History of video games/List of Abbreviations

__NOTOC__ # 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 100%