Thanks for that! I sence I have used rpg incorectly in the past hehe XD

I believe there are pen and paper RPGs where you don't improve your stats, but you do play a role, like in some superhero game systems (Champions perhaps?).  In this case, it is very likely one can argue that any videogame with a character about is a "role playing game".

Anyhow, I would like to see someone lay out an agreeable definition to what is an RPG, and see if that definition can get torn down.  I would have to then argue, a game where you manage a team of characters and improve their stats, has a hard time being a "role playing game", because you are MANAGING a group of characters, rather than playing a single one.  HOWEVER, such games usual do an emulation of pen and paper RPGs (like D&D) that then ones where you play a single character.  If one sees the history of pen and paper RPGs, one sees how this came about.

On this, I should bring in an MGS4 reference.  To me, MGS4 feels like a great EMULATION of a movie.  This emulation of a movie is akin to what I believe the manage a party videogame "RPG" is like.  It looks like someone is running an RPG, but is it really?  MGS4 is a great emulation of a movie, but would anyone argue it is a movie?

As far as something being an RPG because players advance a story, that sounds like any form of interactive fiction, including adventure games, and not just RPGs (this is a response to another post).

Yeah he does. You controrl the growth of all of his skills.

I think it's fair to say, though, that God of War isn't an RPG in the old sense. Neither are most (if not all) JRPGs. Fallout 3 is probably the latest "true" RPG we've got.

RPG is a game where you:
1. make important and story changing choices
2. your manual skills are mostly irrelevant for the outcome of battle
3. you develop your character or characters in great detail.

That's why stuff like Diablo isn't real RPG (no choices, extremly important manual skills), same goes for God of War (no choices, manual skill required, limited development of character) or for example Okami.

And then you get partial genres like jRPG which fullfill 2&3 but fail at point 1 or going ever further you get action RPG/hack&slash which mostly have point 3 but lack customizable story.

And Yes by that definition Fallout 3 is only FPS/RPG hybrid.

Oh and there's also sRPG genre which is some kind of console gaming naming weirdness as those games are pure strategy with character development. If someone tells me he is roleplaying wholo 50 guys and girls from Valkyria Chronicles I'll seriously laugh.

Do RPG s involve brutally killing a boss by continuously banging his head with a door, or ripping normal enemies into shreds, impaling  a hydras head on a pole and extreme anger and REVENGE ?
Do RPGs have a main protaganist who looks like somebody ate his last piece of pie that he was really looking forward to? Not to mention tattoos all over his body, bald head, and has threesomes with greek chicks, and totally badass.
Are main characters in RPG games forced to serve the Gods in return for their life.
Kratos destroys all the pretty boy dudes with unusually long hair and womanly builds in RPGs and would make them stay in line and rape them one by one until they beg to be killed. (except maybe Sephiroth).
DO NOT CALL GoW a RPG simply because it has some elements (such as leveling up WEAPONS as opposed to characters). It has absolutely nothing to do with RPGs.
Hell GoW makes Heavenly Sword and DMC look mediocore!!!! GoW III FTW!!!

God of War and MGS are the two best franchises EVER!

EDIT : If you mean RPG as in Rocket Propelled Grenade, then yeah. THEY ARE BOTH EXPLOSIVELY awesome.

A decent rule of thumb is that if you change areas/screens/whatever upon getting into a fight, it's an RPG.

GOOD.  Because if you are arguing RPG as in Role-playing games, we have a problem!

Anyhow, stop saying RPG like it is a bad thing.  So, by the way, if leveling up weapons as opposed to characters is not an RPG, what do you make of Dark Cloud and also Blue Dragon?  In Dark Cloud, you level up your weapons.  In Blue Dragon, you don't level up the main characters, you level up your spirit creatures that are your weapons.

I haven't played GoW but personally I think that in a RPG, focus is on developing the character. In action games on the other hand, the focus is on action. Thus GoW is an action game.

 And his health/magic go up aswell.  =p Never played an GoW game Onyx?

I think zkuq is on to something. I think RPG's are based around how you develop the character or essentially how you define his/her role in the universe, which to me isn't really "role playing" but more like role building >_>;;; In action games and what not, your in direct control of the skill needed to succeed and it's less about the character you've created, and more about you personally, the character is just a replacement for the actions you'd be taking. I dunno... something along those lines if it makes any sense xD

And a side note, the more I type the world "Role", the more it doesn't seem like a real word and it totally loses it's meaning! Role... Role... Roll... I dunno >_>