Game Genres - Help List & Categorize

[racketboy]

I have a large project in the works for the site and a lot of it revolves around game genres.
So.....

To get started, lets list any major game genres you can think of and sub-genres that fit under that.
Some subgenres will also fit under more than one main genre.

Example


Main Genre: Platformer
Sub: Side-scrolling run-n-jump
Sub: Puzzle platformer
sub: Run-n-gun

Main Genre: Shooters
Sub: Side-scrolling shmup
Sub: Vertical shmup
Sub: Run-N-Gun
Sub: First Person shooter
Sub: Simulation shooter

Puzzle
Sub: Falling blocks (for lack of better term)
Sub: Word Puzzles
Sub: Puzzle Platformers


You'll notice that Run-N-Gun is under both Platformers and Shooters as they share characteristcs of both genres.
Same goes for Puzzle Platformers (in both Puzzle and Platformers)

Now it's your turn.

Feel free to not only add your own, but suggest changes to ones already mentioned.

Once we really get going, I hope to start mapping these out.

[Mozgus]

GameFaqs does a good job of classifying games in sub-categories.

[racketboy]

GameFaqs does a good job of classifying games in sub-categories.

They do??? I always thought their cateories were incredibly generic....
Have they changed recently? I can't access the site from work.
I want to get detailed.

We'll carry this side conversation to PMs.
I want to keep the thread on topic.

[NebachadnezzaR]

Let's see:

Main Genre: RPG
Sub: Action RPG
Sub: Strategic RPG
Sub: Computer RPG
Sub: Console RPG

Main Genre: Racing
Sub: Arcade racing
Sub: Simulation
Sub: Kart racing (the Mario Kart style)
Sub: "Anti-gravity" racing (think Wipeout)

[racketboy]

Sub: Computer RPG
Sub: Console RPG

The platform shouldn't define the genre.
Would it be more turn-based vs. real-time?
japanese vs. western?

[Faffel]

Japanese/Western for sure.

I'm not sure how many people this would be relevant to, but as a budding horror fan if you're doing a sort of game-in-genre list, I'd suggest a horror list.

First-person horror (self-explanatory, but two star examples of this are System Shock 2 and Call of Cthulhu. They fall more under horror than FPS, I think)
Survival-Horror (this is of the RE bend, and Dino Crisis)
Adventure/Horror (think Fatal Frame and Siren, Eternal Darkness etc)

You could go further for stuff like atmospheric horror, where games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill excel. Finding the proper horror game fit can be really tough as there's no great sources, and I'm a huge horror fan but can't stand Resident Evil for example.

[racketboy]

Japanese/Western for sure.

I'm not sure how many people this would be relevant to, but as a budding horror fan if you're doing a sort of game-in-genre list, I'd suggest a horror list.

First-person horror (self-explanatory, but two star examples of this are System Shock 2 and Call of Cthulhu. They fall more under horror than FPS, I think)
Survival-Horror (this is of the RE bend, and Dino Crisis)
Adventure/Horror (think Fatal Frame and Siren, Eternal Darkness etc)

You could go further for stuff like atmospheric horror, where games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill excel. Finding the proper horror game fit can be really tough as there's no great sources, and I'm a huge horror fan but can't stand Resident Evil for example.

Any genre deserves categorizing....
And like I mentioned in my first post, games like System Shock and Bioshock can be under both FPS and FPH.

[NebachadnezzaR]

Sub: Computer RPG
Sub: Console RPG

The platform shouldn't define the genre.
Would it be more turn-based vs. real-time?
japanese vs. western?

I find this two sub-genres rather hard to name, because it doesn't matter what you call them, every nomination will be incomplete and not entirely correct. But if I have to choose only one, maybe Japanese vs. Western, since there are both Japanese RPGs in real-time and turn-based Western RPGs.

Anyway, I hope my contribution was a positive one.

[racketboy]

Sub: Computer RPG
Sub: Console RPG

The platform shouldn't define the genre.
Would it be more turn-based vs. real-time?
japanese vs. western?

I find this two sub-genres rather hard to name, because it doesn't matter what you call them, every nomination will be incomplete and not entirely correct. But if I have to choose only one, maybe Japanese vs. Western, since there are both Japanese RPGs in real-time and turn-based Western RPGs.

Anyway, I hope my contribution was a positive one.

Yes it was -- anything helps.
so what characteristics make it "Japanese" or "Western" other than what country they were made in?

[Faffel]

Western RPG's are generally around freedom of choice, character development, deeper RPG systems (often D20 or THAC0 based), customization of your characters, and manipulation of the plot. The gameplay is also often more of a strategy RPG bend, with a lot of pausing and planning.

Japanese RPG's are more cinematic, linear, and generally following a long story with the traditional Final Fantasy battle system, or variations thereof. I find these boring and can't play them, so my knowledge isn't that deep on their intricacies.