# History of video games/List of Abbreviations

* 1v1 - One versus one. For one player to fight another player.
* 1337 - Leet or Elite. Shorthand speak in common use by gamers during the 2000's.

## A

* AAA - Triple A. A game made with a large studio with a large budget.
* ACG - Refers to the subculture Anime, Comic, and Games.
* AI - Artificial Intelligence. Often shorthand to refer to a computer player.
* API - Application Programming Interface
* APM - Actions per minute. Used by competitive gamers.
* APU - AMD processors known as Accelerated Processor Units. Combines CPU and GPU on a die.
* AV - Audio Visual. Typically used to refer to signal cables or display equipment.

## B

* BBC - British Broadcasting Cooperation.
* BD - Short for Blu-ray Disc. A standard for optical disks mainly used for films and console video games.

## C

* C128 - Short for Commodore 128.
** C128D - Short for Commodore 128D, a North America-only version of the computer.
* C16 - Short for Commodore 16.
* C64 - Short for Commodore 64.
** C64C - Short for Commodore 64C.
** C64GS - Short for Commodore 64 Games System.
* CBM - Commodore Business Machines, now known as "Commodore International".
* CIB - Complete in Box, term used by collectors.
* CD - Short for CD-ROM optical disk technology.
* CISC - Complex Instruction Set Computer.
* Co-op - Cooperative elements, typically in multiplayer games. Used in terms like Couch Co-op to refer to local multiplayer.
* CPU - Central Processing Unit
* CRT - Cathode-ray tube. Common display used before the 2000's for TV sets, computer displays and arcade machines.
* CV - ColecoVision

## D

* DPS - Damage per Second. Also refers to a player role where attacking with a high damage per second is desired (To the point of letting other players handle healing, and taking damage to focus on increasing DPS).
* DVD - An optical disk. Abbreviation is disputed, but usually identified as "Digital Versatile Disc".

## E

* EEPROM - Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory - Storage technology used by some early game cartridges.
* EXP - Experience Points

## F

* FDD - Floppy disk drive.
* FLOPS - Floating Point Operations Per Second, a common benchmark of processing speed.
* FMV - Full Motion Video. Often used in the 1990's when a game featured prerecorded video. FMV game refers to a game that primarily or exclusively uses prerecorded videos for graphics.
* FPGA - Field Programmable Gate Array. A popular technology used by some clone consoles for accurate replication of original hardware.
* FPS - Multiple meanings. Short for Frames per Second. Also may refer to the First Person Shooter game genre.

## G

* GB - Multiple meanings. Short for Game Boy when discussing consoles. Short for Great Britain when discussing releases.
** GBP - Short for Game Boy Pocket.
** GBC - Short for Game Boy Color.
** GBA - Short for Game Boy Advance.
** GBA SP - Short for Game Boy Advance SP (SP stands for Special)
* GD-ROM - Short for Gigabyte Disc Read only memory - a disk format used by Sega in the late 1990's and early 2000's.
* GG - Multiple meanings. Short for Game Gear when discussing consoles. Short for Good Game in casual chat.
* GPU - Graphics Processing Unit
* GPGPU - General Purpose GPU
* G&W - Game and Watch

## H

* HDD - Hard Disk Drive
* HP - Multiple meanings. Short for Health Points. May also refer to Hewlett Packard, a computer and calculator manufacturer.

## I

* IBM - International Business Machines. One of the most notable computer manufacturers since the 1930s, inventor of the PC standard in the early 1980s.
* III - Indie games with scope or funding comparable to AAA games. Also the roman numeral for 3.
* IV - Multiple meanings. Short for Intellivision. Also the roman numeral for 4.

## J

* JP - Short for Japan when discussing releases.

## K

* K - Kilo. Metric unit for thousand. Often seen as Kilobyte, Kilobit, etc.
* KB - Keyboard.
* KD - Kill Death ratio, especially in competitive multiplayer games. Generally a high KD is seen as the sign of a skilled player.

## L

* Lag - Slang for latency, especially in online gaming.
* LCD - Liquid Crystal Display - A common display type since the inception of handheld game consoles. Became nearly universal in general displays after the 2000's.
* LED - Light Emitting Diode - Commonly used as indicator lights on consoles, and rarely as discrete parts of a large console display.
* LIN - Short for Linux, an operating system kernel.
* LOL - Multiple meanings. Often refers to laugh out loud. May also refer to the game League of Legends.
* LoZ - Short for the Legend of Zelda, either the first game or the series in general.
* LP - Let's Play. A genre of writing or video which discusses a playthrough of a game.

## M

* Mac - Short for Macintosh, a computer line launched by Apple in 1984.
* MAC - Short for "media access control", a type of unique address for computer networks.
* MIPS - Two separate meanings. Short for either Millions of Instructions per Second, or the MIPS processor architecture.
* MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game
* MOBA - Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
* Mobo - Motherboard
* MS - Informal acronym for Microsoft.
* MUD - Multi User Dungeon. The smaller precursor to MMORPG.
* MV - Microvision

## N

* N3DS - Short for Nintendo 3DS.
** N2DS - Short for Nintendo 2DS.
* N64 - Short for Nintendo 64.
* NA - Short for North America when discussing releases.
* NDS - Short for Nintendo DS.
** NDSi, Short for Nintendo DSi.
* NES - Short for Nintendo Entertainment System
* NIN - Short for Nintendo.
* NG - Short for NEO•GEO.
* NPC - Non Player Character
* NS - Short for Nintendo Switch.
* NSO - Nintendo Switch Online
* NX - Early codename for Nintendo Switch.

## O

* OLED - Organic Light Emitting Diode. A common display type in the 2010's and on.
* OS - Multiple meanings. Can refer to Operating System or Open Source.
* OOT - Short for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

## P

* PC - Multiple meanings. Personal computer, especially a computer compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (model 5150) or a computer running Microsoft Windows. Also can be used to refer to a Player Character.
* PC-88 - Short for NEC PC-8800 series computers.
* PCB - Printed Circuit Board
* PPE - Multiple meanings. Refers to a computational unit in the PS3 Cell Processor or the Xbox 360 Xenon Processor. Refers to Personal Protective Equipment, which some gaming brands sold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
* PPU - Picture Processing Unit, A GPU of sorts used on some early Nintendo consoles.
* PS - Short for PlayStation in general, may refer to PS1 specifically.
** PS1 - Short for PlayStation 1
** PS2 - Short for PlayStation 2
** PS3 - Short for PlayStation 3
** PS4 - Short for PlayStation 4
** PS5 - Short for PlayStation 5
** PSN - Short for PlayStation Network.
** PSP - Short for PlayStation Portable.
** PSX - Codename for PlayStation 1. Also a Japan-only model of PlayStation 2.
* PUBG - Short for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

## Q

* QPU - Quantum Positioning Unit, used by the Super Mario 64 speedrunning community.

## R

* RISC - Reduced Instruction Set Architecture.
* RAM - Random Access Memory.
* ROM - Read Only Memory. Also slang for an amateur digital copy of a physical game.
* RPG - Multiple meanings. Generally refers to Role Playing Game. In FPS games, refers to the real life weapon - Rocket Propelled Grenade.
** ARPG - Action Role Playing Game
** CRPG - Computer Role Playing Game - Often western in origin
** JRPG - Japanese Role Playing Game
** TRPG - Tactical Role Playing Game
** WRPG - Western Role Playing Game
* RSX - Reality Synthesizer. The GPU used on the PlayStation 3.
* RTS - Real Time Strategy. A genre of game.

## S

* SMB - Super Mario Bros..
* SMS - Short for Sega Master System.
* SNES - Short for Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
* SPE - Synergetic Processing Element, used by the PlayStation 3 Cell CPU.
* SSD - Solid State Drive.

## T

* TBS - Turn Based Strategy. A genre of game.
* TF - Team Fortress.
** TFC - Team Fortress Classic.
** TF2 - Team Fortress 2.

## U

* UMD - Universal Media Disc, a portable optical disk format used by Sony.

## V

* VC - Multiple meanings. Short for Venture Capital. Short for Nintendo's Virtual Console.
* VCS - Atari Video Computer System, original name of console CX-2600, later renamed "Atari 2600". Also the name of an Atari console launched in 2020.
* VCR - Short for "video cassette recorder", a device used to play and record on VHS tapes or, occasionally, also other video tapes.
* VHS - Video Home System, the most common video tape standard, also used for some very low cost video game consoles.
* VMS - Visual Memory System - Handheld game system/Sega Dreamcast Memory Card in Japan and Europe.
* VMU - Visual Memory Unit - Handheld game system/Dreamcast Memory Card in North America.
* VR - Virtual Reality

## W

* WAD - Short for "Where's All the Data?", default format for Doom package files, in which mods are usually distributed.
* WIN - Short for Windows, an operating system.
* Wolf3D - Short for Wolfenstein 3D, after the game's main executable in PC versions.
* WOW - World of Warcraft.

## X

* x86 - Commonly-used processor architecture designed by Intel, and used by AMD, VIA, and others. The "x" stands for a variable digit.
* x86-64 - Commonly-used extension of the x86 standard, designed by AMD, and used by Intel.
* XB - Informal acronym for Xbox.
* XBL - Xbox Live
* XBLA - Xbox Live Arcade.
* XD - Variant of LOL

## Y

* Y2K - Year 2000. A feared collapse of global computing technology due to poor coding practices on the eve of the millennium.

## Z

* Z80 - Short for Zilog Z80 processor.

## References

← Terminology