Conceding to Game Terminology

[wongojack | 220]

54 minutes ago, RH said:

Not game related but I remember being in college in my Information Systems courses and everyone would say "It's ESS-QUE-ELL, not SEQUEL!"  Then I graduated and started working in the industry and basically everyone says "sequel", at least in the Microsoft development realm.  I'm just not going to be that one pedant who has to say "SQL", nor does it matter.

 

This one hits home as I am a decades-long database veteran.  I've been around Microsoft SQL Server the most, and I honestly can't say that I can predict when someone will pronounce it as a word or as the letters.  I will say that whenever someone says the whole thing Microsoft SQL Server then it is sequel and if you say anything else, you are insane.  SQL exists beyond MS of course, so I think it is more common when referring to the foundations of SQL rather than a specific variation to hear ess-que-ell, and it doesn't bother me.  Still, as you say, in the MS world it is almost always sequel.  As in "That's our sequel guy @RH"

 

For me, I have not conceded to using the word Tate to describe a vertical display.  It sounds both douchey and like the word "taint" to me which makes me avoid it at all costs.  I have been taught through usage that a vertical orientation is called "portrait," but don't care about that and would settle simply for "vertical."  I know I will lose this fight, but I will try and keep images of taints out of my head for as long as I can.

 

[PII | 1,893]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:36 AM, fcgamer said:

a nephew I've got whose name is Jaxon, with an x

So... he's a miniature version of this guy?

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by PII

[Reed Rothchild | 9,563]

For PSX, I feel like that's what it was back in the 90s (even though there actually was a real, different PSX).

But then after the PS2 came out it was reconned and rebranded as the PS1.  Which is what I've called it since 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,563]

21 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Shmup is so primordial I can't ever have had an issue with it. But I probably more commonly use "shooter" or "STG" because it sounds more natural in a sentence.

I love STGs!

The shooter on SNES?

Yeah, all of them

All of what?

...Shmups.

Schmucks?

A conversation that's never actually happened, but I like to think it has.

[RH | 4,939]

10 minutes ago, wongojack said:

For me, I have not conceded to using the word Tate to describe a vertical display.  It sounds both douchey and like the word "taint" to me which makes me avoid it at all costs.  I have been taught through usage that a vertical orientation is called "portrait," but don't care about that and would settle simply for "vertical."  I know I will lose this fight, but I will try and keep images of taints out of my head for as long as I can.

Every time I hear it, this is what I think.

https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxSg-Bf1ej99JmPKp8C9Z8l3K0EuUST_oF

Edited January 20, 2023 by RH

[DefaultGen | 5,423]

Genre name baggage is the worst. We have a pretty good system for most genres. Action adventure game. 2D shooting game. Role playing game.

I don't know why we are still stuck with nonsense like shmup, Metroidvania, and roguelike.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,563]

4 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Genre name baggage is the worst. We have a pretty good system for most genres. Action adventure game. 2D shooting game. Role playing game.

I don't know why we are still stuck with nonsense like shmup, Metroidvania, and roguelike.

Roguesoulsvania 

[Sumez | 2,983]

35 minutes ago, wongojack said:

It sounds both douchey and like the word "taint" to me which makes me avoid it at all costs.  I have been taught through usage that a vertical orientation is called "portrait," but don't care about that and would settle simply for "vertical."  I know I will lose this fight, but I will try and keep images of taints out of my head for as long as I can.

Well it's pronounced "ta-te", so it doesn't actually sound like "taint"  It also literally means vertical, so no shame in calling it that. I'd say it's a little different from just a game being vertically oriented though. No one calls Pac-Man or Raiden tate games in the arcade, but if the home port has the option to switch between a horizontal or vertical orientation, that setting is traditionally called tate.
It's also not a term I've seen utilized much any longer, since there is little reason to put modern gigantic HD TVs on their side. For a 240p game on a 15khz screen though, it makes a massive difference.

46 minutes ago, PII said:

I use "MetroidVania" like everyone else.  It's just such a cumbersome contraption of a word.  I bet if I make a new one and use it every chance I get... No one else will pick it up.

The term "search action" has been suggested and frequently utilized as a replacement for the Metroidvania portmanteau. But honestly it sounds nearly just as goofy to me, and it hasn't really been able to catch on yet  

[fcgamer | 4,739]

36 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

But then after the PS2 came out it was reconned and rebranded as the PS1. 

For this alone, I'm going to refer to the original PlayStation only as the PSX from here on out. To avoid any confusion, I've posted my intentions here. For those who care, take note, and for those who don't care, take note anyways.

[PII | 1,893]

17 minutes ago, Sumez said:

1 hour ago, PII said:

I use "MetroidVania" like everyone else.  It's just such a cumbersome contraption of a word.  I bet if I make a new one and use it every chance I get... No one else will pick it up.

The term "search action" has been suggested and frequently utilized as a replacement for the Metroidvania portmanteau. But honestly it sounds nearly just as goofy to me, and it hasn't really been able to catch on yet  

It's along the same line as changing peanut butter to "sticky-smooth-highly-viscous-edible-spread"...., but not quite that bad.

 

 

[spacepup | 2,406]

I actually kinda like Metroidvania and Roguelike. 

I did think of a good one that definitely relates to me.  I spend a lot of time with video game preservation and documentation, and part of that process involves preserving the data to a digital format.  I don't really like the terminology at all, but I've had to concede somewhat because in most places it is referred to as "dumping" or "ripping" a game.

I don't love it because those are more "scene" like terms, and carry along connotations of piracy / warez / etc., but they've just stuck for whatever reason.  I contribute a lot to redump.org, and we often refer to the process as "dumping" there.

It's simply not something I can change at this point, so I've had to concede.

[twiztor | 855]

2 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

I came to accept the NES and SNES acronyms and I really don't care if they're prononced as "ness" or "sness." But it bugged me when the Nintendo Entertainment System stopped being THE Nintendo and became the NES.  I feel like it started around the transition to the Nintendo 64 because in school you would still differentiate between the Nintendo and the Super.

i feel like referring to the "ness" or "sness" as words must have been a European thing or something, because i NEVER heard it here in the States back in the day. once online videos got started, i would see it pop up from Europeans and slowly caught on from there. i hate it.

it was always "the Nintendo", until the SNES was released. then it was immediately referred to as "regular Nintendo".

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

For PSX, I feel like that's what it was back in the 90s (even though there actually was a real, different PSX).

But then after the PS2 came out it was reconned and rebranded as the PS1.  Which is what I've called it since 

accurate. PSX was the first Playstation's designation until it got a sequel system, when it retroactively became the PS1.

SHMUP doesn't bother me, although i don't really like to use it personally. sounds too cutesy for me.

[fcgamer | 4,739]

22 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I actually kinda like Metroidvania and Roguelike. 

I did think of a good one that definitely relates to me.  I spend a lot of time with video game preservation and documentation, and part of that process involves preserving the data to a digital format.  I don't really like the terminology at all, but I've had to concede somewhat because in most places it is referred to as "dumping" or "ripping" a game.

I don't love it because those are more "scene" like terms, and carry along connotations of piracy / warez / etc., but they've just stuck for whatever reason.  I contribute a lot to redump.org, and we often refer to the process as "dumping" there.

It's simply not something I can change at this point, so I've had to concede.

I felt that way for years, back in the day when I first got involved in it. I used to tell my brother that someone would take a game and "make a ROM from it" rather than mention dumping.

[fcgamer | 4,739]

2 minutes ago, twiztor said:

I feel like referring to the "ness" or "sness" as words must have been a European thing or something, because i NEVER heard it here in the States back in the day. once online videos got started, i would see it pop up from Europeans and slowly caught on from there. i hate it.

it was always "the Nintendo", until the SNES was released. then it was immediately referred to as "regular Nintendo".

About ness sness, that's funny as my first time hearing it was from the Dutch friend. So you may be onto something regarding the European origins.

Hahaha we used to call it the regular Nintendo too. It's funny how that's what everyone* used to refer to it as, despite lack of internet.

*Everyone with whom I've discussed the issue 

[Strange | 1,700]

I don’t like “Metroidvania” because I like my genres/terms to be more agnostic than that. But I know I’ve already lost that battle.

[PII | 1,893]

57 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I actually kinda like Metroidvania

I definitely appreciate the historical significance of the term..

[Hammerfestus | 3,875]

It is PSX.  But, I guess everyone is entitled to their wrong opinion.

[JamesRobot | 5,816]

Guys, we already established that the appropriate acronym for the PlayStation is just P.  Get with the times.

On 4/13/2021 at 1:08 PM, Code Monkey said:

PS doesn't make sense because you can't arbitrarily choose which letters to include in your abbreviation. You should only take the first letter of each word, in this case P. Why do you add the S? If you're going with a letter per syllable, then it should be the PST but PS doesn't make any sense.

PS1 is weird because it was never called the PlayStation 1, just like there's no Mega Man 1, Dragon Warrior 1 nor Ducktales 1. It was just called the PlayStation and should be abbreviated as such.

PSX just tells me you don't know anything about video games. The PlayStation PSX is a completely separate console that was released in Japan and has its own library of exclusive games. Whenever I see someone list PSX games for sale, I get really excited until I realize they don't know what they're talking about. Yes, PSX was the code name for the PlayStation during development but you don't hear anyone referring to their Switch as the NNX.

PSOne is the full name for a late console release, it's not an abbreviation by definition.

Addendum A: You're confusing an abbreviation with an acronym, they're not the same thing. If you're truly abbreviating the name, you would take a random quantity of the beginning letter like this, "Playst." That's an abbreviation. If you're taking the first letter of the word, it's an acronym.

Addendum B: The correct answer is simply "P" because it's the first letter of the word and satisfies the requirements of an acronym, what you're seem to be trying to achieve.

 

[Gloves | 11,812]

5 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Guys, we already established that the appropriate acronym for the PlayStation is just P.  Get with the times.

 

His statement is incorrect as he ignores that the actual title of the brand is PlayStation. It's a proper noun with two capitalized letters in the name, so both need to be accounted for. So by his logic it should be "PS". 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

If shoot-em-up is acceptable as "shmup," doesn't that mean that the same people who espouse and champion that change have a responsibility to also start using the term "bmup" for beat-em-ups? 

Personally, I'm still going to use the original "shoot-em-up" as "shmup" sounds far more like some sort of messy accident that a pet had than a game category to me.

Also, personally, "Metroidvania" just makes me cringe as, at least at the time it started being used, the vast majority of games in the Castlevania series weren't really like Metroid at all beyond being 2D, side scrolling, and having you jump here and there between platforms.  If that's all it took to hook those two games up, why didn't the Mario games, etc., get thrown in to the batch?

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

8 minutes ago, Gloves said:

His statement is incorrect as he ignores that the actual title of the brand is PlayStation. It's a proper noun with two capitalized letters in the name, so both need to be accounted for. So by his logic it should be "PS". 

Like this?

[Gloves | 11,812]

Just now, darkchylde28 said:

Like this?

No that'd be if it was actually just "'P".

Whirh of course it's not cuz that'd be ridiculous. 

Also I love how PlayStation gets the argument while GameCube sits in a corner hoping nobody notices it.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,563]

It's P from now on, I agree.

Accept it.  Embrace it.  It's better that way.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,563]

35 minutes ago, Strange said:

I don’t like “Metroidvania” because I like my genres/terms to be more agnostic than that. But I know I’ve already lost that battle.

JellyfishVampire

[Hammerfestus | 3,875]

Last night I was playing with my P and it froze up.  Better turn it on its side.