Anyone else extremely annoyed by people's classifications of genres?

cornontheCoD

L420: High Member
Mar 25, 2008
437
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Lately, with so many game awards, I have been seeing "Action Game" pop up all over the place, and I can't stand it. Does anyone actually know what an "Action Game" is?

I was looking at the IGN GOTY awards, and Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2 were both in the same category: Action Game. Now, any genre that both those games can be in is so vague that it is not even worth having. Uncharted 2 is a Platformer and a 3rd-person shooter. The two main game mechanics are shooting and platforming. Assassin's Creed 2 is an open-world stealth game. The main game mechanic is stealth (not platforming, assassin's creed climbing mechanics are not platforming.)

On another note, people calling Braid a platformer and not a puzzle game annoys the hell out of me. Yes, you can jump, but the main challenge is not in the jumping (you can't even die in the game for Christ's sake), it is in the puzzles.

In the big picture, I realize a genre is just a name we give something. I will play games of any genre, as long as the game itself is entertaining, but I know many people base their purchases off of the genre of the game. I feel sorry for the developer and the gamer when they miss out on a great game, just because they don't like platformers, etc.

Sorry if this turned into a rant, but am I the only one that thinks this? Does anyone else agree with me or have other issues with people's ideas of a genre?
 

Numerous

L4: Comfortable Member
Oct 14, 2009
150
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I reckon we should use more than 1 word to describe a game. For starters, state whether it's text-based/2D/3D, THEN mention whether it's puzzle or action oriented.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
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"Action Game" is a root genre. A game is either an Action Game or it is not an Action Game.

An Action Game generally involves guns and/or killing in addition to problem solving to be able to survive or continue killing more.

There are other things like Action Adventure, which is an Adventure game with guns and/or killing in it. Where originally there would not have been (Myst, for example).

First person shooters are action games.

Blah blah, i could go on.. but basically, from a developers stand point, a game is Action or it is not Action.
 

Fraz

Blu Hatte, Greyscale Backdrop.
aa
Dec 28, 2008
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1,152
Portal.png


Proven Wrong Much?

Yes, Portal is an action game... its a puzzle game as well, but its still in the Action genre, because, there is Action.

It's as much as Films. You get "Comedy" and "Romantic-Comedy" and so on and so forth, "Action" uses the same principal.
 

Bermuda Cake

L9: Fashionable Member
Feb 20, 2009
679
480
who cares, anyway? I'm not gonna stick to just 'action' games, I'll look for good games with good reviews. These things just give a general feel of the game before you play, but ultimately, they are pointless.
 

cornontheCoD

L420: High Member
Mar 25, 2008
437
70
who cares, anyway? I'm not gonna stick to just 'action' games, I'll look for good games with good reviews. These things just give a general feel of the game before you play, but ultimately, they are pointless.


I feel exactly the same way, but unfortunately, your average idiot doesn't. Most people will look at the genre too see if they will like it (which is the biggest mistake you can ever make).

Portal.png


Proven Wrong Much?

Yes, Portal is an action game... its a puzzle game as well, but its still in the Action genre, because, there is Action.

It's as much as Films. You get "Comedy" and "Romantic-Comedy" and so on and so forth, "Action" uses the same principal.

But see, using movies as a comparison just doesn't work. Action movie makes sense because when you hear that, you know there will be fight scenes, explosions, and weapons. With games, even if you knew that, it doesn't describe the gameplay at all. Yes, there are weapons and fire (the cannons that shoot fireballs) in Braid, but that doesn't describe the gameplay at all. There is also weapons and fire in Uncharted 2 and Half-life 2, which are completely different games than Braid. How is the term Action Game supposed to help me understand the gameplay at all?

Also, if I was one of those gamers that goes by the genre, I would feel extremely misled by Metacritic calling Portal an action game. I would have gone in expecting Call of Duty.
 
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grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Lol, midget.

Also, CornontheCoD, that is why we have sub-genres. If you're looking for anything more descriptive, you're going to have to read the blurb on the back of a game case.

As games evolve we get games that achieve new gameplay mechanics and we need to define them. The same can be said for music. "Rock" is a genre. But Rock encompasses a lot of sub genres, that better define what you're buying into. As is true for "electronica", that encompasses sub-genres "techno", "house", "drum & bass", "acid" etc.
 

Boonsaw

L1: Registered
Jul 22, 2008
46
18
Portal.png


Proven Wrong Much?

Yes, Portal is an action game... its a puzzle game as well, but its still in the Action genre, because, there is Action.

It's as much as Films. You get "Comedy" and "Romantic-Comedy" and so on and so forth, "Action" uses the same principal.

That was one epic takedown. :O