Understanding The Types of Video Games Today

For the many years I have played video games, the different categories of video games have grown exponentially. Technology and game creation tools have become ever more user friendly, pervasive, and cheap allowing game creation and innovation to flourish. Although I would still consider myself a gamer, I've had little time to explore the thousands of titles that have been created in the last decade. If I feel ignorant, I could only imagine how the average non-gaming individual feels. However, just because you may not play video games does not mean you have to be kept in the dark. The average American may not play football, but they can probably give a basic summary of how the American past time is played.

Video games can be broken down into many categories. I’m personally interested in this because video games have undergone such a rapid change from 10 years ago, yet the formats remain so similar. I want to understand the current world of gaming and share it with all of you. In this blog, I’m going to list the top popular genres of video games, give brief descriptions of what they are, and any other interesting information about them that I can find. I won’t be going through all of them as that would take weeks if all genres were included. Instead, I’m going to name the most popular genres currently, and the top played games, past and present, in those genres.

Role Playing Games (RPG)

Fallout 3

We are starting out with the big one. This category can be tacked onto any other category of game. RPG’s are meant to transport the gamer into a fictional story where the gamer plays as a character/characters.  The player is directed toward story and character development. In many ways, these games are like reading a novel or watching a TV show except you get to choose when, where, and how the story progresses. If you are wanting to experience some of the more popular RPGs, get ready sink a ton of hours into sitting in front of a screen.

Examples Games: Pokémon (Gotta Catch ‘Em All), Final Fantasy Series, World of Warcraft (we’ll come back to this), Fallout Series, Dark Souls Series, Undertale, Mass Effect Series

Massive Multiplayer Online

World of Warcraft

Another category that can go along with many other genres. All this refers to is a game that can sustain hundreds if not thousands of players on one server. With increasing internet speeds, hardware upgrades, and competitive public demand, these games have become some of the most popular in the world. Testing your skills no longer requires gamers to travel where the competition is. The internet can bring the competition to the gamer.

Example Games: World of Warcraft (Brought MMORPGs to the forefront), Everquest (Began the craze), Phantasy Star, The Elder Scrolls, Maple Story, Runescape, Final Fantasy XIV

First Person Shooter (FPS)

Unreal Tournament

First person shooters are the most controversial of the video game categories. At first, the name of this category was the definition: a game that simulated a first-person experience where the gamer would shoot a gun usually at another person or animal. The “over-the-gun” view associated with FPS’s has become more of a format over the years as the “First-Person” view has been changed to include aspects other than guns and goals beyond killing. The killing really got negative attention, but the controversy really kicked into gear when the games included terrorist themes where the player’s goal would be to plant a bomb or kill the opposing counter-terrorist team. For a long time, and currently, these kinds of games were seen as causing violent behavior in children and desensitizing people to guns and death. Much research has been done on these kinds of games, but I will save this topic for another time. Just know the genre is still one of the most popular and has inspired many other innovations that go beyond killing with a gun.

Example Games: Counter Strike, Doom Series, Quake, Team Fortress, Call of Duty, Slime Rancher (example of non-killing), Far-Cry Series, Golden Eye: 007, Bioshock Series, Fallout 3 and later, Rainbow Six, Unreal Tournament, Halo Series, Left 4 Dead Series, and MANY others.

Adventure

Stanley Parable

These are games meant to inspire the player to explore the world in front of them pushing the player to step off the path of completing the game and take in the environment. Part of the environment includes conversations and dialogue trees with in-game characters. The player’s choices in a conversation could affect the outcome of the entire game. With the emphasis on environment, multiplayer does not lend itself easily to this category. Although not as popular today, it inspired many of today’s games. This is another category that usually accompanies other genres.

Example Games: Sam and Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle, Resident Evil Series, The Walking Dead, The Stanley Parable, LucasArts Adventure titles (Old but good)

Action

Mario

Another big one. Games included in this category require a reflex skill to progress through the game. The skill base lends itself nicely to a multiplayer format as it is something can be developed and tested and can be coupled easily with other game genres.
Example Games: Legend of Zelda Series, Donkey Kong Series, Galaga, Mario Series, Fallout 3 and later, All FPS games, Mortal Kombat Series, Street Fighter Series

Fighting Games/Beat ‘Em Ups

Mortal Kombat

Ever wanted to go one-on-one in a fist fight with your friends without the hurt? Ever wanted to fight a ton of people all by yourself? These are the games for you. The original format of these games had two characters facing off in a mixed-martial arts fight to the death. The goal would be to lower the opponent’s health bar to zero before they did the same to you. This could be played with 2 players or by yourself against the computer artificial intelligence. Beyond that, Beat ‘Em Ups had the player facing off against many different opponents though the player was favored in these situations. Story development is usually not a big factor in these games.
Example Games: Mortal Kombat Series, Street Fighter, Final Fight, Ninja Gaidan, Castle Crashers, Tekken Series, Skull Girls, Soul Caliber Series, Smash Bros. Series, Marvel Vs. Capcom Series

Mobile Games

Clash of Clans

Although any game genre can be applied to mobile games, I separate mobile games out as they have special properties most other games do not:

1. Most Mobile Games Are Free

Platform and computer games are paid for by the player up front, and then can be played as much as the player wants without having to pay again (though this is changing). Mobile games, although free up front, have in-game (in-app) purchases. What makes this so insidious is the ease of payment phones allow now. Google and Apple pay make it as easy as the click of a button to purchase digital items. Even more, these purchases are used to progress through the game faster and can be purchased an infinite amount of times which brings up the next property of mobile games.

2. Mobile Games Do Not End

Mobile games have no set ending to them. There is always another level to attain, an item to get, or an event to participate in. And digital purchases can make it all that much quicker.3. Most Mobile Games Use Real World Time
Many mobile games now rely on real world time. For example, upgrading your character may take 72 real world hours before being completed. The player does not need to be logged into the game for the full 72 hours; however, that is 3 days the player needs to wait nonetheless.

4. Mobile Games Can Be Played Anywhere, Anytime

Most everyone in the US has a smartphone, and these devices are taken anywhere which mean the games can be played anywhere.

Example Games: Clash of Clans, Angry Birds Series, Candy Crush Series, Pokémon Go, Hearthstone, Temple Run, Puzzle and Dragons

Real-Time Strategy (RTS)/Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)

Starcraft

These are games that are solely based upon player performance. Progression occurs as the player makes hundreds of decisions/actions over the course of a game. RTS games usually have the player controlling an army that can be built and improved, while MOBA’s require the player to control only 1 character. Many of the RTS games do have a story associated with them, but it is usually between the required performance sections. MOBA’s are nothing more than player performance and require multiple players with almost no story. The steep learning curve of these games have caught the attention of highly competitive players which has created some of the most “Toxic” gaming environments. Toxic in this context means bringing out the worst behaviors in people. I stopped playing these games because of the deplorable human behavior it fostered. I made this conscious decision when another player told me “…he would find me in real life, and…” do terrible things to me after I constantly beat him several times in game. Believe it or not, this is not the worst of it. I do not blame the game creators for this, but the communities created by these games need to be improved.

Example Games: Starcraft Series, Warcraft Series (pre-WoW), Command and Conquer Series, League of Legends, DOTA 2, Dawn of the Ancients, Heroes of the Storm

Hopefully, this was helpful. Please check out any of the game titles listed on google to get a better understanding of what the gaming categories are. Although some people may not understand the appeal of video games, games have created a lasting effect, and are here to stay.