Game Genre

Game Genres

1.      FPS

2.      Strategy

3.      RPG

4.      Platformer

5.      Simulation

6.      Adventure

7.      Action

8.      Beat 'em Up

9.      MMO

10.  Racing

Game Genre	Genre description
FPS	The First Person Shooter genre literally stands for a genre where the player views the game in first person and shoots enemies with an arsenal of guns and ranged weapons. Examples includeWolfenstein, Doom, Goldeneye 64, Call of Duty, and Team Fortress 2. The genre does not often cross with other genres, but the storyline segments of FPS games can sometimes have puzzle and platforming elements, like in Half-Life 2, and some FPS games make minimal use of combat and instead stick to Stealth and Puzzling, such as in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. FPS has also crossbred with Adventure games, like in the Elder Scrolls series, and the recent Fallout 3.	Call of Duty is back, redefining war like you've never experienced before. Building on the Call of Duty 4®: Modern Warfare engine, Call of Duty: World at War immerses players into the most gritty and chaotic WWII combat ever experienced. Player’s band together to survive the most harrowing and climactic battles that led to the demise of the Axis powers on the European and Pacific fronts. The title offers an uncensored experience with unique enemies and combat variety, including Kamikaze fighters, ambush attacks, Banzai charges and cunning cover tactics, as well as explosive on-screen action through the all new four-player cooperative campaign. The addictive competitive multiplayer has also been enhanced with new infantry and vehicle-based action, a higher level cap, more weapons, and a host of new Perks, maps and challenges.
RPG	At its most basic definition, a role-playing game (often shortened to "RPG") is a game that lets you take on the role of a character (or characters) in a fictional setting.	EPIC FANTASY REBORN  The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose. LIVE ANOTHER LIFE, IN ANOTHER WORLD Play any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before. ALL NEW GRAPHICS AND GAMEPLAY ENGINE Skyrim’s new game engine brings to life a complete virtual world with rolling clouds, rugged mountains, bustling cities, lush fields, and ancient dungeons. YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAY Choose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions. DRAGON RETURN Battle ancient dragons like you’ve never seen. As Dragon born, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.
Strategy	A broad-term genre for games that have militaristic/strategic combat elements crucial to victory. Some examples include Advance Wars, Steel Panthers, and Sid Meier's Civilization.	Build railroads in order to connect cities, tunnels and bridges. New railways are cheap when laid across bare fields, but can be expensive when demolishing forests, villages and other existing structures.  Manage increasing traffic by constructing, switches, sidings and spurs so that multiple trains can run without delays, at the same time.  Stay accident-free by precisely controlling trains during crucial moments, using pause for planning (you can build railways and schedule trains while on pause).  Play through 4 seasons: Europe (1830–1980), America (1840–1960), USSR (1880–1980) and Japan (1900–2020).  Complete the story mode featuring such real-life events as the Gold Rush of 1849, the construction of the Florida Overseas Railroad, World War II, the Cold War, the launch of the first manned space flight Vostro 1 and more.  Explore the game in different game modes: in story mode (5-10 minutes), in random mode (15-20 minutes – the level looks and develops differently every time you launch) or in sandbox-like regime (can be turned on for both story and random modes. It allows to play without time and money limits).  Discover 15 types of trains – from early steam-powered locomotives to modern high-speed trains, driving 18 types of cars – from old-time passenger cars to hoppers and cisterns and to military-use tank and gun platforms.
Platformer	A plat former, at its core, involves moving a character in a 2D or 3D environment to overcome impeding obstacles with physical movement, such as running and jumping over a cliff to a safe area on the other side. The most basic form of combat in plat forming games are squashing or punching the enemy, though the earliest forms of plat forming games had no attacking, just the ability to dodge. Plat formers stem directly from the early arcade games like Donkey Kong. A few examples of plat formers include Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Prince of Persia, Jack & Dexter, Psychonauts, and Little Big Planet. Very rarely Platformers will take an isometric view as opposed to side-scrolling 2D or all encompassing 3D, but some examples include Knight Lore, Equinox, Sonic 3D Blast, and Little Big Adventure.	Take control of five cute, mystical creatures of miniature proportions called CreaVures. CreaVures always travel in pairs, and they must use their special abilities to help each other solve interesting platforming puzzles. Set in a world with beautiful phosphorescent colors, these tiny creatures journey to save their homeland and restore light to their dying forest.
Simulation	Sim is a shortening of the word Simulation, and that's exactly what Sim games are. They simulate an experience that people either do in real life (or are unable to do in real life due to limitations) that creates a unique experience. There are some Sim games where you control a person and try to find love amidst a slew of possible candidates (dating sims), try and save lives on the operating table (Trauma Center), there are sims where you create and maintain a farm (Harvest Moon), there are Sims where you create and manage entire civilizations (Sim City, Civilization IV), amusement attractions (Zoo Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon), and even galaxies (Spore). Some Sims even let you play God (The Sims, Black and White). It's clearly a broad term, but easily identifiable. Flight games are a type of Sim, but have had enough individual success to warrant it's own genre. Sims often find elements of other games in their gameplay like RTS.	Gameplay-wise, Goat Simulator is all about causing as much destruction as you possibly can as a goat. It has been compared to an old-school skating game, except instead of being a skater, you're a goat, and instead of doing tricks, you wreck stuff. Destroy things with style, such as doing a backflip while head-butting a bucket through a window, and you'll earn even more points! Or you could just give Steam Workshop a spin and create your own goats, levels, missions, and more! When it comes to goats, not even the sky is the limit, as you can probably just bug through it and crash the game.
Adventure	Another very basic genre, Adventure is in its purest form a game that takes you on a journey with emphasis on locales and excitement and usually encourage freedom of exploration. The most basic examples of adventure games include point and click games like Full Throttle, Shadow gate, and King's Quest. Modern examples of Adventure games include Grand Theft Auto, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda and many RPGs such as Mass Effect or Final Fantasy.	Konami Digital Entertainment continues forth the ‘METAL GEAR SOLID V Experience’ with the latest chapter, METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Phantom Pain. Ushering in a new era for the franchise with cutting-edge technology powered by the Fox Engine, MGSV: The Phantom Pain will provide players a first-rate gaming experience as they are offered tactical freedom to carry out open-world missions. Nine years after the events of MGSV: GROUND ZEROES and the fall of Mother Base, Snake a.k.a. Big Boss, awakens from a nine year coma. The year is 1984. The Cold War serves as the backdrop as nuclear weapons continue to shape a global crisis. Driven by revenge, Snake establishes a new private army and returns to the battlefield in pursuit of the shadow group, XOF. The METAL GEAR SOLID team continues to ambitiously explore mature themes such as the psychology of warfare and the atrocities that result from those that engage in its vicious cycle. One of the most anticipated games of the year with its open-world design, photorealistic visual fidelity and feature-rich game design, MGSV: The Phantom Pain will leave its mark as one of the hallmarks in the gaming industry for its cinematic storytelling, heavy themes, and immersive tactical gameplay.
Action	Perhaps the most basic of genres, Action is practically all encompassing, thus, it should be applied to games whose main focus is Action. Good examples of Action games include Devil May Cry and God of War. Not to be confused with Fighting or Combat.	Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched 14 years ago. CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (deduct, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more. "Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999," said Doug Lombardi at Valve. "For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS' award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac."
Beat `em up	A Beat 'Me Up is a sub-class plat former, where any element of actual plat forming is removed and the player literally beats their way through a level. A Beat 'Me Up is as if a fighting game had a a stage roughly 15-30 times as long as a fighting game stage, and up to 20 opponents at once, except all those opponents were much weaker than you. An arcade favorite genre of the 90's, notable examples include Double Dragon, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Yakuza, God Hand, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Konami made a slew of excellent Beat 'Em Ups in the late 80's early 90's.	Street Fighter® IV brings the legendary fighting series back to its roots by taking the beloved fighting moves and techniques of the original Street Fighter® II, and infusing them with Capcom's latest advancements in next generation technology to create a truly extraordinary experience that will re-introduce the world to the time-honored art of virtual martial arts. Everything that made the legendary Street Fighter II a hit in the arcades, living rooms and dormitories across the globe has been brought back in Street Fighter IV. Players can play their favorite classic characters, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile, along with new characters, including Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, and Rufus. Characters and environments are rendered in stylized 3D, while the game is played in the classic Street Fighter 2D perspective with additional 3D camera flourishes. Six-button controls for the game return, with a host of new special moves and features integrated into the gameplay system. Street Fighter IV brings a brand new fighting game to fans the world over.
MMO	Stands for Massively Multiplayer Online. While most modern games are playable online, a MMO constitutes that online gameplay is the focus of the game, and that hundreds, thousands, even millions of users can interact with each other in a real-time space (theoretically). Very popular to mix with the RPG genre. Notable examples include World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI,Everquest, Monster Hunter, and EVE Online.	H1Z1 is currently in Early Access on Steam. With a fully transparent approach to game design and development here at Daybreak Games, we want to transform the way our players interact and participate with our games. H1Z1 Early Access is your chance to experience and make a difference in H1Z1 as it evolves throughout the development process.  The H1Z1 development team will continue to create new features and may make significant changes based on the needs of the game. Those who choose to purchase Early Access should anticipate an evolving feature set, bugs, incomplete content, missing features, and potentially game breaking issues. Early Access is designed for those wishing to support the ongoing development of H1Z1 and be a part of shaping its future. GAMEPLAY Enter a world that has been overrun by zombies and fellow survivors since the H1Z1 virus outbreak. Fight for your life against the infected and against the brutality of others as you attempt to live and see another day. Every moment is borrowed time with one question to answer… Will You Survive?
Racing	This genre simply implies that the main object of the game is to race a determined number of opponents to the finish. The most general differentiation in racing games is the one between racing simulations, which try to duplicate reality as accurately as possible both in terms of physics and in terms of the race track setting, for example GT Legends, iRacing and rFactor, and arcade/arcade-ish racing games, which place realism second to the often fantastic setting and a gameplay that is easy to understand for new players. Arcade racing games are of great variety, ranging from cartoonish kart racing games, like the Mario Kart series, to action-heavy racing in a semi-realistic setting, like the Burnout and Need For Speed series, to futuristic high speed racing, most notably the F-Zero and Wipeout series, to various kinds of ground, water or air vehicle racing. Crossovers with sports games possible, for example in snowboarding games like the SSXseries.	Strap in, gun your engine and go full throttle into the most turbocharged, hi-octane combat racing game to hit Steam. From the developers behind the epic Midnight Club series, Carnage Racing combines seat-of-the-pants driving, tricks and stunts with explosive vehicle combat in a no-holds-barred race for the chequered flag. Take on the rest of the world with Carnage Racing’s exhilarating 8-way real-time multiplayer mode and show them who really rules the road. Carnage Racing is a high-stakes game with one aim - take out your opponents, earn cash and buy upgrades that’ll power you to global victory. Get ready for the race of your life.

Artistic Styles

Artistic Styles in Video Games

Photorealism- This a type of style that creates a realistic effect, call of duty is well known for this sort of effect. The term photorealism is used when the artist creates work based on a picture or video, and the resulting piece of artwork is highly realistic, photo-real-ism. In games photorealism is used with characters in games, the designers for the games want the characters to look as realistic as possible to allow the player to think of them more than just an NPC, as an actual thing, to allow the player to feel emotions towards that character.

Cel-Shading- This type of style makes the image feel like it has been drawn or sketched, games like these are the very popular Borderlands franchise. Cell-Shading is a common in animation and cartons, but this is to do with video games........ So let’s start again. Cell-Shading is a very uncommon thing to see in video games, it is not rare, as some designers prepare the style, but it is not the norm for games, one of the most famous games that use cell-shading are the "borderlands" games, these games are quite popular and come away from the norm by using the cell-shading technique.

Abstract- This type of style is used to create a more cartoon based style to the game, such as Arkeon. Abstraction is an art form that doesn't want to be realistic, it wants to stand out, be different. The work produced in abstract may resemble some things but will have a lot of differences to it, or a lot of strange things in the game. An example of this art style in the new "Botanicula"game, as you can see in the picture, there are 5 main protagonists resembling a: leaf, feather, mushroom, poppy seed and a twig, yet the art style of the game is unusual, and the black creature on the right is unlike anything you've seen. .

Exaggeration-The exaggerated visual style is loosely based on photorealism, the arts style has been enhanced and modified to represent something that could be realistic but is heavily overdone. In a lot of the Japanese developed games there visual style is over exaggerated in games such as Tekken where they are overly muscular with big and outrageous hairstyles and in the Final Fantasy series they have exaggerated weapons, hairstyles, levels etc. Also some western games also used the exaggerated visual style, games like Batman Arkham City & Devil May Cry.

A good example of exaggerated graphics is Rock steady’s Batman Arkham City, what makes this scene exaggerated is Batmans overly muscular body. Although he is designed to look like a real human his features are exaggerated to make him look stronger to fit the stereotypical look of a male protagonist. None of his body parts are good representatives of an actual human he is purposely made to look twice the size.

Computer Game Graphics

Jamie Marsh

Unit 78 Digital Graphics for Computer Games

Pixel Art

2D sprites-In computer graphics, a sprite (also known by other names; see Synonyms below) is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene. Initially including just graphical objects handled separately from the memory bitmap of a video display, this now includes various manners of graphical overlays.

 3D isometric sprites- are 2D sprites that give the impression of depth, posed in 3D, these are used in "The Sims" to add depth to the single perspective. They are still used in games today normally on foliage (as you play games the grass and leaves on trees turn to face you to give the impression of depth)

Concept Art

Concept art is a form of illustration used to convey an idea for use in (but not limited to) films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design.

Texture Art

In the visual arts, texture is the perceived surface quality of a work of art. It is an element of two-dimensional and three-dimensional designs and is distinguished by its perceived visual and physical properties. Use of texture, along with other elements of design, can convey a variety of messages and emotions.

Background Graphics

Background computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene. Initially including just graphical objects handled separately from the memory bitmap of a video display, this now includes various manners of graphical overlays. Originally, sprites were a method of integrating unrelated bitmaps so that they appeared to be part of the normal bitmap on a screen, such as creating an animated character that can be moved on a screen without altering the data defining the overall screen.

In-Game Interface

In video gaming, the HUD (head-up display) or Status Bar is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game’s user interface. It takes its name from the head-up displays used in modern aircraft.

Print Media Art

Print Media Art is the packaging of the game, and other merchandise such as posters etc. Call of duty/Activision use print media art extremely effectively. As you can see by these pictures: