Unit 29: Vocabulary

Please study the 23 vocabulary terms below. Then press the Mark Complete button to continue.
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arcade game
a game genre with highly addictive gameplay and a steep difficulty curve
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Atari, Nintendo, and Sega are three gaming giants who all successfully transformed themselves from arcade game heroes to console kings.
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casual game
a game genre featuring simple, non-offensive themes suitable for all ages
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Good examples of casual games throughout history include Pac-Man, Windows Solitaire, Wii Sports, and Candy Crush.
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console
a dedicated home game computer intended for use with a TV and game controllers
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New consoles often succeed or fail depending on price and/or the number of Triple-A titles available at launch.
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engrossing
taking up almost all of one's attention
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The girl found the new Zelda game so engrossing that she started to dream about the game in her sleep.
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first-person
a game perspective where the action is viewed through the eyes of the protagonist (main character)
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Due to the high-adrenaline gameplay and excellent multiplayer support, first-person shooters (FPS) are among the best-selling video game genres.
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indie game (independent studio game)
a game genre featuring low-budget games built by a small team
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Probably the most successful indie game release of all time was Minecraft, originally developed by Markus Persson and later sold to Microsoft for 2.5 billion dollars.
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mobile game
games designed specifically to run on smartphones and other portable devices
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The analyst said that mobile games are especially popular with female and casual gamers, while males and more hardcore gamers tend to prefer PC or consoles.
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multiplatform
describing a single code base capable of running on more than one operating system
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Using popular a game engine such as Unity or Unreal is a good way to ensure multiplatform support across PC, consoles, and even mobile.
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nostalgic
feeling an emotional longing for the past
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People are often nostalgic for games they played as a kid, so occasionally game studios release remastered versions of old classics.
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platform game
a game genre where the player runs and jumps through a scrolling environment often full of ladders, obstacles, power-ups, cliffs, or deadly enemies
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Platform games such as Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog are extremely popular with nostalgic audiences and are the subject of many re-releases on newer consoles.
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puzzle game
a game genre featuring games that make the player think and solve increasingly tricky problems
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Puzzle games are popular across all ages and include such favorites as Tetris, Portal 2, and Jackbox.
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quintessential
an item that almost perfectly represents its category or genre
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Id Software's game Doom is perhaps the quintessential first person shooter because it basically invented the genre, and its many sequels and spinoffs have dominated sales charts for ages.
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RTS game (real-time strategy game)
a game genre where players control different factions and compete against each other simultaneously
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Popular RTS games include Warcraft, Age of Empires, and Command and Conquer.
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reminiscent
reminding someone about something that happened earlie
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Streets of Rage 4 is reminiscent of earlier titles in the series, but thankfully it updates and improves on nearly everything.
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RPG (role-playing game)
a game genre where players create custom avatars and quest through fantastical environments collecting experience points and leveling up
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As a kid in the 1980's, I played Ultima IV on my Atari 800 and became so obsessed I basically lost a year of my life to this engrossing RPG.
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shooter game
a game genre featuring intense combat-simulation, has many subgenres
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Popular shooter game sub genres include: side-scrolling shooters, vertical-scrolling shooters, gallery-style shooters, first-person shooters (FPS), and third-person shooters (TPS).
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sports game
a game genre simulating athletic events such as car racing, football, baseball, golf, etc
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Sports games are normally quite profitable because they release annually, sell for AAA-title prices, and usually only receive minor gameplay updates between versions.
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stealth game
a game genre where the objective is to be sneaky (not to be seen)
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Many games feature stealthy elements, but titles that define the stealth game genre include: Metal Gear Solid, Thief, and Hitman.
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subgenre
a further refinement or evolution of a larger category
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FPS games are indeed a subgenre of shooter games, but they could hardly be considered niche.
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survival horror game
a game subgenre where the gameplay focuses on creating tension via elements such as darkly lit scenes, frequent monster boxes, and a scarcity of useful resources such as weapons or ammunition
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If you like to be scared I highly suggest you play the survival horror game Dark Space on a projector at 2 o'clock in the morning.
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third-person
a game perspective where the player sees his own character from a disembodied, hovering state
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Popular third-person shooters include: Gears of War, Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption, and Fortnite.
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AAA (triple-A)
a industry term used to describe big-budget games
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AAA titles are similar to blockbuster movies in that they take years to develop and can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
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ubiquitous
typically found everywhere in the area
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Swords and shields are not exactly rarities in RPG games, they are pretty much ubiquitous across the genre.
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