Annoying Video Game Terms or Pet Peeves

[motley6]

Game Paks- Nintendo Power insisted on calling cartridges this silly-assed name. I never heard anybody else call them that in my life

Master a game- Maybe this is a regional thing but when I went to school up north everybody said they mastered a game rather than what we said in Texas which was simply beat the game. I don't know but it just sounds funny to me when somebody says, "Yeah, I mastered Bubble Bobble," as if it were some kind of mathematical mystery theorem.

Cinemas- I can't stand it when people call the animated interludes between levels, cinemas. I knew a kid growing up who had a lisp and would say, "Ooo, I love the sthinemas!" which made it even worse.

Super "Mayrio" Brothers- Another one of my pet peeve terms is when people mispronouce this series. It is supposed to be Mar-(rhymes with bar)-io

[thetoxicone]

It's always bugged me when adults call every game system a Nintendo...but thats big for me in other areas as well since I also hate when everyone call every Mp3 player an Ipod and every brand of tissue a kleenex as well.

[strassy]

due to my status as an old-fashioned codger in the world of video games (i'm really not that old, 26, but i very rarely enjoy any game made past the 16 bit era), i hate all new terminology. the other day i was talking about the Incredible Crash Test Dummies for NES, and i couldn't remember the term we used to use for when you backtrack a bit and sudden enemies reappear, so i had to say "re-spawn"...i hated myself for a good ten minutes because of that.

[spoon]

Game Tapes-I hate this. EGM seems tto like pushing this one. They were called cartridges last I knew.

[James8BitStar]

One word:

"Storyline"

I don't get how that's become such a flipping buzzword. Today I caught a commercial for a new Advance Wars game and I can swear the announcer dude actually said it had a "grittier storyline." Yeah, so what? Movies and books have had gritty storylines for centuries but you don't see them actually calling them that.

[debian4life]

I would have to say when people say they have "pown" or "own" someone for beating a game or someone in a game. I especially see this in the MMO world. It definitely makes me role my eyes

[8bitgamer]

Shmup for shoot-em-up
Noob for newbie

[klausien]

"I'm a fan of shooters."
"Really? That's awesome, I love them too. What's your favorite?"
"I play a lot of Counter Strike and Halo."
"Oh. I thought you meant like Galaga or Gradius." (Cue mumbling under breath)

Calling an FPS a "shooter" is understandable and acceptable, but it just irks me for some reason. Maybe its because every 2nd game nowadays is an FPS? A shooter is a scrolling shoot 'em up.

[Icarus Moonsight]

"I'm a fan of shooters."
"Really? That's awesome, I love them too. What's your favorite?"
"I play a lot of Counter Strike and Halo."
"Oh. I thought you meant like Galaga or Gradius." (Cue mumbling under breath)

Calling an FPS a "shooter" is understandable and acceptable, but it just irks me for some reason. Maybe its because every 2nd game nowadays is an FPS? A shooter is a scrolling shoot 'em up.

That's a top gripe for me as well. They aped MY games terminology! Bastards must die! Fine, when the future of humanity depends on a lone starfighter to rid the galaxy of an overwhelming alien force don't you dare look at me Mr. Halo-freak. LOL

[evil_genius]

shmup's

The word not the genre.

[Cornelius]

Noob for newbie
I pretty much loathe both of these, but as I understand it, noob is more of a derogatory, while newbie just refers to someone new to the game.

even more prevalent than calling any system a Nintendo seems to be calling a Sega Genesis simply a Sega. As in, "Oh man, I had a Sega when I was a kid." This bugs me slightly more than the Nintendo usage.

[mailman187666]

pretty much any slang word that has derived from MMOs and the word fanboy. Now fanboy is a little different than what has been mentioned already but for some reason I think its the dumbest word. Why don't we just call them ignorant kids? On a side note, I think the naming of game genres has been named very well over the years.

[Poofta!]

motley6 i agree with all you said.

i hate gamestop employees being reffered to as "Game Advisors" WTF?!?!? youre a freaking retail salesperson, get over yourself, only thing i would like advise from you on is wheres the nearest mall restroom.

i like the old 1337 speach, during the days of early UO and the like...

debian4life: you got pwned =P

8bitgamer: youre a noob XP

[Pantechnicon]

- "Atari Tapes": Yes, kids, this one goes back past the NES era. In hindsight it's an understandable one, since the carts more or less resembled a smaller version of an 8-track cassette and were inserted into the 2600 machine in a similar manner.

Other than that, nothing immediately comes to mind. Other than DP, most of my conversations pertaining to videogames occur with my son's friends and classmates, all of whom average being in 4th-grade, so one comes to accept both poor jargon as well as an increased level of hyperbole.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

Oh man, the whole thing of calling a system either a Nintendo or Sega just really gets by blood boiling! People would say that to me and I would be like "WHICH one?!?! Nintendo has had like 10 systems!!!!" The second one would be people referring to the game controller as the "remote". A Wii controller now is almost like one, as are the PS3 and 360 controllers, but I still refuse to call it that. Even worse, from PS2 and earlier, all the controllers were wired (standard controllers)! How the hell does that resemble a remote??!!

Other ones I agree with the hate on are Noob, shmup, FPSs labeled as shooters. Another small one I have is when, every now and then, people keep calling a specific game by their wrong name. My first example is Lunar. There was Lunar: The SIlver Star for the Sega CD AND Lunar: SIlver Star Story for Saturn (and L:SSSC for PSX and PC)..they are NOT the same game! Anyways, you get what I mean....

[kaedesdisciple]

Just off the top of my head, anytime anyone pronounces SNK as "sink"

[xfrumx]

"I'm a fan of shooters."
"Really? That's awesome, I love them too. What's your favorite?"
"I play a lot of Counter Strike and Halo."
"Oh. I thought you meant like Galaga or Gradius." (Cue mumbling under breath)

Calling an FPS a "shooter" is understandable and acceptable, but it just irks me for some reason. Maybe its because every 2nd game nowadays is an FPS? A shooter is a scrolling shoot 'em up.


That's a top gripe for me as well. They aped MY games terminology! Bastards must die! Fine, when the future of humanity depends on a lone starfighter to rid the galaxy of an overwhelming alien force don't you dare look at me Mr. Halo-freak. LOL
Agreed!....... I also can't stand Wii-Mote name 1 Nintendo produced game manual that calls it that! It's a Wii Remote! Stop being so lazy and say that extra syllable.

[sidnotcrazy]

Shmup for shoot-em-up
Noob for newbie

Holy crap, I hate that term SHMUP. Come on, that is a terrible moniker for such a wonderful genre of games.

The more recent one that really irks me now is sandbox gameplay.

[diskoboy]

One word from the 90's used to annoy the living shit out of me.

"Interactive"

I always hated that word. I'm so glad hardly anyone uses that term, anymore.

And I always get a kick out of people that still call games, whether they are on CD or cartridge, 'tapes'....

[RASTAN]

I guess the only real term I hate is when someone in 2008 says that they (and it doesn't happen all to often, but it happens) "OWNED" the game in terms of console gaming, or that they Flipped It in both console or arcade definition. Unless one is doing a 1cc outing in a traditional arcade game and didn't have to continue even once, then they didn't OWN shit. In terms of "Flipping", you cannot Flip the Cartridge (console) or Flip the game (arcade) unless your high score went so high that it reverted back to zero. Yet I hear this term used to describe beating a game. Shoot I only ever knew of a few ppl who ever flipped a game in my life.


Just off the top of my head, anytime anyone pronounces SNK as "sink"

QFT Though I have to admit when I first
set my eyes on the original IKARI game in a movie
theatre back in 1986 or 1987, I thought that was
the name too. Only later for some Japanese guy to
say the whole "Shin Nihon Kikaku" name instead of
S-N-K, and I'd go around telling kids that IKARI was
a game made by Shine Neehow Kick LOL

But knowing better, yeah I hate the term "sink"


Shmup for shoot-em-up


WORD. I've never understood the terminology for
this either. I've always looked at it like this:
------------------------------------------

Shooter = Horizontal or Vertical blast 'a thons
with jet fighters, space fighters and/or flying people.

RGS = Run & Gun Shooter, which more or less
says it all... Super Contra, IKARI, Metal Slug, Shock Troopers,
Devastators, (going into the screen) etc.

FPS = First Person Shooter, which is what most ppl
are playing that peeps call "shooters" :rockets:

BEU = Beat 'Em Ups (which I still call "Roving Brawlers")

VS. Fighting = One on One martial arts games like
Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, KOF, etc.

[rpepper9]

It's always bugged me when adults call every game system a Nintendo...but thats big for me in other areas as well since I also hate when everyone call every Mp3 player an Ipod and every brand of tissue a kleenex as well.

Slightly off topic but what about every bandage being called a "Band-Aid"? (Clerks flashback)

[RASTAN]

And I always get a kick out of people that still call games, whether they are on CD or cartridge, 'tapes'....

Well I know that some Famicom and Super Famicom carts were labled on the back side as "Cassettes". Thus maybe "Tapes" was just an off shoot of back when computer games were actually on audio tape?

[Pantechnicon]

Well I know that some Famicom and Super Famicom carts were labled on the back side as "Cassettes". Thus maybe "Tapes" was just an off shoot of back when computer games were actually on audio tape?

The simplest etymological breakdown of the word "cassette" is "little box". The term need not necessarily refer to magnetic tape media. So the terminology is appropriate, if not exactly utilized in the same widespread sense as that which referred to commercial audio recordings.

Remember also that video games in distributed in cartridge form (Fairchild, Atari 2600, et al ) would have come before both magnetic computer media and widespread home ownership of personal computers. I'm not saying that game carts necessarily preceded computer game programs on tapes. I'm just saying that 30 years ago there would have been more of the former than the latter in American households.

[Cornelius]

This only really applies to print, but I've been seeing a lot of systems, aka consoles, being referred to as 'councils'. They often have power and a/v 'chords' as well.

[rpepper9]

Just off the top of my head, anytime anyone pronounces SNK as "sink"

How about NEC as "neck"? Ha ha.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm also not a fan of "shmup" as a mash-up term for top-down or side-scrolling flying shooters.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

pretty much any slang word that has derived from MMOs and the word fanboy. Now fanboy is a little different than what has been mentioned already but for some reason I think its the dumbest word.
"Fanboy" is incredibly overused.


Just off the top of my head, anytime anyone pronounces SNK as "sink"

How about NEC as "neck"? Ha ha.

Ha...haven't heard those before, personally.

[rpepper9]

I guess I heard NEC as "neck" alot when dealing with customers at CompUSA. NEC put there name on LCD monitors from time to time, and we carried them. I would never correct the person, but when I referred to them I always said N, E, C,. Kinda like gently correcting someone without coming right out and saying it. But most people were too dumb to catch on.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[7th lutz]

People claiming games are to short even if they take over 20 hours to beat.

I am another person who is annoyed by what the people think the term shooters now days.

People thinking a person is a fanboy right away buy just own one next generation system. That is not always the case. I don't mind a person owning a different game console then I do. This not a sign of a fanboy. People may only buy a game console for reasons like what exclusive games are on the system, the price of the system and the durability of the system.

People saying the system you don't have has better games then the system you own and tells you to buy that system without knowing what type of games you like.

Game companies not putting any effort to a sports game that they have exclusive to rights to develop.

People assume you want a certain game console on a virtual game console because you like the vc. People thought I wanted a 2600 to be a vc system and that was never the case.

People acting like a used game console without games that is $100 to $250.00 is cheap. Not all people have that type of money for spending on a 10 to 30 year old game system like a Turbo duo.

The term "fanboy" is overused. I don't think people know the true meaning of the term anymore.

[KREATIVEassassin]

I hate it when people call game consoles "games." Like today, for instance. At work:

CALLER: "Do you have any Wii games?"
ME: "Yes, we have a lot of Wii games."
CALLER: "You do!?"
ME: "Yeah. Which one are you looking for?"
CALLER: "The game. The Wii game."
ME: "The system?"
CALLER: "Yeah. You have any of those?"
ME: "Oh. No, we don't."

[Damaramu]

I also hate the term SHMUP. I still call them shooters. If I'm referring to COD4 or Halo, I call them first person shooters.

Oh yeah. I still get annoyed when I hear "RYE-YOO".

One last thing: RARE!! As in, "OMFG, this loose Super Mario Bros. cartridge is so rare, that's why I'm selling it for $49.99!"

[norkusa]

It drives me apeshit when people refer to console bundles as "sku's". Sku souds like a generic term that should only used by stiffs in sales & marketing. Or by someone trying too hard to sound like game journalist.

Just say "bundle" instead, for cyrin' out loud.

[grolt]

Kind of an aside, but did anyone used to call beating a game "rapping" it? Maybe it is "wrapping", since that would make more sense, but phonetically it's all the same. It used to be a great honor in grade school to have rapped Mario 3.

Shmup? Not so bad, and plus, when we're dealing with eBay listings, it's just short enough to put in the heading without it being too distracting. Would I ever get caught saying it in person? I hope not, but it writes nice and succinct.

[ccovell]

My "SKU" peeve was taken, but these days I also get pissed off when I hear gaming mags (or gamers even, sheesh) refer to "assets" and "IP" in a game rather than stuff like characters or art. It sounds like it came straight from the mouth of a game company lawyer or publicist.

Oh, and when I was a kid, one of my friends would forever use the word "solve".

"Oh, hey, I solved Zelda last night." "This game is easy to solve." "I solved Contra."

C'mon, it isn't a math problem. It wasn't that tough to beat!

[Keir]

I don't have any of my own pet peeves to add, but my wife absolutely hates it when I call a cartridge a "cart".

[strassy]

on a similar note, but off-topic, i hate when people refer to a pregnant women as "preggers"...it just sounds very creepy to me. i just went back to waiting tables, and i am working in a mall. the store next to us is called "EPregger's", and it disturbs me greatly to walk past it. i know that whenever i have kids, my future wife will get irate at me when i inevitably freak out one day when she says "preggers" (which i find is a term that almost all females use, and invariably think it is an adorable thing to say)

to get back on a related note, i hate when i mention Nintendo, and people assume that I am talking about the Wii or something. i play regular nintendo dammit, not this new-fangled stuff!

[Streetball 21]

Before the Wii came out, (or whoever so-called claims to invent the "remote"), I knew people who would call NES, Genesis and SNES controllers, "remotes", which for some odd reason bothered me. Maybe it was a glimpse of the future?

Also, is a 1up called, a ...free man, extra man, extra life, free life???...????

[klausien]

I used to dislike the term "shmup" as well, but have gotten over it because the multitudes of FPS fans stole our common term. It is also easier to type than the alternative "shoot 'em up".

As another contribution, it drives me crazy when people say they "solved" a game as opposed to "finishing" or "beating" or said game. I think it was a more common term in the NES era. It makes a bit more sense for a game like a Zelda or Final Fantasy, or for a PC adventure title especially, but not for action oriented games.

"Yo, I just solved Contra!" doesn't work.

[Daria]

Huh, I don't know what this says about me. But I've always read NEC as "neck". But, it's always been S-N-K, A-I-M, N-E-S, I-B-M etc.. so I'm not normally a big enough dork to pronounce abbreviations as words. It's weird. I used to even refer to FAQs (facts) as F-A-Qs until I heard my husband pronounce it. Then I realized why it was clever. :P

That said I hate it when people call the NES a "ness" much the same way I hate "Mary-Oh" for Mario.

[Cryomancer]

I prefer shooter as well, although i usually go the extra mile and say the vertical, horizontal, isometric, etc as well. Games like smash TV / robotron i'll call twin sticks most the time. I prefer "brawler" for side-scrolling beat em up games like battletoads or double dragon or battletoads and double dragon. FPS / TPS for those genres, RTS and RPG of course...I don't mind Sandbox as a term, the only real alternative would be things like "free roaming" or "GTA clone" which i'm not too fond of. A more recent internet trend is to refer to FPS type games as "SHOOTAN GAEMS", which amuses me to no end.

The British "SNES" pronunciation is crazy weird to hear if you grew up in the states where most people would pronounce the letters separately or just say "super". NEC and SNK I will say as letters, not as a word, FAQ I will usually say as "fack". NES is also letters, or of course the classic "regular nintendo". 16 bit Sega stuff I'll usually just call Genny unless I'm talking about a CD or 32x game specifically.

Oh, and for the record, there ARE remotes that come corded, I've seen LD players with them. But I too prefer "controller" greatly over other words like "remote" or "pad"/"paddle".

[Rob2600]

The word "edutainment" bothers me.



Referring to the PlayStation as the "PSX" bothers me. Where did the "X" come from?



Also, when I worked at a video game store, people would ask "What's it bring?" For example:

"Y'all got that Dreammachine?"

"You mean the Dreamcast? Yeah, we have that."

"Cool. What's it bring?"

"Um, I guess it brings you fun."

"No, dog. Like, what's in the box?"

"Oh. You mean what does it come with."

"Yeah, exactly. What's it bring?"

I really hated that.



"Remote control" bothers me too, as in, "We need new batteries for the remote control." It's a remote controller.




People claiming games are to short even if they take over 20 hours to beat.

I agree. At what point in time did a game's length become a selling point? I'd take a well-produced, fun 30 minute game over a boring, repetitive, glitchy 60 hour mess any day.

[Soviet Conscript]

on a similar note, but off-topic, i hate when people refer to a pregnant women as "preggers"...it just sounds very creepy to me. i just went back to waiting tables, and i am working in a mall. the store next to us is called "EPregger's", and it disturbs me greatly to walk past it. i know that whenever i have kids, my future wife will get irate at me when i inevitably freak out one day when she says "preggers" (which i find is a term that almost all females use, and invariably think it is an adorable thing to say)

to get back on a related note, i hate when i mention Nintendo, and people assume that I am talking about the Wii or something. i play regular nintendo dammit, not this new-fangled stuff!

agreed.....i think its creepy as well, also "preggo" is creepy.

on anouther note i own chinchillas, my girlfriend calls then "chinnies" and i call them "chillas" and she hates when i call them that...so i make a point to refer to them that way every chance i get

as far as video games...i hate the term "pawned" or "pwn" some girl in a class i'm takeing had a shirt that had "I pwn boys" that mildy annoyed me.

[winniethepujols]

I had a friend that always called controllers "paddles." How freakin' lame does that sound? I don't know if that was derived from Atari or whatever (I really have no idea, just blatant speculation), but either way, it's stupid.

I echo the hate on the "Game Pak" term. Sounds so dumb. I also agree with the hatred of the word "mastered." I didn't hear people say it much, but when they did, I wanted to punch 'em! The thing about sports games being rehashed every year was a great thing that was brought up.

My roommate is ignorant, and if we're playing a multiplayer FPS, he'll advise me to lay low after he dies so that he can "respond." (Respawn is what he's trying to say.) Oh yeah, he recently asked me to borrow the N64 classic "The Macarena of Life;" he wasn't being facetious -- he's just that dumb.

I'll try and think of more. I'm really tired and it's tough to think right now.

Great thread, though!

[spoon]

Referring to every open wold or sandbox game as GTA-esque. It would be like referring to every platform game as Mario-esque.

Gunporn in reference to Black. Saying anything-porn that is not porn bothers me actually. Gunpr0n would have been better.

Hardcore Gamers- I don't understand why I am a hardcore gamer because I buy and play games. Lots of mags say I am.

[bazariah]

for me it's:

not so much in the way of terms but more like peeves

any time you hear somebody pwned, owned, own, someone in a game

example: "i pwned [insert random name here] at world of warcraft"

my view: well done man your at level 60 or whatever and play 20 hours per day for the past 2 years, this guy has only just started out and spends about an hour per day max playing

example: "im gonna own you, you noob"

my view: congrats i dont play first person shooters much and the only reason i have this game is because i got it cheap/free im playing it to relax and chill out not for "competitive" reasons

then theres people who think anything before the current generation is for kids

me: i was playing castlevania on the snes the other night, love it awesome game
them: haha you was playing a childs game

any body who terms the older generations of games & machines as retro games, it's all a part of gaming mate.. we dont call great movies like empire strikes back, dog day afternoon, 2001 and alien retro films do we?

and lastly the legend of zelda.. i love the games but hate it when people refer to link as zelda.. you'd have thought that they'd have realised that zelda is a female name

[bangtango]

I've got two words. Killer App. A term that came into vogue several years back. One day I don't see the term at all online or in print then all of a sudden overnight it is everywhere.

I agree with nork about "SKU" being thrown around by people that would otherwise have no idea what it means. I work in luggage sales, so I know damn well what it means. I just cringe seeing 14 year old kids using it all the time. Some magazine or blogger probably started the trend, in the video game journalism field, to make themselves (and gullible readers) look like "insiders." Another term, as far as I can tell, that just popped up overnight. At least when it comes to casual gamers who would never see the term otherwise or video game magazines/blogs that use the term to come across as "smart."

[Flashback2012]

I've always hated the references to Nintendo "tapes" and "paddles" or "sticks" instead of controllers. Calling them remotes is tricky too depending on the system. I'll have a customer wanting a wireless 360 controller and I'll waste 10 minutes scouring the back room looking for the DVD remote because they asked to buy a "360 remote".

I'm guilty of calling the NES a "ness" and SNES a "sness". :ass:

"P2" and "P3" are quickly becoming my personally hated terms used by customers.

I've never referred to myself as a "Game Advisor". I'm a sales associate. :)

[Pantechnicon]

on a similar note, but off-topic, i hate when people refer to a pregnant women as "preggers"...it just sounds very creepy to me. i just went back to waiting tables, and i am working in a mall. the store next to us is called "EPregger's", and it disturbs me greatly to walk past it. i know that whenever i have kids, my future wife will get irate at me when i inevitably freak out one day when she says "preggers" (which i find is a term that almost all females use, and invariably think it is an adorable thing to say)

I have a similar hangup, which is why I can't eat this stuff:

http://www.celebrityfoods.com/%5Cimages%5Cstaples%5Cthumbs%5C1648.jpg

[XYXZYZ]

The king of all bullshit terminology in the subject of video games, the one I hate the most, the one that makes me roll my eyes in disgust every time I hear some nitwit gaming "journalist" use it, is GAMEPLAY. (http://insomnia.ac/commentary/gameplay/)

[strassy]

I have a similar hangup, which is why I can't eat this stuff:

http://www.celebrityfoods.com/%5Cimages%5Cstaples%5Cthumbs%5C1648.jpg

haha i know what you mean. unfortunately, it seems like the best brand of jarred pasta sauce out there. i've tried others and have always been disappointed. what do you use?

i generally pronounce it "pray-go", trying to sound a little italian, so the association isn't as obvious.

the only play on the term "pregnant" that i approve of is al bundy's theory that all pregnant women should be put in their own state, "Pregnaho"

[norkusa]

as far as video games...i hate the term "pawned" or "pwn" some girl in a class i'm takeing had a shirt that had "I pwn boys" that mildy annoyed me.

Ugh. I can't stand that word either. And I bet the girl is real ugly too, which makes it even worse.

[mnbren05]

Annoying 7-14 year old children on Counter Strike, Unreal Tourn, etc

As far as terms go
Some one asked me for "Ratville" for the PS2 (they meant Ratatouille)

Calling Gamecube and Plasystation, Nintendos (but why the hell does know xbox then?)

The term Vidiots is terribly degrading and a poor invention by politicians (their term for gamers)

Many people ask me for the GOTY and say it goatee,gotti, or gotie

Some people label all games RPG's as one mom tells me how hip she is with these new rpgs and she has a copy of NBA live 07. (She is right in a way but come on your killing me here)

People thinking they are making an award winning clever statement but when you ask them "You wanted this for the Wii?" their answer "Wee" as they nod their heads.

More quick ones
MLB said as Mel-bee
Smack Down vs. Raw as the new WWF game or John Cenas new movie
People saying movie instead of game (funny way to pronounce game)
Bioshock as Biashawk (I live in NE Ohio its not Boston)
Gameboy as Gimboy
Katamari as Catchammani

[kaedesdisciple]

Another one for me, I'm sure I'm echoing someone else here, is the term "hardcore." All of the 12 year old kids screaming various ignorant, hate-filled attempts at the English language on their PS3 headsets in COD4 think they are all hardcore gamers because they have a PS3 and think they know how to "pwn" a "n00b."

Most games these days are too easy in my opinion. I say we force an NES onto all these kids and watch them get "pwned" by games that have no save points, little to no hit points, limited lives and/or continues. We'll see if they can man up to that.

[strassy]

Most games these days are too easy in my opinion. I say we force an NES onto all these kids and watch them get "pwned" by games that have no save points, little to no hit points, limited lives and/or continues. We'll see if they can man up to that.

amen. my roommate is a 360-only player, and he can't understand why I sometimes get so frustrated at games I'm playing. i'm trying to get the max score in Balloon Fight. 3 lives, no power ups, no continues, no password. It's pretty tough, dammit!

for a comparison, i tried playing Halo 3 with him...it seems that as soon as you die, you just get right back up and start shooting again. so basically, all you need to beat the game is to have enough time to go through dying over and over again. the same thing happened with Lego Star Wars. It was an enjoyable game and I had fun playing it, but it is insanely easy. Halo was not as enjoyable, BTW.

[Rev. Link]

Referring to the PlayStation as the "PSX" bothers me. Where did the "X" come from?

Actually, the original code name for the PlayStation back when it was being designed as a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES was "Play Station X". That is where the "X" comes from. Don't worry, this used to bother me a lot too until I learned that little tidbit.

As for NES and SNES, I sometimes say N-E-S, sometimes Nes. I sometimes say Super N-E-S, sometimes Super Nes, but never Snes, and usually not S-N-E-S.

One thing that annoyed me was a story a friend told me about being out at a store and seeing a young mother with a very young child, 4 or 5 maybe. He was screaming, "Mommy, I want to play PlayStation!" over and over, so the mother handed him a GBA and the kid quieted down. I know this is just a case of ignorance, but it annoys me.

[mnbren05]

I'm a fan of the PSX over PS1/PSOne. I do not know why but that has stuck with me. I always say PSX system and then someone will say "Wait. They released another system?"

[DarthKur]

....as far as video games...i hate the term "pawned" or "pwn" ....

I, too, am dismayed at the way today's youth habitually butcher the English language. It's not the fact that it's a "slang" term because just about everyone on Earth uses some form of slang in daily usage, myself included. What I find so horribly irritating is the way everything is flagrantly misspelled even to the point of adding numerals to the nonsense words they utilize. Don't even get me started on the subject of the myriad of dimwitted "urban" terms that, unbelievably, has not died out as of yet.
I guess every generation has their own little quirks that tend to annoy the members of the generations that came before them.

[jb143]

All that nonsence is hyjacked hacker terminology. It annoys me a bit too.

[HYB]

When people refer to Dr.Mario as Tetris. It pisses the hell out of me.

[dave2236]

God, when 12 and 13 year old kids freak out because we sell nintendo 64's

"MAN THAT SHITS SO OLD SCHOOL!!, I remember playing that when I was a kid!"

...your 13 and retarded.

[Wirestone]

"Mobs" meaning monsters.
"Re-rolled" meaning create a new character.

Someone in my household plays WoW, in case you couldn't tell.

[dendawg]

Game Paks- Nintendo Power insisted on calling cartridges this silly-assed name. I never heard anybody else call them that in my life

That's nothing compared what TI-99 carts were called...."Command Modules." @_@

[Steven]

Wow, shocks me a bit to see someone hate the term "gameplay" so much. It's tidy and efficient. It's just convenient. Eh. Whatever floats your boat I guess..



Another one for me, I'm sure I'm echoing someone else here, is the term "hardcore."


Same here. I rarely use the word, and never use it to describe myself. I much prefer the term "diehard" which IMHO has the same concept as "hardcore" minus the 'elitist' connotations. Again, whatever floats your boat but that's my take and I'm stickin' to it.

[Rob2600]

(regarding Prego) haha i know what you mean. unfortunately, it seems like the best brand of jarred pasta sauce out there. i've tried others and have always been disappointed. what do you use?

365 (Whole Foods brand) and Classico are the best.


Most games these days are too easy in my opinion. I say we force an NES onto all these kids and watch them get "pwned" by games that have no save points, little to no hit points, limited lives and/or continues.

You forgot one important aspect of the difficulty in old games: the control! Yes, the control in many older games wasn't as responsive and smooth as it is now. Compare the control in an old game like Double Dragon, Rygar, or Rad Racer, which is pretty good, to the control in a new game like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, or Burnout 2, which is far better.


Actually, the original code name for the PlayStation back when it was being designed as a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES was "Play Station X". That is where the "X" comes from. Don't worry, this used to bother me a lot too until I learned that little tidbit.

I knew that, but it doesn't make any sense. The original code name for the Nintendo 64 was the Ultra 64, but people didn't call it the NU64 because that would be stupid. They called it the N64.

The original code name for the GameCube was the Dolphin, but people didn't call it the "D" or the Dolphin because, again, that would be stupid...just like "PSX."

[Push Upstairs]

The "X" in PSX? It stands for "X-TREME"!!!! :wink 2:




That's nothing compared what TI-99 carts were called...."Command Modules." @_@

I kinda like that term actually. It has a nice sound to it.

[Zebbe]

I dislike how the Entertainment System is called "Nintendo" and the Mega Drive is called "Sega". The PlayStation isn't called "Sony" and the Xbox isn't called "Microsoft", are they?

[jb143]

I dislike how the Entertainment System is called "Nintendo" and the Mega Drive is called "Sega". The PlayStation isn't called "Sony" and the Xbox isn't called "Microsoft", are they?

This slightly annoys me now but in retrospect most people growing up in that era called them that. If you owned a Nintendo system it was an NES, if you owned a Sega system it was *probally* a Genesis...same for Atari. Sony and Microsoft had many pre-established products before their game systems so taht would make much less sense.

[RadiantSvgun]

"I'm a fan of shooters."
"Really? That's awesome, I love them too. What's your favorite?"
"I play a lot of Counter Strike and Halo."
"Oh. I thought you meant like Galaga or Gradius." (Cue mumbling under breath)

Calling an FPS a "shooter" is understandable and acceptable, but it just irks me for some reason. Maybe its because every 2nd game nowadays is an FPS? A shooter is a scrolling shoot 'em up.

No, FPS should here-in be referred to as FPS, and shooter should be referred to as shooter. I'm sorry, but thats a really big pet peeve for me.

[Rob2600]

"I'm a fan of shooters."
"Really? That's awesome, I love them too. What's your favorite?"
"I play a lot of Counter Strike and Halo."
"Oh. I thought you meant like Galaga or Gradius." (Cue mumbling under breath)

That's why I use the terms "first-person shooter" and "space shooter."

[PentiumMMX]

One word:

"Storyline"

I don't get how that's become such a flipping buzzword. Today I caught a commercial for a new Advance Wars game and I can swear the announcer dude actually said it had a "grittier storyline." Yeah, so what? Movies and books have had gritty storylines for centuries but you don't see them actually calling them that.

That's probably because games didn't have storylines in the old days, and want to push the fact games have storylines now. The closest thing to a storyline most Atari games had was "You are guy. Shoot asteroid in space. A Winner is You!" (The exception is Adventure, which has a better storyline than the first Zelda IMO).

Anyway, some things that annoy me:

- People who don't even know the names of the games they like
(They either tell you made-up names like "Mario Fight" (Super Smash Bros.) or poor descriptions like "It's that game where you run around, shooting things")

- Calling the Nintendo 64 the "64"
(It's N64!)

- Called the Sega Genesis a "Sega"
(Sega could mean anything)

- Calling NEC "Neck"
(It's N-E-C. Off topic, but I never had a TurboGrafix-16. I have a NEC PowerMate VP75, though (Their desktop PCs kick ass))

- Spelling "video games" as "videogames"
(Annoys me more than anything, tied closly with the below. Since the '70s, it's been spelled as 2 words, and should stay that way. Learn to use the space bar!)

- People who talk trash about a game they've never played
(Tied closely with the above. I hate it when someone talks trash about a game they never played, just based on either a few screen caps and a brief description in a magazine or on a website or what they've heard from someone else)

[Rev. Link]

I knew that, but it doesn't make any sense. The original code name for the Nintendo 64 was the Ultra 64, but people didn't call it the NU64 because that would be stupid. They called it the N64.

The original code name for the GameCube was the Dolphin, but people didn't call it the "D" or the Dolphin because, again, that would be stupid...just like "PSX."

*shrugs*
Maybe people just were used to having 3+ letter acronyms for their game systems. NES, Super NES, TG16, etc. Personally, I think it would sound awkward and wrong to say, "Hey, do you guys have the new Castlevania for PS in?" Especially since back then there was no PS2 or 3, so you couldn't expect them to say PS1.

That's another thing that always annoyed me. When people say "x game 1" when reffering to the first installment in a series. "Oh, I like Final Fantasy 1, but I don't like 2." Why say 1? The game isn't called FF1, it's just FF. Just say FF, or Mario, or Zelda, or whatever. Or say something like, "my favorite one was the original," or, "the first one," something like that. Don't say, "Castlevania 1 is a hard game."!

[MASTERWEEDO]

The NES being called a "ness"
when I go to a classic gaming store and ask for Odyssey games, i get Odd World.

[jupitersj]

"Mobs" meaning monsters.
"Re-rolled" meaning create a new character.

Someone in my household plays WoW, in case you couldn't tell.

Mob(s) is short for Mobile(s)

Roll and re-roll are part of many mmo terminology straight from the game itself.

I hate WoW; I did play EverQuest for many years though.

I really don't mind most of the abbreviations and terminology mentioned in this thread but if I had to name a pet peeve it would probably be:

"Liek omgz u r retaded this isnt skool so I dun care how I typ online only nerds complan abut that I could care less!11!1!1shit!one"

...on a gaming messageboard no less; when you skip over their question because it pains you to read it(while also wasting your valuable time deciphering what they saved time apparantly "typing").

p.s. I'm typing this on my PS3 and it constantly misses characters so I have to type extremely slow or it misses a lot.

[Cinder6]

I am very passionate about my pet peeves. Here are some of them.

Remote - It's a controller, not a freaking remote. Get it straight. Additionally, whomever coined the term "Wiimote" needs to be shot.

Deck - Alternatively "Control Deck", like Nintendo wanted us to call them. It's annoying, but it's thankfully not that common.

Shooter - When it refers to FPS. A small part of me dies each time I hear it used to describe an FPS, and, like Prometheus, that part of me is reborn, only to die again the next time I hear it.

Extra man - It's an extra life. Not a "man", a "guy", or a "Mario" (especially if it's not a Mario game). The image I get when I think of them as "extra guys" really disturbs me. It's like there's a bunch of them waiting around under the screen, just waiting for the current guy to die in some horrible death, so they can go to their own doom. "Oh, Timmy's gone...you're up next, Larry. I'll go last." It's just...disturbing.

Sness - I can't explain how much this irritates me. Alternates: "Snezz" "Ness", "Nezz". Die.

Rumble - I can't really explain this one. The controller's vibrating, not "rumbling". "Force feedback" is also a little irritating.

SKN - Only encountered this one recently. The people who utter it tend to be idiots, though, so I guess it's to be expected.

CGI - Now, the term itself doesn't bother me, but when people say it like "Oh, no, that's a CGI, not in-game graphics", it's annoying. Wow, my video game has CGI graphics? I thought it was all charcoal, or something. Of course it's computer-generated.

GCN - I feel a little stabby every time I see this. WHY is the N at the END??? NGC would make more sense, but I guess that sounds too much like that naturalist food store. But come on, the Dreamcast got away with "DC", it's not called "SDC" or "DCS", is it? Don't freaking call the Gamecube the "GCN".

PSTriple - The worst of them all. I see this all the time on GameFAQS (though maybe that explains it...). First off, it's "Three", not "Triple" in the name. Nobody says "Playstation Triple", because it's stupid, and it's not the name. Second, it's MORE WRITING. WHY? I feel violent whenever I see this. In fact, I'm getting worked up just writing about it.

Additionally, I find I really hate the name "Wii". It just annoys the hell out of me, for some reason. It's just...an awful name for a console, and I'm not even talking about the obvious puerile jokes. I also don't like "Xbox 360", for obvious geometric reasons. I think from now on, I'm going to call it the "Xbox 2pi", because that's equivalent.

On the subject of "preggos": I've never heard that term before. Now, of course, I'm going to hear it everywhere I go. I, too, find it strangely annoying and creepy. I refuse to ever acknowledge it. Or, better, I'll make up some BS story about it being extremely derogatory, which should get people I know to stop using it (if I ever do hear it used; hopefully, it's a regional thing).

I probably have more, but I can't think of anything else.