Glossary
Hello, and welcome to the Glossary page! Here you will find some definitions and pictures to help you understand some of the terminology being used to describe the video games recorded in the archive. There are two sections: one for general vocabulary and one for metadata field vocabulary.
General Vocabulary
ESRB - Entertainment Software Rating Board provides video game rating for the United States and Canada
Platformer - A platformer is a game in which the player moves the character around different platforms or levels of different heights within the screen
Action-Adventure - A game genre involving narrative and exploration (adventure) and skill-based tasks (adventure)
First Person Shooter (FPS) - A game played in first person perspective with gameplay that relies on combat and shooting
Role-Playing Game (RPG) - A game in which the player controls the action and storyline of a character. These games are derived from tabletop role-playing games and may have similar mechanics
Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) Game - MMO’s are video games hosted online that involve many players interacting with one another. These games rely on player interactions and usually involve open worlds
Open World Game - A game that includes a large, non-linear environment to explore where the player is usually free to choose what they want to do and when
Sandbox - Sandbox games are typically open-world games that allow the player to use their creativity to design assets and other elements within the game
Consoles
Wii - A wildly popular console released by Nintendo in 2006 that was famous for using controllers (called Wiimotes) that included motion controls
GameCube - A video game console created by Nintendo in 2001
Xbox - An American gaming brand owned by Microsoft that has produced various “Xbox” game consoles and other gaming media
Playstation - A large gaming console brand owned by Sony. There have been 5 "Playstation" consoles released under this brand, as well as various handheld devices
Windows - The computer operating system owned and operated by Microsoft, and one of the most common formats for PC games
Mac OS - Similar to Windows, but owned and operated by Apple. While massively popular with many users, it is less common for games
Linux - Another computer operating system, but one that is considered niche and not widely popular in everyday use
Dreamcast - A game console developed and released by Sega in 1999
Game Boy Advance - A handheld gaming console released by Nintendo in 2001
Nintendo DS - Another handheld gaming console released by Nintendo, this time in 2004 and notable for using two screens (hence the "DS" in the title, meaning "dual/double screen")
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) - Considered by many to be one of the first "modern" home video game consoles and was Nintendo's first system, releasing in 1985 and known as the "Famicom" in Japan
Nintendo 64 - A home game console released by Nintendo in 1996
Metadata Fields
Title - The title of the game as recorded in this archive
version - The version of the game being recorded, such as 'Original Release,' 'Special Edition,' etc.
retailReleaseDate - The date that the game was released to the public. If there are multiple, then we have defaulted to the North American release date
summary - A brief description of the game, such as plot, characters, setting, etc.
colloquialTitle - Any other titles that the game may go by, such as informal abbreviations or alternatives that people may refer to the game by
seriesTitle - The title of the series that the game belongs to
agentNote - The company credited as the primary developer of the game
corporateBody - The company credited as the primary publisher of the game, handling marketing, release, financing, etc.
gameplayGenre - The primary genre of the game according to usual genre definitions
platform - The console, hardware, or software that a game is run on
rating - Game's maturity rating as assigned by the ESRB (defined above) and the elements present in the game that contributed to the ESRB's rating
gameNote - Oral history testimonials collected for the game, displayed prominently on each game's main page along with contextual images/videos/etc.
Source - The source link to where much of the information about each game was found