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What are some gaming-related names/phrases/terminology that sound ridiculous when you stop to think about them?
- Thread starter ScOULaris
- Start date
Not really anything specific, but eSports nicknames in general:
"We want to be respected as a legitimate sport."
- SHOOTBLAZE, leader of the ULT-FLASH CREW
"I honestly don't know why we aren't seen as something more serious,"
- CLICKZ, head-coach of TEAM MONSTER MUNCH
"We want to be respected as a legitimate sport."
- SHOOTBLAZE, leader of the ULT-FLASH CREW
"I honestly don't know why we aren't seen as something more serious,"
- CLICKZ, head-coach of TEAM MONSTER MUNCH
I'm actually kinda shocked anyone would think GOAT is a gamer word. I barely even see people say the word GOAT on here or in general with regards to games. GOTY sure but not GOAT.
Meanwhile every single day on ESPN, Fox Sports, etc a talking head will bring up how some random game affects such and such person's running in the GOAT debate. Shanon Sharp has on multiple times worn a goat mask on tv after Lebron James had a big game. Sports Twitter and social media in general is plagued with the term, especially after the Jordan doc dropped.
Meanwhile every single day on ESPN, Fox Sports, etc a talking head will bring up how some random game affects such and such person's running in the GOAT debate. Shanon Sharp has on multiple times worn a goat mask on tv after Lebron James had a big game. Sports Twitter and social media in general is plagued with the term, especially after the Jordan doc dropped.
I first heard of GOAT when I saw this album in 2000.
But GOAT originated in 1992
ftw.usatoday.com
But GOAT originated in 1992
Just when did we all start using GOAT anyway?
A look at where the term might have originated from.
ftw.usatoday.com
"DP on wakeup" refers to performing an uppercut-type move after being knocked down in a fighting game
and not, you know, getting some morning sausage stuffing
and not, you know, getting some morning sausage stuffing
Fighting games are a treasure trove for these kinds of threads
You play foosties until you score a knockdown and can run your oki setplay
It sounds like complete gibberish
Are you serious? You must have never watched any kind of sport.
Even then, Metroid-like is a simpler term. Every vania SotN and after is a Metroid-like with action-RPG elements.
I'd never want to change silly fighting game terms, it's part of the charm
It's not a very prolific genre so it always surprises me that it has such an awkward genre name and people don't just call them Action/RPGs or 3D Brawlers.
So I sort of just assumed for a couple decades that "double jump" meant "like in Mario where consecutive jumping can sometimes give you a bit of a boost". But then I discovered that it means when you hop in mid-air, which felt all kinds of dumb to me. Why isn't it just called an "air jump" or something more descriptively helpful like that?
Devil May Cry series calls it Air Hike. There are probably other games with alternate names for double jump.
Air Hike
The Air Hike is a double-jump technique which appears in each game of the Devil May Cry series. In most appearances of the technique, the user concentrates magical energy/demonic power into the area beneath their feet, creating a temporary platform they can jump off of. The visual effect of the...
devilmaycry.fandom.com
Don't really watch a lot of sports, no. Wouldn't be used here since we're not an anglophone country anyway. But I can't say I've ever heard anyone use the abbreviation when I've watched Premier League/Champions League matches with English commentators.
It's because the term Metroidvania was originally a term used to describe the Metroid-like Castlevania games as opposed to the classic linear Castlevania games.
Somehow the term escaped the Castlevania community without the redundant "-vania" being removed.
This happens all the time with words in general, at least in the English language. Sometimes you'll think of or say a word that, for some reason, suddenly sounds weird or unintentionally funny. Usually it's a common word that you normally just take for granted and don't give much thought, but upon closer examination it suddenly seems kind of silly or strange.
I think gaming terminology is actually rife with things like this, and this thread will serve as a hub for such discussion.
I'll start things off...
"Joystick"
We say this all the time, especially when referring to arcade sticks in particular. There was even a time at the early onset of analog sticks on console controllers where many referred to those as "joysticks" too. But take a step back and listen to what you're saying. Joy-stick. Da hell kind of name is that?
I know it stems from a simpler time when videogames and arcades were a new form of amusement being marketed to children, which is why it's strikes me as kind of funny that we all still casually use this term as middle-aged adults all these years later.
It's a stick... that brings you joy!
Check that guy out. He sure is adept at handling that joystick!
I was all "yeah ok" and then by the end of reading this post joystick legitimately started sounding funny to me and I cracked up. Thanks op!
"Boss"
It's funny that the thing you fight at the end of levels or games is coined after someone we associate with as our direct manager at work. LOL Outside of our industry/hobby, it just sounds ridiculous, even though I don't think twice about it in the context of games. Don't even know when it was first used, but I feel like I noticed it originally in an early issue of EGM circa 1989 or so.
It's funny that the thing you fight at the end of levels or games is coined after someone we associate with as our direct manager at work. LOL Outside of our industry/hobby, it just sounds ridiculous, even though I don't think twice about it in the context of games. Don't even know when it was first used, but I feel like I noticed it originally in an early issue of EGM circa 1989 or so.
It's probably been brought up but Smash Bros fan term the Sex Kick.
UK specific but I've had people being arsy with me for using the term mod when related to gaming when in the UK (especially with older people), mod is more known as a subculture that inspired music, clothing and media.
UK specific but I've had people being arsy with me for using the term mod when related to gaming when in the UK (especially with older people), mod is more known as a subculture that inspired music, clothing and media.
OP
OP
Hm. Good one.
That definitely does sound like terminology born from early gaming mags. Now I'm curious to know its actual origins.
"Mana"
Or anytime a game pulls lore out of some particular mythology and then that term becomes widely used to refer to supernatural elements in gaming rather than the original meaning.
Or anytime a game pulls lore out of some particular mythology and then that term becomes widely used to refer to supernatural elements in gaming rather than the original meaning.
Joystick and cockpit are both sex references from early pilots who named those things in reference to body parts.
Seriously, does era not follow sports? I listen to ESPN/Sports News all day at my job, they use the term GOAT, semi-regularly. At least, it's not rare.
That's why we use the term "Jump & Run" for those games in Germany.
I still don't really know what games are and aren't part of this category. I recently replied in another thread about Yakuza 0 and No More Heroes, and I feel like those qualify since they're games where I'm, uhh, controlling a character... and there's action. LOL
The thin wires/hair-like lines that cross over to show the target point.
Kamiya coined the term Sylish Action for DMC and that's what I sort of gravitate to since it's the godfather of that "subgenre" of games.
think of it as how the goons in a gang might refer to their leader as "the boss" and it'll make more sense
Always thought the term "level" (as in, an area or section of a game) was a weird one, especially when used for a game that's not a linear platformer or something. The term doesn't really make a huge amount of sense when referring to different sections of the game's world, physically connected to each other, that the player can just walk in and out of at any time - as tends to be the case nowadays.
I guess people are starting to use the term "zone" instead, but I'm not sure what's wrong with just using the term "area" instead since... that's what it is.
Also the term "campaign". Fine for a military shooter with separate single player and multiplayer game modes, but does it really make sense for a more narratively driven game like God of War or something like Ori that doesn't have any resemblance to the concept of a military campaign at all?
I guess people are starting to use the term "zone" instead, but I'm not sure what's wrong with just using the term "area" instead since... that's what it is.
Also the term "campaign". Fine for a military shooter with separate single player and multiplayer game modes, but does it really make sense for a more narratively driven game like God of War or something like Ori that doesn't have any resemblance to the concept of a military campaign at all?
Because Roguelike is a set of design conventions, not a Genre.
There are countless Roguelike that have gameplay that are completely alien next to other Roguelikes, with the only thing tying then together being the Permadeath/Run-based structure of them.
"Roguelike" is more of a prefix to a game's genre than one itself. And the term hasn't been supplanted because ultimately Rogue is still the defining game of the term. "Doom Clones" and "Dota Clones" found names of their own because other developers were able to find their own twists on the formula their predecessors had laid out - Ultimately you follow the rules set by Rogue, or it's not a Roguelike.
CPU vs. NPC vs. AI vs. Bots
Toons vs. Characters vs. Avatars
Levels vs. Maps vs. Boards
There's so many terms that describe the same thing in general. I've noticed this is one of the most confusing things for new people entering the medium for the first time. Having a bunch of different terms mean essentially the same thing is logical to someone who's played games their entire lives and has context for the history and evolution of terminology, but it's confusing as hell for a newcomer.
Toons vs. Characters vs. Avatars
Levels vs. Maps vs. Boards
There's so many terms that describe the same thing in general. I've noticed this is one of the most confusing things for new people entering the medium for the first time. Having a bunch of different terms mean essentially the same thing is logical to someone who's played games their entire lives and has context for the history and evolution of terminology, but it's confusing as hell for a newcomer.
It means hair in the literal sense of the word hair. Old telescopes (and, much later, telescopic sights for rifles) would have a reticule made of fine hair or hair-like fibres such as silk. These helped significantly with sighting, since with some types of lens, the eye can focus on both the crossed hairs and distant objects, allowing for markers to aid measurements.
The principle was discovered almost totally by accident when a spider wove a cobweb within an astronomical telescope, leading to a short series of astronomical observations that were far more precise than anything else until the inventor was killed in the English civil war and the principle lost (it was later independently rediscovered).