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.