- A 2D shoot'em'up /
top-down shooter / shmup / Shooting Game / STG (examples: Gradius,
Ikaruga, Sine Mora) should never be placed in the "FPS/Shooter"
category. Place them in "Arcade/Pinball" instead. First-person shooters
are decidedly known as "shooters." 2D shoot'em'ups/shmups are decidedly
known as "shooting games," abbreviated as "STG."
Ideally, the STG community would want its own section called
"shmups/STG" but "Arcade/Pinball" will suffice because the culture
prizes the arcade versions of the genre and the traditional foundation is grounded in arcade mechanics and culture anyway.
- Change "Dual-Stick Shooter" category to just "Dual-Stick" Dual-Stick
Shooters (again, "shooter" is only reserved for FPSs nowadays) are known as
"Arena Shmups" which is a subgenre of the 2D shoot'em'up/shmup/STG.
Ideally, most dual-stick arena shmups should be grouped alongside
traditional shmups in the "Arcade/Pinball" category. However, some dual
stick games break the arena concept by hosting traditional
player-scrolling stage, abandoning shooting concepts, or focusing on
massive exploration. These games (ex: Neo Contra, Insanely Twisted
Shadow Planet, Microbot) are grouped better as Dual-Stick Run'n'Guns.
But that genre name is still a subgenre not suited for a master list. Therefore,
since control type and mechanics are the most important things to communicate about
your particular genre listing, yet player-scrolling stages/environments
are a massive deal-breaker difference among 2D shoot'em'up players, the
wisest thing to do is to simply group these variations into
"Dual-Stick."
- "Fight!" Is
this category supposed to be for Fighting Games? (ex: Street Fighter 4, Mortal
Kombat, Divekick) Rename this "Fighting/FTG." "FTG" is the abbreviation
for "fighting game" which is the preferred term used in that community.
- "Retro" Remove this category. It is redundant, as you have this covered in the "Arcade/Pinball" section. An indie pixellated look/theme/graphics does not justify a game genre. Time passed does not constitute a game genre. Many games developed recently that journalists like to toss in the "Retro" category have a terrible stigma about them, often leading to journalists completely ignoring what 30+ years of iteration and evolution can do for a "retro game." Space Invaders Extreme and Space Invaders Infinity Gene are completely different games from the original Space Invaders. Calling anything retro is ultimately a sales deterrent.
Okay I've taken the entirety of this thread and done what I can to incorporate everyone's input without vastly restructuring stuff (as I can't go and make sweeping changes on my own without including more members of the team).
Here's what you might notice has changed (and please keep in mind this will continue to evolve):
Added "ADVENTURE" genre -- because we love adventures.
Added "BOARD GAME" genre -- to satisfactorily describe existing games that fit this description and to encourage more devs to create similarly simple, fun couch-gaming experiences.
Changed "DUAL-STICK SHOOTER" to "DUAL STICK" -- since more and more games are centered on this mechanic and don't always pewpew. Removed the hyphen because it's no longer a single-thought adjective describing a noun.
Added "ALL AGES" genre -- this puts family- and kid-friendly content at the top of the genre list. Decided to couch this here for now, since genres are more static than the living category lists. This should suffice for right now, but we'll more than likely elaborate on this idea in the future.
Things considered but not changed (and my attempt to explain):
Kept "SHORT ON TIME?" -- community seems a bit divided on "CASUAL." To us, CASUAL as a descriptor serves as more of an umbrella term for more descriptive genre names like FARMING, SPESS SHOOTER, RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT SIM (that will inevitably crop up).
That's it for now. Happy to continue to revisit this subject with you. I imagine the conversation will continue to evolve, and we value your input. Also, please let me know if there's anything I missed.
I second the idea for a Narrative category. Some games aren't so much of games, but instead a deep story that can move the player without the need of traditional gameplay.
And if Racing isn't in already, then I think it might be a good idea.
Also, split up Simulations and Strategy. I consider those two very different kinds of games, as I'm sure many others do.
@DJIncompetent Not all retro games are pinball/arcade games. I'd more relate it to the 8-bit games, which is more of commitment to an art style than gameplay. Some people like games with that theme and some people don't. I happen to be someone who likes games like that and like having a category that embodies one of my interests.
Comments
- A 2D shoot'em'up / top-down shooter / shmup / Shooting Game / STG (examples: Gradius, Ikaruga, Sine Mora) should never be placed in the "FPS/Shooter" category. Place them in "Arcade/Pinball" instead. First-person shooters are decidedly known as "shooters." 2D shoot'em'ups/shmups are decidedly known as "shooting games," abbreviated as "STG."
Ideally, the STG community would want its own section called "shmups/STG" but "Arcade/Pinball" will suffice because the culture prizes the arcade versions of the genre and the traditional foundation is grounded in arcade mechanics and culture anyway.
- Change "Dual-Stick Shooter" category to just "Dual-Stick"
Dual-Stick Shooters (again, "shooter" is only reserved for FPSs nowadays) are known as "Arena Shmups" which is a subgenre of the 2D shoot'em'up/shmup/STG. Ideally, most dual-stick arena shmups should be grouped alongside traditional shmups in the "Arcade/Pinball" category. However, some dual stick games break the arena concept by hosting traditional player-scrolling stage, abandoning shooting concepts, or focusing on massive exploration. These games (ex: Neo Contra, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Microbot) are grouped better as Dual-Stick Run'n'Guns. But that genre name is still a subgenre not suited for a master list.
Therefore, since control type and mechanics are the most important things to communicate about your particular genre listing, yet player-scrolling stages/environments are a massive deal-breaker difference among 2D shoot'em'up players, the wisest thing to do is to simply group these variations into "Dual-Stick."
- "Fight!"
Is this category supposed to be for Fighting Games? (ex: Street Fighter 4, Mortal Kombat, Divekick) Rename this "Fighting/FTG."
"FTG" is the abbreviation for "fighting game" which is the preferred term used in that community.
- "Retro"
Remove this category. It is redundant, as you have this covered in the "Arcade/Pinball" section. An indie pixellated look/theme/graphics does not justify a game genre. Time passed does not constitute a game genre. Many games developed recently that journalists like to toss in the "Retro" category have a terrible stigma about them, often leading to journalists completely ignoring what 30+ years of iteration and evolution can do for a "retro game." Space Invaders Extreme and Space Invaders Infinity Gene are completely different games from the original Space Invaders. Calling anything retro is ultimately a sales deterrent.
-Voxel
-FPS
-Racing
-Puzzle
etc. those are just a few
> Anti piracy measures are needed and it doesn't haves to interfer with the concept of open console