The way the concept of genre has developed in videogames is by primarily working to explain away the concept of the game at hand in terms of its potential for interaction rather than by commenting on aesthetic or narrative differences. This tendency can be observed in genre names that are configured to self-reflexively lead back to themselves. 1 Names of genres such as Platformer, Hack 'n' Slash, and Shoot 'em up all summarily explain what the player will do in the game. Such names indulge the idea that videogames can only be satisfactorily explained by considering what the player does with the controller as the central experience. The 'genre' becomes more of a 'label' which can instantly act as a convenient (marketing wise) categorisation of the game. The modes of play which the player engages with inform the rise of the widespread phenomenon of acronym genres: MMO, RPG, FPS, RTS. 2 The names of such genres developed as a natural extension of the origin of games as technological experiments and either relate to mechanical representations of what appears on the screen and how an audience manipulates it or reference other modes of game-player/player-player interaction.
Videogame genres, thus, are often reductive in nature and ignore other fundamental aspects embedded in both the playing and the crafting of contemporary digital games.They are differentiated from those of other media as they do not take in consideration the fictional or narrative functions presented within a game. In an age in which game studios invest heavily in crafting narratively powerful media experiences, placing games into specific drawers places a limiting view on what the medium is able to do.
Action/adventure games, on the other hand, have a history of being hard to define by their very nature. They do not present a narrow possibility of interaction, but instead instill a broad view of games based on a number of key concepts which are not limited to specific game mechanics. The genre can somehow identify both gameplay and narrative elements elements rather then exclusively the former. Players purchase an adventure/adventure game expecting to both unravel a primarily authored story in the conventions established by literary fiction, drama and cinema and to experience a set of gameplay elements drawing from a diverse range of sources: platformers, shooters, puzzle games, hack 'n' slash. Both of these elements are combined to create a single multimedia experience which would normally involve exploration, travel, and heroic deeds. In fact, while the game mechanics of action/adventure games vary wildly between specific games (one can easily discern the contrast between the fast, tense gunfights of Resident Evil 4 and the slow, stealth action of Metal Gear Solid 2) the genre seems to be subtended by specific narrative conventions which allow for a comparative analysis of games spanning several genres
Limits on critical study imposed by traditional notions of game genres purely based on mechanics can be re purposed into a broader approach towards games in which all elements - from musical score to game elements to non-interactive scenes - are understood to perform a crucial role in the building of a singular cohesive media experience. In relation to this broader contextual approach, the resilient word 'cutscene' as applied to non-interactive story sequences embedded within such games is misleading as it implies an intrusive “cutting in front of" that which is considered to be the heart of the object at hand: the game's interactive moments. Thus, one will need to re-evaluate the usefulness of using traditional genre labels when applying critical analysis on games built around the kinetic frames of story scenes and explorable worlds.
In the next post, close and comparative analysis on specific games will commence with the critically acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a game which revitalised an entire genre with its specifically crafted fairy tale atmosphere and a story weaving a tapestry of fantasy, time-travel, and Oriental myth.
1. Thomas H Apperley, 'Genre and game studies: Toward a critical approach to video game genres' University of Melbourne <http://www.culture-communication.unimelb.edu.au/research-students/tom-apperley.pdf> [accessed 30 December 2009]
2. In this order: Massive Multiplayer Online, Role Playing Game, First Person Shooter, Real Time Strategy
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