigger, but this script has an OnTriggerEnter function to check for triggers used to force a respawn.

2014, Jeff W. Murray, C# Game Programming Cookbook for Unity 3D, page 339:

(video games) The reappearance of an item or enemy; the situation where something is respawned.


gamerscore

en-noun

gamerscore (countable and uncountable, plural gamerscores)

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From the trademark Gamerscore, from gamer + score.

(video games) Points accumulated by earning achievements in Xbox video games.


I started creating 8-bit music around 2002 when I picked up nanoloop[…]

2007, Nick Collins, Julio d'Escriván, The Cambridge companion to electronic music, page 189:

(computing, of a word size, or an integer) Represented using units of 8 bits (1 byte)

Typically far more complex than the songs of the 8-bit games, songs in Amiga games had a highly varied structure, but usually followed the same basic principles seen in the 8-bit games (shorter loops with fewer distinct sections for battle music, and longer loops with more distinct sections for in-game music).

2008 January 1, Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design, MIT Press, →ISBN:

Much of La-Mulanas 8-bit' aesthetic is tied to its self-imposed graphical limitations. To start, the native resolution of 256 × 192 pixels is (as we would expect) much less than that of contemporary standards[…]

2008 November 12, Brett Camper, “Retro Reflexivity: La-Mulana”, in Bernard Perron, Mark J.P. Wolf, editors, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, Routledge, →ISBN:

(computer graphics, music) Originating from or resembling the art or music of the 8-bit computer era.


JRPG

From J- (“Japanese”) + RPG (“role-playing game”).

prefix

role-playing game
role-playing game#English

(video games) Initialism of Japanese role-playing game, a traditional genre of role-playing video game generally understood as involving a pre-determined story and player characters, a party of multiple controllable characters, and an emphasis on narrative and storytelling.


debuff

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From de- + buff (“to make a player or item stronger”).

(roleplaying games, video games) An effect that makes a game character weaker; a negative status effect.


debuff

en-verb

debuff (third-person singular simple present debuffs, present participle debuffing, simple past and past participle debuffed)

debuffs (present singular third-person)
debuffing (participle present)
debuffed (participle past)
debuffed (past)

(roleplaying games, video games) To make a character or unit weaker.


Xbox

From "DirectX box". In use since the announcement of the original Xbox in 2000.

The Xbox or the Arcade Game Box? That's weird. They knocked off the look of the Xbox with the PlayStation controller.

2015 June 24, “Top 10 Chinese Knockoffs of Foreign Products” (00:01:45 from the start), in China Uncensored, spoken by himself (Chris Chappell), New Tang Dynasty Television, via New Tang Dynasty Television:

(video games, trademark) Any of the home consoles in Microsoft's Xbox product line, especially the original Xbox.

Xbox

video game console manufactured and distributed by Microsoft


Xbox

Xbox (third-person singular simple present Xboxes, present participle Xboxing, simple past and past participle Xboxed)

Xboxes (present singular third-person)
Xboxing (participle present)
Xboxed (participle past)
Xboxed (past)

There's a time and a place for mindless activities (we don't need to make them a big deal) but, if done excessively, they don't exactly deliver what they promise. In other words, Xboxing for hours at a time may give you an illusion of rejuvenation but it doesn't truly make you feel rested.

2018, Shelley Aggarwal, Signe Darpinian, Wendy Sterling, No Weigh!: A Teen's Guide to Positive Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 49:

(intransitive, video games, informal) To play a video game using an Xbox home console.


d-pad

(video games) A plus-shaped directional input pad on a video game controller that allows for eight degrees of movement, now largely superseded by the thumbstick.


saved game

(video games) A block of saved data, representing the player's progress in a game, that can be restored at a later time for continued play.


in-engine

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(video games, especially of a cut scene) Rendered in real-time or pre-rendered by the game engine.


playthrough

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(video games) The act, or a recording, of playing a game from start to finish.


savestate

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(computing, video games) A file that contains an emulator's or virtualizer's state at the moment it was saved to disk. The file contains the contents of the memory, registers and other pertinent data that allows the user to resume the application from the moment the file was created.


gold farmer

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(online gaming) A person who plays an online game to resell in-game currency and items for profit outside of the game; one who engages in gold farming.


interactive fiction

en-noun

interactive fiction (countable and uncountable, plural interactive fictions)

(literature, uncountable) Text adventures and their descendants.


battery-backed

akkukäyttöinen

electronics: using a battery to maintain something

using a rechargeable battery to maintain operation

paristokäyttöinen

using a non-rechargeable battery to maintain operation

akkumuistia käyttävä

using a rechargeable battery to maintain storage

paristomuistia käyttävä

using a non-rechargeable battery to maintain storage

(video games, of saved game data) Written to a volatile memory chip in a video game cartridge to maintain the data when not in use.


gold farming

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The gold farming industry turns one man's play into another's work, but most gaming workers see a clear difference between work and play.

2007 October 23, Ge Jin, “Chinese Gold Farmers: Immigrant Workers in the Game Land”, in Friedrich Von Borries, Steffen Peter Walz, Matthias Böttger, editors, Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level, Birkhäuser Basel, page 463:

While some companies seem largely indifferent to gold farming, others see gold farmers as unfairly extracting value from property that they do not own. Gold farming is often described as a parasitic business practice that undermines the stability of virtual economics.

2010 October 26, Greg Lastowka, Virtual Justice: The New Laws of Online Worlds, Yale University Press, →ISBN, →OL:

You heard of gold farming? Selling multiplayer online game currency for real cash?

2012 November 15, “Critical”, in Person of Interest, season 2, episode 7, spoken by Leon Tao (Ken Leung):

massively multiplayer online games
massively multiplayer online games

(online gaming) The business of farming/grinding for in-game currency (gold in many games) and items in massively multiplayer online games for for-profit resale outside of the game.

打钱 打錢

farming/grinding for in-game currency for for-profit resale outside of the game


quick time event

quick time event (plural quick time events)

Introduced by the Japanese 1999 action-adventure video game Shenmue.

(video games) An interactive cut scene-like sequence in a video game where the player has a limited time in which to push a button, or sequence of buttons, displayed on screen.


spawn point

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(video games) A location on a game map in which a player, bot or item spawns.


TV game

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(video games) An early type of video game, the predecessor of modern games consoles, consisting of a unit with a built-in controller that plugged into a television set.


pay-to-play

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As the lawsuit claims, we’re being programmed to constantly seek a dopamine hit from each swipe in what it calls a “pay-to-play” loop.

2024 March 14, Georgina Lawton, “I’m not surprised people are suing a dating app company – our addiction to swiping makes us miserable”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(video games, of an online game) Requiring payment from the player.


sidescrolling

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Another sequel, Pac-Land, transported the adventurous wedge into a sidescrolling world where he had to navigate a series of platforms and obstacles.

2008, Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Jonas Heide Smith, Susana Pajares Tosca, Understanding video games: the essential introduction, page 63:

(video games) That scrolls horizontally.


aimbot

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For the British, in the first confrontation, [a range-clock system] probably would've been somewhat useful - especially if Iron Duke was giving the ranges, considering that thing seemed to have an aimbot installed - but it would've maybe only marginally improved things for the British, I think.

2021 May 2, Drachinifel, 3:58:12 from the start, in The Drydock - Episode 144, archived from the original on 2022-09-26:

(video games) A program or patch that allows the player to cheat by having the character's weapon aimed automatically.


aimbot

en-verb

aimbot (third-person singular simple present aimbots, present participle aimbotting, simple past and past participle aimbotted)

aimbots (present singular third-person)
aimbotting (participle present)
aimbotted (participle past)
aimbotted (past)

(video games) To cheat in a video game using an aimbot.


cooldown

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I had to wait for the cooldown to finish before recasting the spell.

Private Terminal: After using a power, you must wait for it to recharge before using it again.
Private Terminal: This is called the cooldown period. When a power is in cooldown, its icon is gray. A red icon indicates that the power cannot affect the current target.

2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tactical Mastery: Advanced Power Use:

(video games) The minimum length of time that the player needs to wait after using an ability or item before it can be used again.

(by extension) A particular ability with a powerful effect but long cooldown period, making it important to track when it was last used and when it can be used again.


fire button

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You launch him into the air with a quick press on the fire button, trying to pass over bombs as you fly.

1986, Rachael Smith, Bomb Jack (video game review in Your Sinclair issue 5, May 1986)

(video games) A button on a joystick or joypad that corresponds to the action of firing a weapon, but often represents other in-game actions.


autofire

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You start off with just seven clips of ammo and five grenades — so all you autofire merchants are in trouble. Only real soldiers, with an accurate eye and careful trigger finger need apply here.

1988, Operation Wolf (review), Crash issue 59 (December 1988)

High-speed autofire and a choice of two joystick sizes are featured.

1989 October, Popular Mechanics, volume 166, number 10:

Also the crappy joystick, the SJS1, is useless. It's as stiff as a Skoda's steering and there's no autofire on it. I can't help thinking that I made the worst investment of my life by buying this computer.

1990 March, Letters: Your Sinclair, number 51:

(video games) A feature on a joystick or gamepad that permits automatic firing, as though the player were repeatedly pressing the fire button.


autofire

autofire (third-person singular simple present autofires, present participle autofiring, simple past and past participle autofired)

autofires (present singular third-person)
autofiring (participle present)
autofired (participle past)
autofired (past)

(video games, weaponry) To fire automatically.


bad ending

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(video games) An ending that occurs when the player finishes the video game but is not completely successful for some reason, as opposed to a good ending.


good ending

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(video games) An ending that occurs when the player finishes a video game and is completely successful, as opposed to a bad ending.


powerup

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(video games) Alternative spelling of power-up


pixel art

What can I say about pixel art other than that the designers who create it have way too much time on their hands? All joking aside, pixel art has taken on a life of its own in recent years.

2005, Matt Kloskowski, Extreme Photoshop CS, page 132:

The Pencil tool is useful when you want to control exactly how a pixel changes. For example, pixel art is often done using the Pencil tool with a brush size of 1 pixel […]

2013, Olivier Lecarme, Karine Delvare, The Book of GIMP: A Complete Guide to Nearly Everything, page 69:

(computer graphics) A style of digital art drawn at the pixel level, sometimes having the pixels enlarged for a retro appearance.


party game

Mario games range from strict arcade games to racing games, party games, and complex 3D action-adventures.

2009, Rusel Demaria, Reset: Changing the Way We Look at Video Games, page 373:

(video games) A multiplayer game, usually consisting of a series of short minigames, that can be easily played in a social setting.


casual game

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(video games) A video game targeting casual, irregular gamers, typically having few rules to learn and a low initial level of difficulty.


Sokoban

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Borrowed from Japanese 倉庫番 (sōkoban, “warehouseman”).

bor+

These so-called deadlock states are largely responsible for the failure of our attempts to solve positions in the game of Sokoban.

1998, Robert Mercer, Eric Neufeld, Advances in Artificial Intelligence:

The sokoban problem encodes a small instance of a well known computer game, where a single stone must be pushed to its goal position.

2000, Zbigniew W Ras, Setsuo Ohsuga, editors, Foundations of Intelligent Systems:

Sokoban exhibits a large number of difficult search-space properties.

2002, Jonathan Schaeffer, H. J. Van Den Herik, Chips Challenging Champions, page 30:

(video games) A computer puzzle game, devised in 1980 and frequently reimplemented, in which the player must push boxes to designated locations under a set of movement constraints.


unlockable

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But usually when people refer to the metagame, they mean things such as unlockables or customizable features.

2012, Keith Burgun, Game Design Theory: A New Philosophy for Understanding Games, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 98:

(video games) An initially hidden feature that is made available to reward the player for some achievement.


I-frame

invincibility frame
invincibility frame#English

(video games, speedrunning) Abbreviation of invincibility frame.


flip-screen

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Learic and Leanoric concoct their spells by travelling round the flip-screen landscape, collecting rare herbs and roots from the countryside.

1987, Feud (review in Crash magazine issue 38)

Yes, that's right, you've correctly deduced from the plot that what we're talking about here is a flip-screen adventure, each screen presenting you with a few baddies to beat up and one or two problems to solve before you can progress onto the next one.

1990, Hammerfist (review in Your Sinclair magazine issue 54)

So, your masterpiece is going to have to be either a straightforward (upward?) vertically scrolling blast (with a choice of fast or faster still but both supremely smooth), a single flip-screen affair or a 'push-scrolling' jobbie where the screen scrolls in accordance with the main sprite.

1992, Ian Osborne, Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit (review in Zzap! magazine issue 84)

(video games) Not scrolling, but composed of linked screens between which the player can travel.


sourcebook

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That sourcebook is aimed at players of fighters, rogues, rangers, and warlords, and by design you're not going to find much in that book to appeal to other characters.

2008, James Wyatt, Bill Slavicsek, Richard Baker, Dungeon Master 4th Edition For Dummies, page 156:

(video games) A publication intended to supplement the core materials of a roleplaying game.


bullet time

First used with reference to the 1999 film The Matrix, and later to the slow-motion effects in the 2001 video game Max Payne.

...particularly in the use of the bullet-time technique...

2006, Dani Cavallaro, The Cinema of Mamoru Oshii: Fantasy, Technology and Politics:

(film, video games) A visual effect in which the camera pans around a slowed-down object, such as a flying bullet.

(video games) A mode in which gameplay slows down to allow the player to observe and maneuver around bullets or other fast moving objects.


attract mode

(video games) A demonstration mode intended to attract potential players to an arcade game.


spawner

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[…] at this point, there are enemy birds that fly out of the pipe and attack the player's avatar. The pipes themselves are "enemy spawners" […]

2006, Alice J. Robison, Inventing fun: videogame design as a writing process, page 77:

(video games) An object in a simulated game world that spawns further objects.


gameboard

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The Mario games extended the gameboard with side scrolling […]

2011, Janet H. Murray, Inventing the Medium: Principles of Interaction Design as a Cultural Practice:


shmup

Highlights include the great-looking shmup Judgement Silversword.

Galaga was probably the most influential of all of these because it added bonus levels and the power-up, a concept that has become standard in every shmup.

2005, Raph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design:


run-and-gun

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Play switches from an overhead run and gun to a platform jumping shooter in this mediocre game.

2002, Andy Slaven, Video Game Bible, 1985-2002:

What makes a horror game different to write than, say, a run-and-gun first-person shooter?

(video games) Of a player's character, that runs on foot and uses a projectile weapon.


pixel-perfect

en-adj

pixel-perfect (comparative more pixel-perfect, superlative most pixel-perfect)

more pixel-perfect (comparative)
most pixel-perfect (superlative)

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It was the first (and, indeed, practically the only one to this day) to have an animated loading screen, the first to have pixel-perfect collision detection […]

1991, Stuart Campbell, “The YS Official Top 100 Part 1”, in Your Sinclair:

Manual pixel-perfect collision-detection routines can be difficult to create and processor-intensive to run.

2003, Colin Moock, ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide:

(video games, design) Involving precision at the pixel level.

(computing, design) Having precise dimension ratios in all aspects on well-defined drawing glyphs.


high score

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There's a fine bit of strategy involved in maximising your points — and if ever there was a high score freak's dream, this is it!

1986, Rachael Smith, Bomb Jack (review in Your Sinclair magazine)

To make the game more interesting, let's create a personal score display that matches the global high score display.

2002, Jesse Jacobson, Flash and XML: A Developer's Guide:

(video games) A score that is the highest or among the highest for a particular game, often recorded in a high-score table.


high-score table

en-noun

high-score table (plural high-score tables)

(video games) A list of high scores presented in tabular format.

edetabel

a list of high scores presented in tabular format


postgame

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postgame credits

(video games) Occurring after the main storyline of the game.


videophile

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We appreciate the response we have received from videophiles of the world who have made our games so popular.

Atari advertisement, early 1980s, quoted in 2010, Steven Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (page 280)


KOS

(video games) Initialism of kill on sight: used in addition to a target player's username to alert teammates of a suspicious player that should be killed when seen.


playfield

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The game has a tilt feature — tilt Fireball and a tilt sign glows and the scoring stops. The full-sized, full-color commercial playfield even has a special friction silk-screened surface so the ball will roll and not slide.

In this case, the playfield is more disorienting and feels more like the maze that it is.

2007, Friedrich von Borries, et al: Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism:

The area within which a game (especially a video game) is played.


platforming

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This game has a lot of platforming, as well as the occasional puzzle.

(video games) The video game activity of jumping from one platform to another.


teamer

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(video games) A player who teams with other players, often in an FFA match.


gosu

Borrowed from Korean 고수(高手) (gosu), literally "high hand". In English, the term is often used as an adjective in contrast to the original use as a noun.

of course it is possible to become that good, but have u ever played a gosu? thats really krass. i would not say he is the best. there r many as good as him and it will become more n more difficult to become a good starcraft player.

2000 March 12, Yasser Jadidi, “Win money with SC, someone does”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

it's not too late to start playing it and become a gosu before your friends.

2002 February 25, )(av.-.)3onl), “How common are hackers on B.net?”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

I need 50 000 Euros for that project, if one of the gosus here made enough bucks with bw to gimme some, reply to sender :o)

2002 April 22, )(av.-.)3onl), “This guy is trying to steal my mates wife. 2040”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

the guy you play is a gosu and like you so he let you play and have fuin^([sic]) before killing you, but you're damn too slow

2002 May 20, Xav)3onl), “best stratagy to defeat protoss??”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

But I've never considered myself as a gosu out of my LAN, where I r0x each and every n00b friends I have.

2002 July 1, )(av)3onl), “June stats”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

I am not trying to make a fanclub or fame for myself. Some gosus seem to play solely for these purposes, I, you see, get kicks from pissing them off.

2003 March 20, Clark Kent, “Just won with hide the farm....”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet):

But that bliss came to an end, I really enjoyed playing that way mostly because it did piss so many "wanna-be-gosus".

2004 August 23, assaarpa, “How be noob in RT”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet):

I was playing alongside gosu‘s like KaJ, Zeus, Kiko and the successful FuRy/LaWn 2v2 team.

2010, Manuel Schenkhuizen, “Grubby - My First Tournament”, in Julia Christophers, Tobias Scholz, editors, eSports Yearbook 2009, Norderstedt: Books on Demand, →ISBN, page 115:

(rare) A person of great skill; master; expert.


gosu

Like I said, winning against a newbie doesn't makes^([sic]) you gosu.

2002 January 30, Steven Ung, “[OT] Macintosh vs. Windows”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

Yeah, you're too gosu for me, be it WarCraft or StarCraft. Me = Nuubie.

2002 February 27, Steven Ung, “WarCraft III Beta”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

Alternatively you can hold down F4 for the entire game with your vestigial human tailbone and the same thing will occur. This is much harder to do because the vestigial human tailbone isn't very long and humans haven't needed it in, oh, seven million years. The most gosu players can do this while playing a 1v7c game, having cybersex with six girls on AIM, *and* getting it on with their two girlfriends in realtime while playing pingpong against the entire Chinese pingpong team.

2002 April 17, Majin Kai, “Is there any way to get past the 200 units limit?”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

It's comparable to a bunch of gosu Korean players beating you into the ground in two minutes with an SCV rush.

2002 April 18, Majin Kai, “Is there any way to get past the 200 units limit?”, in alt.games.starcraft (Usenet):

Towers were "too strong" at first, gosu players whined about n00bs who built them.


magic circle

(video games) The imagined space, separate from the real world, in which players in a virtual reality system experience immersion.


lagger

(video games, informal) A player who lags (has a poor or slow network connection).


moddable

en-adj

moddable (comparative more moddable, superlative most moddable)

more moddable (comparative)
most moddable (superlative)

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This utility can easily open the compressed game files that were installed with the game so that you can gain access to all the moddable game files […]

2006, Erik Guilfoyle, Half-Life 2 Mods for Dummies:

To make things even more confusing, Garry's Mod is a "moddable" mod, meaning that users create modifications that plug into Garry's Mod itself.

Strip off that veneer and a whole world comes into view, one that's eminently hackable, moddable, tweakable, customizable, and personalizable.

2009, Paul McFedries, Tweak It and Freak It: A Killer Guide to Making Windows Run Your Way:

(video games) That can be modded (modified by the end user).


counterplay

en-noun

counterplay (countable and uncountable, plural counterplays)

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Near-synonyms: griefing, playing off meta — colloquial

(video games, sociology, literary) A subversive style of gameplay in which a player attempts to overturn the usual rules and conventions of the game.


fetch quest

(roleplaying games, video games, often derogatory) An in-game quest (mission) in which an object or objects must be acquired and brought back to the quest-giver or given to some other designated party.


dungeon crawler

dungeon crawler (plural dungeon crawlers)

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(roleplaying games, chiefly video games) A game oriented around exploring and fighting in especially elaborate virtual dungeons.


game engine

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(video games) A video game's software engine, which executes the core functionality of the game. It may also include the graphics engine.


corpse camp

en-verb

corpse camp (third-person singular simple present corpse camps, present participle corpse camping, simple past and past participle corpse camped)

corpse camps (present singular third-person)
corpse camping (participle present)
corpse camped (participle past)
corpse camped (past)

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You're only corpse camping if your^([sic]) standing there waiting to attack again when they come for what's left of their gear.

1999 July 21, "malvolin", “Re: The Cry Babies of PvP Server”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

The whole reason to "corpse camp" is to wait until the dead character comes back and loots his corpse, so you can kill him again and get another item off his body, right?

2000 March 1, "D. J. McCarthy", “Re: GM Negligence on Karana!”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

When you die in battle, you are reborn as a "ghost" in a graveyard and must return to your dead corpse to resurrect. Many players, after successfully killing your character, actually *wait by your corpse* so that when you resurrect (wounded), they can easily kill you again, and again, and again. This is called "corpse camping".

2006 April 6, "mikeh106@hotmail.com", “Re: Gaming.”, in alt.support.autism (Usenet):

(online gaming) To wait by a player's corpse to target them when they respawn, or when, after respawning elsewhere, they return to reclaim their equipment back from their corpse.


hub world

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From hub, meaning the central point or are of an activity, region, or network.

Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64 is an early example of a hub world.

First of all, the game is split into discrete levels joined by a hub world.

2009, Game Informer Magazine: For Video Game Enthusiasts, page 62:

The loot system is as constant and unyielding as the endlessly respawning enemies: it's an obsessive's nirvana, leading to as much time navigating the inventory screen as the game's hub world and dungeons.

2010, EZ Guides: The Games of the Decade:

Souls, which function as both currency and experience points, are slowly collected as the player works through a stage, and can only be spent at Nexus, the hub world that players are transported to between stages.

2014, Tobias Winnerling, Early Modernity and Video Games, page 206:

(video games) An area in a video game from which most or all of the game's levels are accessed.


PVP

(video games) Alternative letter-case form of PvP.


red ring

red ring (third-person singular simple present red rings, present participle red ringing, simple past and past participle red ringed)

red rings (present singular third-person)
red ringing (participle present)
red ringed (participle past)
red ringed (past)

My 360 red ringed and I had to ship it to Texas to get it fixed.

(video games, of an Xbox 360 games console) To suffer a general hardware fault, the red ring of death.


Marioesque

en-adj

Marioesque (comparative more Marioesque, superlative most Marioesque)

more Marioesque (comparative)
most Marioesque (superlative)

Or the clever blend of puzzles and hair raisingly, chilling battles in the kitchen of the conway estate with undead chefs whipping meat cleavers at me, while I mow em down with my shotgun in Killing time, or The Marioesque approach to a 3-d shooter's paradise that is bladeforce, lotsa secrets, but lotsa stuff to destroy!!!

1995, Emeka B. Okwuje, “Survey: How many of you are thinking about getting a 3DO”, in rec.games.video.sony (Usenet):

Yes, it's becoming possible to do so, but the same can really be said of plenty of genres, including Mario-esque action games.

1999, Frioniel, “My Thoughts on Final Fantasy's Genre -- Narrative Games???”, in alt.games.final-fantasy (Usenet):

It was a platformer type game. I do not think in ^([sic]) was pengo, but more of a marioesque type platformer.

2000, Wade E. Solowoniuk, “name that game”, in alt.games.mame (Usenet):

I wasn't aware that MDK2 was a Marioesque platformer...

2000, Joe Ottoson, “Rayman 2 - WOW!”, in rec.games.video.sega (Usenet):

(video games) Resembling the character Mario or the games in which he appears, typified by bright, cheerful environments, platform obstacles, and often the rescue of a princess from a monster.


mouselook

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The mouselook is easy to code once you understand how a mouse operates. All we have to do is use the keys to change our position, and use the mouse to reorient our viewpoint.

2003, Daniel Sanchez-Crespo Dalmau, Core techniques and algorithms in game programming:

However, some people find the mouselook or first-person view to be far more convenient when moving around.

2006, Michael Rymaszewski, et al: Second Life: The Official Guide:

A vehicle can be made to not turn in a given direction in response to mouselook[…]

2007, Aimee Weber, Kimberly Rufer-Bach, Richard Platel, Creating Your World:

(video games) A feature that allows the player to adjust the view of a three-dimensional playfield by moving the mouse, analogous to turning one's head in reality.


mana point

(fantasy roleplaying games board games video games) magic point.


hack-and-slash

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(roleplaying games, video games, informal) Having a focus on violent combat rather than strategy.

"Oh yes, I meant it as a compliment." Olin tapped the books. "I expect to finish these... but for the writing. It's the writing I like. I was surprised to find myself laughing at your quite unsupernatural adventures in Gartsby Castle, and I was surprised to find you as good as you are. As subtle as you are. I expected more hack and slash."

(literature) Shallowly devoted to the gory details.


balance board

(video games) A device that measures the centre of balance of a player standing on it, used to provide motion input to sport-themed games etc.


RCT

RollerCoaster Tycoon
w:RollerCoaster Tycoon

(video games) Initialism of RollerCoaster Tycoon.


microgame

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(video games) A very small minigame, typically lasting for only a few seconds.


Pokéfan

This is fantastic... I've never met so many Pokéfans, and I've never seen so many Pikachu rucksacks around.

2000 November 12, Cliff Barnes, “My Whitby Diary”, in uk.people.gothic (Usenet):

When die-hard Pokéfans outside Japan discovered that portions of the original narrative were being withheld, they flocked to online chatrooms dedicated to the series, where they complained bitterly about censorship and debated various forms of protest.

2004, Hirofumi Katsuno, Jeffrey Meret, “Localizing the Pokémon TV Series for the American Market”, in Joseph Tobin, editor, Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon, Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 81:

Few of even the most hard-core Pokéfans will ever have tried this, so just pulling together a copy of Pokémon XD for GameCube and two GameCube-Game Boy cables can deliver a play experience that they've never had before.

2007, Eli Neiburger, Gamers…in the Library?!: The Why, What, and How of Videogame Tournaments for All Ages, American Library Association, published 2007, →ISBN, page 71:


botted

botted (comparative more botted, superlative most botted)

more botted (comparative)
most botted (superlative)

a botted lobby

(video games, slang, of a game) Full of unskilled players.


status effect

(video games, chiefly roleplaying games) An effect that modifies a character's status, either positively (e.g. strength increase) or negatively (e.g. poisoning).


nutshot

en-verb

nutshot (third-person singular simple present nutshots, present participle nutshotting, simple past and past participle nutshot)

nutshots (present singular third-person)
nutshotting (participle present)
nutshot (participle past)
nutshot (past)

(slang, video games) Especially, to shoot (a player) in the groin, especially the testicles.


no-life

no-life (third-person singular simple present no-lifes, present participle no-lifing, simple past and past participle no-lifed)

no-lifes (present singular third-person)
no-lifing (participle present)
no-lifed (participle past)
no-lifed (past)

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(transitive, video games) To spend most or all one's time on.


DLC

en-noun

DLC (countable and uncountable, plural DLCs)

The Batmobile, the heavily armored vehicle driven by Batman, is available as a paid DLC for Rocket Leaguers.

2022 March 5, Diana Coker, “The Batman Drives the Batmobile to Rocket League”, in Technowize, archived from the original on 2022-05-18:

Destiny 2 DLCs offer plenty of content for Guardians to play. Each DLC features a brand new story, new raids, and lots of activities to partake in. Additionally, the main story is connected across every DLC in conjunction with smaller seasonal stories, and as of The Final Shape, episodes too.

2024 September 9, Kijanna Henry, “All Destiny 2 DLC expansions: Vaulted content & The Final Shape”, in Dexerto:

(video games) Initialism of downloadable content: additional content for a video game, delivered by online distribution.


capture the flag

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(video games) A computer game with similar rules, usually in first-person shooter format.


advergame

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Some advertisers have taken casual gaming a step further, creating their own casual games — sometimes called advergames — and posting them on their Web sites.

2007 January 24, Louise Story, “More Marketers Are Grabbing the Attention of Players During Online Games”, in New York Times:

(informal) A computer game published by an advertiser in order to promote a product or service.


unblockable

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(video games) An attacking move that cannot be blocked by an opposing fighter.


circle-strafe

en-verb

circle-strafe (third-person singular simple present circle-strafes, present participle circle-strafing, simple past and past participle circle-strafed)

circle-strafes (present singular third-person)
circle-strafing (participle present)
circle-strafed (participle past)
circle-strafed (past)

(intransitive, video games) To move around a target in circular fashion while facing it, in order to avoid counterattacks while attacking at close range.


LMS

en-noun

LMS (countable and uncountable, plural LMSs)

last man standing
last man standing#English

(video games) Initialism of last man standing.


DAO

Dragon Age: Origins
w:Dragon Age: Origins

(fandom slang) Initialism of Dragon Age: Origins.


casual gaming

(video games) The playing of casual games.


expansion pack

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(video games, by extension) An add-on for a video game that includes additional content and is typically sold separately.


player versus player

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(video games, roleplaying games) A form of multiplayer interaction in which human players compete against each other.


Although discs-in-boxes games didn't care if their apples made you barf, F2P has necessitated a way of dealing with the problem by using sessioning.

2013, Will Luton, Free-to-Play: Making Money From Games You Give Away, New Riders, →ISBN, page 40:

(video games) Abbreviation of free-to-play.


TAS

(video games, speedrunning) Initialism of tool-assisted speedrun.

(video games) Initialism of tool-assisted superplay.


TAS

en-verb

TAS (third-person singular simple present TASes, present participle TASing, simple past and past participle TASed)

TASes (present singular third-person)
TASing (participle present)
TASed (participle past)
TASed (past)

(video games) To create or contribute to a tool-assisted speedrun or superplay.


Habbo

(Internet, video games) A member of the social networking website Habbo.


aftertouch

en-noun

aftertouch (countable and uncountable, plural aftertouches)

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KO2 ruins every other football game you'll ever play; I never got good at SWOS - the controls were all wrong. And the aftertouch was stupid. And the computer keepers were always hopeless on free kicks.

1997, Mark Howson, “Kick Off 2: Best Amiga Game Of all time!”, in comp.sys.amiga.games (Usenet):

(video games) A feature in football/soccer games allowing the player to swerve the ball immediately after kicking it.


MMR

MMR (countable and uncountable, plural MMRs)

(countable, video games) Initialism of matchmaking rating, used in matching players for games.


zorkmid

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Yes, the zorkmid is still the official medium of exchange, and this realm supposedly was founded by a relative of Dimwit Flathead III […]

1984, Softalk for the IBM personal computer:

Nethack (www.nethack.org), which is not IF but does use the zorkmid as its currency, has a one zorkmid coin. It is simply described as "a gold piece".

2003, Robin Johnson, “One Zorkmid desc?”, in rec.games.int-fiction (Usenet):

After the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the Eastern European nation of Ukraine adopted the Zorkmid as its national currency.

(video games) A fictional unit of currency used in various computer games.


feelie

From feel + -ie. In the video game sense, introduced by the game publisher Infocom in the 1980s.

The company also gained fame for its inclusion of “feelies,” small tangible items directly related to the game. The feelies for Infocom's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984), for example, included papers representing “Destruction Orders for Your Home and Planet,” an empty bag representing “Microscopic Space Fleet,” and a “Don't Panic” button, among other items.

2017, Andrew Williams, History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction, CRC Press, →ISBN:

(video games) An additional physical item packaged with a game (usually interactive fiction) to immerse the player in the game world and provide hints to solving the game.


Wiimote

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Blend of Wii + remote. Not a trademark, but a nickname for the product.

[…] co-ordinated combinations of button presses and feedback loops of rumbling joypads, Wiimotes and styli.

2008, James Newman, Playing with videogames:

Finally it can be used in parallel with other Wiimotes in order to provide more motion data or even be expanded with other devices […]

2009, Ernesto Damiani, Jechang Jeong, Robert J Howlett, Lakhmi C Jain, New Directions in Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services:

The Wiimote provides sensing of acceleration on three axes, as well as an optical sensor that is used in conjunction with a stationary Sensor Bar […]

2009, Alan Craig, William R Sherman, Jeffrey D Will, Developing Virtual Reality Applications: Foundations of Effective Design:

(video games, informal) The Wii Remote, the primary controller for the Nintendo Wii game console, noted for its motion-sensing capabilities.

Astrid Ensslin
Palgrave Macmillan
Wiimote


special move

The fighters move around nicely but when they carry out their special moves it occasionally gets rather confusing. You have the usual kick, thump, jump and duck moves plus others depending on whether you're playing Haggar, Guy or Cody.

1991, James Leach, Final Fight (game review in Your Sinclair issue 70)

(video games) An exceptionally powerful fighting move.


dance pad

(video games) A plastic or metal pad used for playing dance games. The player provides input to the game by stepping on and off various panels on the pad.


gameworld

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As an “all-female” humanoid species not bound to the traditional forms of mating, in that they reproduce through a form of telepathic parthenogenesis, the design of the Asari collapses boundaries of sex and sexuality. The Asari are a species rendered as Other, even in comparison to the various beings populating the gameworld. Characters recognize and struggle against prejudice and limited understanding of Asari customs, culture, and practices. These gameworld features allow for a space where awareness and exploration of sexualities outside of the heterosexual binary can take place.

2015, Summer Glassie, “"Embraced eternity lately?": Mislabeling and subversion of sexuality labels through the Asari in the Mass Effect trilogy”, in Matthew Wysocki, Evan W. Lauteria, editors, Rated M for Mature: Sex and Sexuality in Video Games (Media Studes / Game Studies), Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 162:

(roleplaying games, video games) The fictional universe of a game.


Codies

Five power-packed pages of game thrills - more than ever before! On the Powertape: Astroclone (Hewson)! Sea Battles (Atlantis!). Skull & Crossbones demo (Tengen)! On The Run (Design Design)! Soccer Cup Quizmaster (Powertape)! and Pokemania! Plus (gasp!) on your Codies tape: Phantomas, Dizzy, BMX Simulator and Fruit Machine Simulator! Blimey!

1989 June, “Contents”, in Crash, number 89, published 1991:

The Codies seem to take great delight in mistreating their little pet egg, Dizzy. He's been thumped, kicked, bashed, scrambled and dropped in his games so far. Now the cruel so and sos want to drown him.

1992, James Leach, Bubble Dizzy (game review in Your Sinclair magazine issue 74, February 1992)

Well, obviously it was since they're ^([sic]) now got an interview with a codies rep, however, suggesting a May release.

2002, Rod Prince, “Adelaide Clipsal 500 and Codemasters”, in rec.autos.simulators (Usenet):

(informal, video games) The video game development company Codemasters (formerly Code Masters).


extinctionism

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(video games) The additional challenge, in playing a roguelike game, of killing all creatures to extinction.


extinctionist

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What an Extinctionist tries to do is completely eliminate as many kinds of monsters from the game as possible, either through genocide if it's available, or from just depleting all the kinds of monsters that can be produced.

2020, John Harris, Exploring Roguelike Games, CRC Press, →ISBN:

(video games) A player who plays a roguelike game with the additional challenge of killing all creatures to extinction.


IG

(video games, slang) Abbreviation of in-game.


microtransaction

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Microtransactions have created controversy among video game fans. Some people believe that games with microtransactions can be addictive. Players keep buying new items. Little by little, the charges add up.

2020, Josh Gregory, Apex Legends: Microtransactions, Cherry Lake, →ISBN, page 6:

The problem with consumers is that they are often quick to label any microtransaction as P2W, which muddies the discussion of ethical game design.

2022, Joshua Bycer, Game Design Deep Dive: Free-to-Play, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 5:

(economics, video games) A transaction for a very small amount of money (a micropayment).


modchip

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Installing a new hard drive would require a modchip that can reprogram or bypass the hard drive lock.

2003, Andrew Huang, Hacking the Xbox: an introduction to reverse engineering:

The goal of this hack is to install a modchip into your Xbox.

2004, Joe Grand, Frank Thornton, Albert Yarusso, Game console hacking: have fun while voiding your warranty:

Sony argued that the access code reader was a 'technological protection measure' and that the 'modchip' was a 'circumvention device'.

2006, Dennis Campbell, The Internet: Laws and Regulatory Regimes:

A computer chip or similar hardware device used to modify the behaviour of a games console.


sandbox game

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This was the ultimate sandbox game. By providing a simple, yet rich simulation, it gave the user the tools with which to create his own fun.

2004, Tracy Fullerton, Christopher Swain, Steven Hoffman, Game design workshop: designing, prototyping, and playtesting games:

In contrast, a sandbox game such as Civilization operates more like a hobby […]

2007, Katie Salen, The ecology of games: connecting youth, games, and learning:

[…] the sequel to the military-themed sandbox game known as Mercenaries […]

(video games, roleplaying games) A game with no linear storyline or specific goal, the player deriving amusement from a range of open-ended interactions or situations.


respec

en-verb

respec (third-person singular simple present respecs, present participle respeccing, simple past and past participle respecced)

respecs (present singular third-person)
respeccing (participle present)
respecced (participle past)
respecced (past)

Last night I paid 5 gold to the trainer to respec as a shadow priest.

(video games, slang) To reallocate the distribution of skill points on a character's skill tree, changing their specialization.


wallhacker

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(video games) A player who uses wallhacks.


wallhacking

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wallhack

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He was so good, I figured I could learn something by watching it. I couldn't understand why I couldn't get anything at all from the demo, until I discovered he was using the wallhack.

2002 July 28, Hedgehog, “Cheating bastard - was Re: Wallhack”, in alt.games.quake3 (Usenet), message-ID <3D44478B.DA7AB89@KIspamLLpernc.com>:

Wallhacks expose everyone on a map so cheaters get a huge advantage of knowing when you’re about to push a point or turn a corner.

2020 May 6, Tom Warren, “The world’s biggest PC games are fighting a new surge of cheaters and hackers”, in The Verge:

(video games) A patch enabling a player to cheat by modifying the properties of walls, as by making them transparent or nonsolid.


wallhack

wallhack (third-person singular simple present wallhacks, present participle wallhacking, simple past and past participle wallhacked)

wallhacks (present singular third-person)
wallhacking (participle present)
wallhacked (participle past)
wallhacked (past)

im like damn this guy is good.. then the next round... I noticed he wallhacked me... started shooting me before he came around and I was silent walking...

2002 March 18, Marcus Leach, “MafiaTech - Why must they cheat? (funny story and video)”, in alt.games.half-life.counterstrike (Usenet), message-ID <1tzl8.39041$Q9.9349739@twister.kc.rr.com>:

Got wallhacked in PVP (first world problem)
Oh no, HD-DVD (first world problem)

2010 April 6, “First World Problem”, in MC Frontalot (music), Zero Day:


speedrunner

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(video games) A player who performs speedruns.


double jump

double jump (third-person singular simple present double jumps, present participle double jumping, simple past and past participle double jumped)

double jumps (present singular third-person)
double jumping (participle present)
double jumped (participle past)
double jumped (past)

The rocket pack upgrade lets you double jump.

(video games) To execute a second jump while still in midair from the first jump.


double jump

A well-timed double jump will let you skip this obstacle entirely.

(video games) A second jump executed while still in midair from the first jump.


fighting game

(video games) A video game of a type based around interpersonal combat, often in a tournament setting, in which characters fight until their HP is depleted or the round timer expires.


palette swap

palette swap (third-person singular simple present palette swaps, present participle palette swapping, simple past and past participle palette swapped)

palette swaps (present singular third-person)
palette swapping (participle present)
palette swapped (participle past)
palette swapped (past)

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While there's a decent variety of enemy types in the game, those same enemies also tend to get palette swapped as the game progresses.

(computer graphics, video games) To change the color palette used to render a palettized image.


palette swap

Nintendo's Luigi character started out as a palette swap of Mario.

(computer graphics, video games) An image that is the same as another but rendered with a different colour palette.


subgame

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There was a subgame that was very well-recieved ^([sic]) in the previous Paper Mario RPG [Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door], where you would play through this side-scrolling stage as a gigantic Bowser.

2007, Nintendo Power, volumes 214-216, page 78:

(video games) A minor or incidental game within a larger video game; a minigame.


booter

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To allow full use of the system's limited resources and prevent users from making pirated copies of the game, the first version of Microsoft Flight Simulator was a booter, rather than being run from within DOS.

(computing, video games) A game that is launched by booting directly from the floppy disk containing the game program, rather than starting the program from within the computer's standardized operating system.

The floppy disk used to launch a game in such a manner.


WF

(video games) Initialism of Weapons Factory.


Tetris effect

From Tetris + effect, since players of the video game may find themselves thinking about fitting shapes together in the real world. The earliest known use of the term is in Jeffrey Goldsmith's article "This is Your Brain on Tetris", published in Wired in May 1994.

The effect of seeing hallucinatory images of a repetitive activity done earlier.


rekt

Get rekt!

M8, u just got rekt bru, lol

Although investors who entered the market in 2018 got “rekt,” those who invested a year earlier experienced astounding gains.

2019, Mark Grabowski, Cryptocurrencies: A Primer on Digital Money, Routledge, →ISBN, page 40:

(Internet slang, video games) Nonstandard spelling of wrecked.


strat

With Tiny, it is good as a surprise strat. If another team doesn't realize where he fits into the whole lineup, then you can really throw the opposition off balance.

2014 March 19, Free to Play (Film), Toby Dawson (actor):

(video games, slang) Clipping of strategy.


multicart

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I have a Vectrex in great working shape along with a multicart that contains every game for the Vectrex except a couple of the lightpen games.

2001, Spud, “FS/FT: Vectrex & Multicart!”, in van.forsale (Usenet):

[…] many of my friends also had their first on-hand experience of the game with this version, or via one of the numerous Famicom multicarts that inundated the black market […]

2014, Rob Strangman, Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman, page 221:

(video games) A cartridge containing several separate games.


scummer

(video games, derogatory) One who engages in scumming.


fangame

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(fandom slang) A video game created unofficially by fans of an existing game, and based on it.


automap

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(video games) A partial map that is automatically updated with new areas as the player discovers them.


step chart

(video games) A sequence of steps to be performed in a dance game.


gameland

en-noun

gameland (countable and uncountable, plural gamelands)

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To Keith and everyone at the Coriolis Group who took part in this project, and to everyone out there in gameland, I extend my heartfelt appreciation...

1995, Lary L. Myers, Keith Weiskamp, Amazing 3-D games adventure set:

The PlayStation 2 still sells (and likely will for years, given its $130 price tag), but the buzz in gameland has moved on to “next-generation” machines like Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s own more than $500 PlayStation 3, which is packed with so much silicon that it makes its predecessor look like an alarm clock.

2007 March 16, Seth Schiesel, “A Game With New Tricks for an Old System”, in New York Times:

By setting guidelines, you can send your kids off to gameland with some moral and emotional equipment, which can help them put their activities into perspective — this is a game, not life.

2007, Kathy Ivens, Home Networking for Dummies:

(fandom slang, uncountable, rare) The world or sphere of video games.


glhf

(Internet slang, video games) Initialism of good luck, have fun.


XY

(fandom slang) Initialism of Pokémon X and Y.


scorebox

Video games are notorious for having relatively unchanging areas on the screen (ie the scorebox), which can quickly be burned into the screen.

1994, Coyt D Watters, “Projection TVs and SEGA”, in rec.games.video.sega (Usenet):

Recall that our arcade game is to have a scorebox that knows how to increase itself, and observe that this implies there is a score.

2001, Matt Neuburg, REALbasic: the definitive guide, page 64:

(video games) A box overlaid on the screen to display the player's score.


Zorkian

en-adj

Zorkian (comparative more Zorkian, superlative most Zorkian)

more Zorkian (comparative)
most Zorkian (superlative)

I won't say anything else about the Zorkian characters or combat for fear of detracting from each exhilarating discovery.

Your character doesn't understand any of the Zorkian languages in which the book's jokes are written and must have them translated by others.

Restless patrons are calling for the standard Zorkian conclusory fanfare!

1997, Rick Barba, Michael Knight, Rod Harten, CD-ROM Classics:

(video games) Of or pertaining to the Zork series of early computer games (originating in the 1970s), works of interactive fiction set in a sprawling underground labyrinth.


thumbstick

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Occasionally, when playing any given PC port, you’ll experience disorienting frame drops when using a mouse to control a camera that clearly was designed to move only as fluidly as console thumbsticks would allow.

2023 May 25, Nic Reuben, “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum review”, in The Guardian:

(video games) A small joystick, generally part of a larger game controller, that can be operated with the thumb.


Zeldaesque

Zeldaesque (comparative more Zeldaesque, superlative most Zeldaesque)

more Zeldaesque (comparative)
most Zeldaesque (superlative)

SoulBlazer is a very good game! It is very Zeldaesque.

1993, John Brooks, “Need another game like Zelda III”, in rec.games.video.nintendo (Usenet):

The combat system is unique, somewhat Zeldaesque, but with an experience point system.

1998, C-Coal, “Final Fantasy Adventure Map”, in alt.games.final-fantasy (Usenet):

That game was simply titled "Jurassic Park" as^([sic]) was totally different from the SNES game where you ran around the complex killing raptors and trying to get to the helicopter in a Zeldaesque game.

1999, Wyvern, “Nostalgia”, in alt.lifestyle.furry (Usenet):

You pretty much build your story using timelines (like you would do for a presentation) you can download a demo game from them that is kinda Zeldaesque.

2001, Scott McDonnell, “game engine?”, in comp.games.development.design (Usenet):

(video games) Reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda series of fantasy action adventure video games.


ragequit

en-verb

ragequit (third-person singular simple present ragequits, present participle ragequitting, simple past and past participle ragequit or ragequitted)

ragequits (present singular third-person)
ragequitting (participle present)
ragequit (participle past)
ragequit (past)
ragequitted (participle past)
ragequitted (past)

/ˈɹeɪd͡ʒˌkwɪt/

Having had my share of ragequitting teammates and unfinished campaigns -- I still haven't completed a L4D2 campaign on Expert -- I'll take a positive outlook and say that the complaints about difficulty amount to a longer and taller learning curve, that will give this game a longer lifespan than the first.

2009 November 28, rms, “What have you been playing... IN NOVEMBER 2009?”, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (Usenet), message-ID <herjp3$ucc$1@news.eternal-september.org>:

Cheap insta-kill attacks have made me ragequit at least twice.

2010 February 8, Chris Whitworth, “Pow, Wallop & Bam”, in uk.games.video.misc (Usenet), message-ID <slrnhn0725.gik.usenet.chris@parm.vs.topper.me.uk>:

(intransitive, slang, video games) To quit an online video game in anger.


ragequit

/ˈɹeɪd͡ʒˌkwɪt/

Hardison: I don't know what happened. I had 'em and then I just—
Nate: Didn't anticipate the ragequit.
Hardison: You know gamer terminology?
Nate: I know the key to a good game is balancing boredom and frustration. Now the game — the puzzle's too easy, then the mark — the player — gets bored and walks away. The puzzle's too hard, then the player gets frustrated, and quits in a rage: ragequit.

2012 January 1, “The Gold Job”, in Leverage, season 4, episode 16 (Television), spoken by Alec Hardison and Nate Ford (Aldis Hodge and Timothy Hutton):

(slang, video games) The act of quitting an online video game in anger.


Metroidvania

en-noun

Metroidvania (countable and uncountable, plural Metroidvanias)

Blend of Metroid and Castlevania, two influential games of this type.

The Castlevania games share similarities with the Metroid series, in particular the free-roaming design in which new abilities allow access to different areas. Because of this, fans often refer to such games as "Metroidvania" in style.

2008, Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition:

It's got Metroidvania elements - it's structured like one, I guess, in that it's lots of exploration with a fair bit of backtracking and getting new abilities that unlock previously unopened areas and that sort of thing.

2009 September 1, Chris Whitworth, “Batman Arkham Asylum 24.99”, in uk.games.video.misc (Usenet), message-ID <slrnh9qqa3.giu.usenet.chris@parm.vs.topper.me.uk>:

Pure Metroidvania... with 3D in-engine cutscenes.

2009 September 14, Jonah Falcon, “Shadow Complex Great Game”, in alt.games.video.xbox (Usenet), message-ID <RpWdnUTaXZXTRjPXnZ2dnUVZ_hWdnZ2d@earthlink.com>:

Metroidvanias are an inherently clever genre, and the cleverness can sometimes sap a little of the energy.

2019 June 18, Christian Donlan, “Gato Roboto review - a pet-sized Metroidvania filled with delights”, in Eurogamer:

(video games, informal) A (genre of) platform game with role-playing game elements and inventory items, involving more exploration than a traditional linear platform game, particularly revisiting previously explored areas.


bullshot

Blend of bullshit + screenshot, coined in 2005 in the webcomic Penny Arcade.

Exhibit A is a textbook example of a bullshot, an image ginned up by marketing and foisted on people who don't know any better.

2005 September 12, “Potent New Lingo”, in Penny Arcade, retrieved 2012-06-15:

Even the world's most technically proficient game-makers — industry leaders in graphical and gameplay innovation — seem shy to release actual screenshots of their forthcoming games, preferring instead to unleash super-scaled bullshots, or enhanced videos.

2009 August 15, Richard Leadbetter, “Media Manipulation: the "Bullshot" phenomenon”, in Eurogamer, retrieved 2012-06-15:

Sometimes they’ll fall under the ambiguous label of ‘visual target renders’, the small-print description of bullshots at the highest level.

2012 March 19, Ryan King, “7 Marketing Trends That Need To Stop”, in Play, →ISSN, retrieved 2012-06-16:

(neologism, video games) A phony screenshot created for promotional purposes.


netplay

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Can somebody help me? I have a PowerMac^([sic]) 6100/60 and a Powerbook^([sic]) 1400 Localtalk^([sic]) networked. I can't get Abuse to work in netplay. Both machines have 16 MB of RAM but when I try to start a netgame, the loading screen comes up then the ocmputer^([sic]) quits... Any ideas?

1997, Kip, “Abuse netplay problems!”, in comp.sys.mac.games.action (Usenet):

most emulators support netplay, like SNES9x or RockNes. is anyone interested?

2002, Mark Canavan, “netplay”, in alt.games.video.emulation (Usenet):

(video games) Multiplayer gameplay over a network.


multiplay

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multiplay

The team has never done networked multiplay for a racing game. We aren't completely sure we can do it.

2008, Jesse Schell, The art of game design, page 93:

(video games) The ability of more than one player to participate in a game at the same time (especially by means of a network).


power gamer

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(video games) A regular gamer who plays computationally demanding games on state-of-the-art hardware.


(retronym, video games) Initialism of PlayStation 1.


meatshot

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(video games, in online FPS gaming) A shot, from a shotgun or scattergun, all of whose bullets strike the enemy, usually from a very short to point-blank range.