• Back to Home Page

Topics

Topic Notes

  "False/Illusory Walls & Floors"   Many games have false walls and floors (illusions that look like real walls and floors, but you can pass right through them). It is very bizarre when people get befuddled trying to describe them and use wildy incorrect terms like "invisible" (obviously they are visible, they are just not solid).

  "Ground pound"   It's called a "butt stomp", stop trying to clean up the language. "Butt stomp" is perfectly fine.

  "Weekend rental"   There is nothing wrong with this phrase, but I would be extremely cautious in using it, as carelessly calling a great game a "weekend rental" would be a serious insult (not that "weekend rental" means it's a bad game, but it suggests that it lacks depth, which could be an incorrect assumption).

  "Isn't Super Mario Bros. a Platformer?"   It is frustrating how widely misused the term "Platformer" has become in casual conversation. Consider all the things you can do in Super Mario Bros. that do not count as Platforming:
• Standing
• Walking
• Running
• Jumping in place
• Jumping forward or backward
• Jumping over an enemy or obstacle
• Jumping on an enemy
• Swimming
• Shooting fireballs
• Kicking (and chasing) Koopa shells
• Breaking bricks
• Opening question blocks
• Climbing vines
• Grabbing stars, mushrooms, coins, etc.
  When less than 50% of Super Mario Bros. is about actual Platforming, (A) it seems absurd to call it a "Platformer", and (B) calling it a "Platformer" ignores the major paradigm shift that Super Mario Bros. represents. Super Mario Bros. was a major leap forwards that gave rise to the Scroller genre- no longer were gamers moving around on a single small screen (as they did in games like Donkey Kong or Mario Bros.), now they were scrolling through large levels to find the exit, a radical design change in how games were played.
  I'm gonna drop the mic and say it: Super Mario Bros. is not a Platformer. (The focus in Super Mario Bros. is scrolling the screen to find the exit, that makes it a Scroller. Platformers like Mario Bros. had no exit, instead they focused on clearing one or more objectives in a space full of platforms.)

  "Should I go by the title on the cover or...?"   I posit that the title on the title screen is the real title of the game. I say this because the title screen has to be coded and programmed into pixels and game assets. The marketing department can fiddle with the label and the package right up until the last second when it prints, but reprogramming the in-game title screen is no small task. For this reason I believe that a cover or label which doesn't match the title screen was a superfluous last minute change and not a serious intention when it comes to the aspect of game design.

  "It's a ____ view"   Using the terms "Lateral" and "Aerial" is so much more precise, clear and straight-forward than terms like "Side-view", "Horizontal", "Vertical", "Top-Down", "Bird's Eye", "Overhead", "Helicopter-View", etc.

• Back to Home Page

Topic	Notes
"False/Illusory Walls & Floors"	Many games have false walls and floors (illusions that look like real walls and floors, but you can pass right through them). It is very bizarre when people get befuddled trying to describe them and use wildy incorrect terms like "invisible" (obviously they are visible, they are just not solid).
"Ground pound"	It's called a "butt stomp", stop trying to clean up the language. "Butt stomp" is perfectly fine.
"Weekend rental"	There is nothing wrong with this phrase, but I would be extremely cautious in using it, as carelessly calling a great game a "weekend rental" would be a serious insult (not that "weekend rental" means it's a bad game, but it suggests that it lacks depth, which could be an incorrect assumption).
"Isn't Super Mario Bros. a Platformer?"	It is frustrating how widely misused the term "Platformer" has become in casual conversation. Consider all the things you can do in Super Mario Bros. that do not count as Platforming: • Standing • Walking • Running • Jumping in place • Jumping forward or backward • Jumping over an enemy or obstacle • Jumping on an enemy • Swimming • Shooting fireballs • Kicking (and chasing) Koopa shells • Breaking bricks • Opening question blocks • Climbing vines • Grabbing stars, mushrooms, coins, etc. When less than 50% of Super Mario Bros. is about actual Platforming, (A) it seems absurd to call it a "Platformer", and (B) calling it a "Platformer" ignores the major paradigm shift that Super Mario Bros. represents. Super Mario Bros. was a major leap forwards that gave rise to the Scroller genre- no longer were gamers moving around on a single small screen (as they did in games like Donkey Kong or Mario Bros.), now they were scrolling through large levels to find the exit, a radical design change in how games were played. I'm gonna drop the mic and say it: Super Mario Bros. is not a Platformer. (The focus in Super Mario Bros. is scrolling the screen to find the exit, that makes it a Scroller. Platformers like Mario Bros. had no exit, instead they focused on clearing one or more objectives in a space full of platforms.)
"Should I go by the title on the cover or...?"	I posit that the title on the title screen is the real title of the game. I say this because the title screen has to be coded and programmed into pixels and game assets. The marketing department can fiddle with the label and the package right up until the last second when it prints, but reprogramming the in-game title screen is no small task. For this reason I believe that a cover or label which doesn't match the title screen was a superfluous last minute change and not a serious intention when it comes to the aspect of game design.
"It's a ____ view"	Using the terms "Lateral" and "Aerial" is so much more precise, clear and straight-forward than terms like "Side-view", "Horizontal", "Vertical", "Top-Down", "Bird's Eye", "Overhead", "Helicopter-View", etc.