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The popularity of the video game culture has, like any small group, developed its own special words and phrases which gamers know the meaning of, but most other don't. A great many parents find themselves confused when their children try to explain the games they enjoy to their parents. With this in mind, let's take a quick look at some of the most common terms in the video game language, which we'll call Vime (VIdeo gaME). Vime is a rapidly growing language, especially with the rise of online social cultures created by things like MMORPGs confused yet? We'll only be briefly describing these types; other articles about Vime will have to go into further detail. Let's begin with the seven major game genres and brief descriptions of each:

1. Action: The action genre is one of the oldest video game types. These types of games generally focus on gameplay and actions the player must cause the character to carry out, such as combat, exploration, puzzle-solving, and item collection. Action games can be broken down further into sub-categories which tend to focus on one or more of the general action features. Examples of these sub-categories are first-person shooters (FPS), adventure, side-scroller, beat-em ups, and the platformer.

2. Fighting: In many ways this genre shares a number of features with the action games. The major difference between the two genres is this: in an action game the player is generally juggling awareness of a number of factors (enemies, environment, where their character is currently standing or moving, etc), while a fighting game is almost always one-on-one and the player's focus is always on that single opponent.

3. Puzzle: A broad category ranging from logic-inspired puzzles, navigating mazes, lining up blocks in certain patterns, or even busting open bubbles. In fact, many games that are otherwise hard to classify end up listed as puzzle games. Games with abstract or hard to understand concepts/goals often get classified as puzzle as well.

4. Role-playing Games: RPG's are games where the player usually acts a role in the game. In some ways nearly all video games share this trait, but RPG games generally take this many steps further. Gameplay focuses on character growth; in the typical RPG your character increases in power and abilities as you complete the many objectives in the game. While almost every game has a story behind it, none use them as extensively as RPGs. Many RPGs are played for their storyline as for their gaming. Many RPGs are

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