Weekly Webcomic Wrapup wonders: what's in a genre?
The Titanfall beta may have the Internet going bananas, but there's another beta currently going on that's garnered a little bit more of my attention: the Steam tags beta.
If you need some catching up on this subject, here's the skinny: Valve implemented a beta which allows Steam users to tag games. The idea behind this was that by tagging games, users could more easily discover new ones that featured similar gameplay, ideas, graphics, etc. For example, if I'm the sort of person who enjoys first-person shooters, I could easily discover more first-person shooters by clicking on the, you guessed it, "first-person shooter" tag. The idea was good, but uh ... how to put this ... needed some tweaking. Here's the thing though: sometimes it takes a ridiculous situation to see how silly something really is.
Gone Home was tagged as a "Patriarchy Smashing Simulator" on Steam, and that's ... well, a little silly. But at the same time, what kind of game is Gone Home? What about Stanley Parable? Crypt of the NecroDancer? Was the Mass Effect series a third-person shooter with RPG elements or an RPG with third-person shooter mechanics? Where, precisely, is the line between RPG and Action-RPG? Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. But I am curious to hear what you think! Are genres an outdated way of looking at things? How would you tag your favorite, or most-despised games? Tell us after you vote for your favorite webcomic after the break!
Penny Arcade (Viral)
2P START! (Tap to Flap)
Blow The Cartridge (Mario Golf)
Critical Miss (Trinity Factor Saga)
8BitGamer (Buyer Beware)
Awkward Zombie (Questionhaire)
Nerd Rage (Old Flame)
%Poll-87157%
