In a discussion about video games one must consider the difference between 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.
A Role Playing Game, or RPG, allows the user to become fully immersed in the world of the game they are playing in. From beginning to 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 users being able to live in a fantasy world with a story of their own making. They can imagine they are a powerful sorcerer or a mighty warrior which is generally far more interesting than the role they play in life. As Justin discusses, character creation is part of what makes RPGs so fun as a user can personalize the protagonist. Consequently, many users spend “upwards of 40 hours” (Bishop) completing the story of, or simply just playing, these types of games. One of the more popular RPGs, Dragon Age, is an excellent example of an RPG.
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, and online, where you log into a server of random players from around the world. The online multiplayer is considerably more popular, leading most producers of FPS games to begin to eliminate the console format from their newer games. 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 seems to be the general consensus 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 cooler you will look to the other people playing. Chase's Call of Duty article discusses just these types of behaviors. 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 earliest games were almost all side scrolling, but now they have become 3D as well. These games require the player 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 platformer on the market.
Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPGs, combine 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 are 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 an 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 in order to get that euphoria they feel when they are challenged and they prevail. My previous article, Video Games and the Brain, discusses how RTSs have also been known to stimulate the brain during play. 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/>.