Are Game Genres Bad?
Sections Two Part Genres Experiential Conventions in Other Art-forms The Thematic Content of Mechanics I was recently posed with a question regarding game genres. To sum it up, the individual made the argument that the way we currently classify games is reductionistic in a way that other art forms’ genres are not. Instead of classifying games according to their thematic value, it was argued that we classify them according exclusively to their mechanics (i.e. first person shooter, city builder, point and click). After some thought on the subject I have come to the conclusion that game genres are both no different from any other genre conventions and that mechanics are a means to thematic content Two Part Genres Generic naming conventions in all art forms are not as simple as placing the works into horror, action, or first person shooters. In reality, all forms of art follow the same two part naming system. We will examine three examples of genres in as many art-forms: horror...