Difference Between Genres of Video Games and How Each is Addictive
When discussing video games, one must think about the difference between the genres of games. Games generally fall under one of five genres; first person shooter, role playing, platformer, massive multiplayer online role playing, and real time strategy. Each genre is addictive for different reasons.
The Role Playing Game, or RPG, allows the user to become fully immersed in the world they are playing in. From the beginning to the end, they get to make choices on how their character looks, what weapons they carry, what spells they know, what missions they will accomplish, and many other components of their character’s life. The addiction of RPGs stems from the users being able to live in a fantasy world with a story of their own making. When they play, they can imagine they are a powerful sorcerer, or a mighty warrior, even if they are just a normal person in reality. Because of this aspect, many users spend “upwards of 40 hours” (Bishop) completing the story, or simply just playing, these types of games. One of the more popular RPGs, Dragon Age, is a good indicator of what an RPG is like.
Arguably the most popular genre of video games, the First Person Shooter, or FPS, usually has an RPG storyline, although the story is not usually the reason that users buy these types games. The draw of the FPS comes from man’s love of competition. This is the genre of games that competitive gamers are drawn to. Some of them will even “dedicate their lives to getting that 50 kill 0 death ratio on call of duty” (Bishop). There are two types of multiplayer in most of these games; local, where you sit down at a console with some of your friends (currently being removed from most fps games), and online, where you log into a server of random players from around the world. The online multiplayer of these games is where most of the people who play fps games like to go. Not only will people fight each other and try to be the best at the game, but as adrenaline rises and emotions spike trash talk is often exchanged as well. When people play online, it is a relatively known fact that “the more jokes you can make about your opponent’s mothers, and/or their own sexuality” (Bishop), the more fun the game will be for you and the more cool you will look to the other people playing. Call of duty, as stated above, is a good example of what an FPS is like.
The platformer is the genre that many of the “classic” games fell under. The original ones were almost all side scrolling, but now they have become 3D as well. These games cause the player to have to solve different puzzles, or strategically defeat certain bosses who often have very advertised weak points, in order to advance in the game. The basic platformer will often have simple controls like “A to jump and arrows to move, [or] occasionally some other attack is thrown in there” (Bishop) as the developers want people to focus on the puzzle or strategic aspects of the game rather than be confused by a plethora of controls. Super Mario Bros. is probably the most famous example of a platform out there.
Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPGs, combine the character creation and development of an RPG with the competition of an FPS. It is “hands down, the most addictive of the genres that exist out there” (Bishop). In these games you can either go it alone fighting the same types of enemies and monsters you would find in an RPG, team up with friends, fight against friends, fight against random other people, or even in some games create societies with real people that are exactly how the user designs them. The possibilities are essentially endless. One of the most famous, and probably the most addictive, MMORPG on the market is World of Warcraft.
Finally, there is the Real Time Strategy games, or RTSs. In RTSs, the user has to make strategic moves in order to win a battle either against a computer operated opponent, or other users around the world. In these types of games, the user is often “commanding a single character, or in most cases and entire army, and commanding their moves” (Bishop) to lead to a victory of their character, team, or army. These types of games become addictive as every time the user doesn’t win, they want to go back and try again because of the feeling of victory when they are challenged and overcome it. One of the most popular RTS games of all time is Starcraft, where the user builds an entire military complex to fight against another user’s military complex.
Bishop, Brian Laurence. "The Genres of Gaming: The Difference Between an FPS and an RPG." LRN2GEEK. LRN2GEEK, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2015. <https://lrn2geek.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/the-genres-of-gaming-the-difference-between-an-fps-and-an-rpg/>.