What makes a game an RPG? lengh? customazation? or what ever the developers say it is.Not hating on Mass Effect 2 bewcause i own it and i think it's superb but If it is considered an RPG what does that make Red Dead Redemption?

It's got stat growth, quests, party members, towns, lots of dialogue...really, it's got more RPG elements than some other big-name RPGs.

I don't get labels really.

Well it probably is an RPG or a game with rpg elements (which imo makes it an rpg  :P)... I haven't played red dead. But San Andreas had RPG elements as does Peace Walker. Both games not generally considered RPG.

Another example in a different way is Deus Ex a FPS with RPG elements (And really unique elements at that) But it's generally called atleast on VGC an RPG even though it is a FPS.

Is there an exact definition that's generally accepted? Or is it just what people use to label certain things.

Well I usually label it rpgs if it has lots of customization, really long, exploration(lots of it),dialogue, etc. Games like rdr I count as action adventure shooter or some combo of that, kind of like uc2.

I always thought Des Ex to be a FPS/RPG.

The lines are a bit blurry at times, but using a literal definition I dont think any jrpg in history can truly be considered a role playing game since the developers choose your characters and everything about them for you which would mean that almost every game in existence could be considered an rpg if based on this requirement alone since you are essentially playing a game through a particular characters eyes so to speak.  Since these are video games, we expect certain features within our role playing games such as stat advancement, character progession as a person and skill wise, long playtime and an engaging story.  mmorpgs would have to be considered the pinnacle of role playing in its purest form as this genre truly does allow you to create the character you want and play that character in any way you want (within the rules of the game of course) but then again there are plenty of games that feature customization options and features similar to those of the rpg genre such as leveling and character development even in first person shooters.  This ties into how some see the future of gaming without genres since so many developers these days are trying to provide gamers with enough variety to stay interested by including features found in numerous genres.  Overall I believe the answer comes from gamers themselves and how they play their games.

well, it's a role-playing game.

You take the role of someone and grow as they do...or something like that.

Come to think of it, it's very hard to qualify isn't it? Maybe it's about stat growth stat-growth AND story based.

Dang you have a lot of free time :O

nice read though 

Labels made since in the 90's.  An RPG was an RPG, a FPS was a FPS, and a platformer was a platformer.

Today, you pick most any game out of a hate and fit it into just about every catagory.  A game is generally more one thing than anything else, but you can still find a way to say RPG elements or the RPG and shooter had a baby and it was this!

Personally, I have no problem with calling Mass Effect 2 an RPG.  I don't care if they really streamlined everything, not screwing with inventory management isn't what makes an RPG an RPG for me.  It's all about the characters and the strong story and Mass Effect 2 brings both of those in full.

I think more and more games are coming out that blur the distinctions between one genre and another, which I think is a good thing.  Many games today incorporate aspects from many genres, including action, RPG, shooter, puzzle, strategy, and so on.

In my opinion, I think people should just let games like Mass Effect forge their own unique identities, rather than trying to constrain them to a particular genre.  I think complaining that Mass Effect doesn't have enough "RPG elements" is detrimental to game innovation, because you're asking developers to basically restrict their games to some formula (which differs largely from one individual to the next) that is "supposed" to be used when creating a particular genre.  Why does Mass Effect HAVE to be a typical RPG?  Why can't we just let Mass Effect be Mass Effect?