Annoying Video Game Terms or Pet Peeves

[Eternal Champion]

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.

"paddle" - probably from Pong, because it was "virtual tennis". Of course, "paddles" are used in table tennis. Sounds very old-school to me.

"game pak" - I believe this is part of Nintendo's PR to distance itself from previous video game associations that public had, because of the crash following E.T. - avoiding the word "cartridge", etc.

Oh, and your roommate is a putz.

And yet, the PlayStation brand symbol is a "PS"

Exactly, therefore it makes perfect sense. I remember seeing "PSX" and thinking, "what the hell? A new PS peripheral?" Dumb marketing-speak.

[mr.soul]

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".

I was just about to post this. GC is fine and looks better. You don't even need the N in it.

I really hate SHMUP for shoot em up. Really awful abbreviation. But that horse is long dead and beaten as I have seen in this topic so far.

And I can understand people hating "ness" "sness" "nezz" and "snezz". I always say N E S when referring to the Nintendo Entertainment System, but I feel like S N E S is too long to say as an acronym so sometimes I catch myself saying "snezz". For the most part I try to just say Super Nintendo though.

[rbudrick]

"paddle" - probably from Pong, because it was "virtual tennis". Of course, "paddles" are used in table tennis. Sounds very old-school to me.

"game pak" - I believe this is part of Nintendo's PR to distance itself from previous video game associations that public had, because of the crash following E.T. - avoiding the word "cartridge", etc.

Oh, and your roommate is a putz.

Exactly, therefore it makes perfect sense. I remember seeing "PSX" and thinking, "what the hell? A new PS peripheral?" Dumb marketing-speak.

Well, 2600 analog controllers were actually called paddles, so that's where I'd put my bets.

-Rob

[Daria]

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."!

It doesn't bother me when other people write it, but I go out of my not to type Game Series 1. I often use the "original" technique, just because it reads better.

[Daria]

FAQ is for Frequently Asked Questions. It is not for "facts." F-A-Q is the correct way to say it.
-Rob

I realize that... but it the context of GameFAQs. Or Game(facts) it is clever. Because they're not questions... just guides. Either way pronouncing each single letter just sounds odd now. I'm corrupted.

[Gentlegamer]

Exactly, therefore it makes perfect sense. I remember seeing "PSX" and thinking, "what the hell? A new PS peripheral?" Dumb marketing-speak.

Wasn't the PSX a Sony home theater system with a PlayStation built-in?

Edit: It looks like the PSX is actually a DVR/Multimedia/PS2 console, link

[spoon]

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.

LMAO

CGN and AGB were codes chosen by Nintendo to represent Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. We used to have to write these down when I worked at Wally World. Blame your beloved Nintendo for this one.

I have two more to add.

Referring to Pit as Kid Icarus and Samus as Metroid. Hot damn people, read a manual or pay attention.

I remember this one commercial on G4 with this dbag talking about "Metroid" blowing up in her suit that would piss me off to no end.

I know I complained about Hardcore Gamer earlier. I prefer enthusiasts or collector.

[motley6]

What was really great about this thread were all the annoying video game terms I hadn't heard of. Like ten people said that they hate in when people call the Super NES, "sness". I have never heard anybody refer to it as that and I didn't think it was possible to be that annoying. Great stuff.

[Cryomancer]

What was really great about this thread were all the annoying video game terms I hadn't heard of. Like ten people said that they hate in when people call the Super NES, "sness". I have never heard anybody refer to it as that and I didn't think it was possible to be that annoying. Great stuff.

Snezz is probably more popular in Europe. I've watched some period gaming shows from Britain, and that's how the host would say it.

[TurboGenesis]

P2/P3 - there is this colleague at work who refers to the PlayStation 2 as P-2 and the PlayStation 3 as the P-3. It do not sound right and the other day he ask about the joystick for the "p-3" which bring me to…

Joystick -- In reference to a control pad, I do not like the word "joystick" There is no stick in a traditional pad controller. Joystick would better reference an arcade stick controller or a controller for a console like the 2600/5200/7800 which came with stick oriented control.

Wiimote -- I cannot like the sound of this… It is sound like the words of toddlers… I like to say Wii controller or even Wii remote. Sorry

[tcv]

As for my pet peeves, I hate the word "pet peeve." It's really fucking dumb.

But that complaint is, by definition, a pet peeve. You've trapped yourself into a logic loop! Will you survive?!

[boatofcar]

"Mary-oh"

I rarely feel like doing bodily harm to people, but I'd like to give everyone who says Mario this way a charley horse.

[Famidrive-16]

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.

I always thought it was 'respawing'...

[emceelokey]

I don't like anything other than an actual joystick being referd to as a "joystick".

[Kitsune Sniper]

"Mary-oh"

I rarely feel like doing bodily harm to people, but I'd like to give everyone who says Mario this way a charley horse.

... Don't get me started on "Rye-You".

[FrakAttack]

Dongle. *shudder*

[thetoxicone]

I think if I ever meet any more people from here, I'll have one big sentence with everyone's annoyances ready as an icebreaker.

[Trevelyan]

Dongle. *shudder*

good one, its anything but a Dongle! surely! I barely believed my friend who was talking about it.

I prefer in real life conversation to use the words in the phrase rather than espouse the acronym letter by letter. This can depend on the situation but most of my friends are not as Video/computer game savvy as myself so i will say, "its a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game" rather than "its a mmorpg". I prefer this because it annoys me when people abbreviate or use acronyms with the presumption that you've understood! lol. I like the terminology and discussion of anything to be concise but also grammatically fathomable and I cant always access my urbandictionary in real life.

Trolls and haters who resist any form of polite & constructive discussion & opt instead for idle denunciation are a pet peeve. I'm guilty of it sometimes I think but some people (even older folks) are content to bask within the gaming community with a childlike, omnipotent brevity, seeking out your nuances and being obtuse whether Online playing games or in Gaming forums. They stop the , but its not unique to video gamers i suppose.

[Tep]

"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.

And though this doesn't mean much, a large amount of gaming magazines (and me) agree with you.
--------
Using SMS lingo when chatting. Applies to much more than just games. "Yeah, I agree lol" is not a response. It's spam.

[rkotm]

extra man, extra live, calling levels(or multiplayer maps) "boards". UGH. I hate those.

side note:when people who dont normally use l33t speak try to. just.dont.do.it.