Every time I read or hear journalists, bloggers, or developers use these terms, I hang my head in disappointment. My respect for the speaker drops, and I find anything else they have to say suspect. If these terms aren't outright inaccurate, they carry a tone of scorn and dirision which I find distasteful. I find they're more effective at communicating the mentaliy of the speaker than any useful information.
Here are my picks:
Kiddy: The NES resurrected this industry from the ashes by appealing to children, so give the kids some freaking respect. Odds are good that you were a child when you first picked up a controller and fell in love with games, so stop pretending the youth of today are somehow lesser than you were. If a game is targeting younger players, stop looking down your nose at them and try using words like 'children' or 'family' to describe these games.
Waggle: What better way to deride evolving interfaces than using a word which conjures images of silly penguins and horrible dancing. For some reason, conventional controllers get literally descriptive words like 'dual analogs' or 'gamepad,' rather than being described as 'wiggle control,' because that's all you're doing is wiggling your thumbs! If you're referring to the control technology itself, use the word 'motion.' If you're referring to actions, try words like 'flick,' 'shake,' or 'gesture.'
Next-gen: It's not really what's next if it's already here, is it? Okay, maybe a one-year grace period would be okay as competitors get their own next-gen products out to meet the early bird. The point is that this term needs to die so it can be reborn to discuss the actual next-gen which will evetually follow this one, so learn to let go. Try using words like 'current,' 'latest,' or 'modern.'
Casual/Hardcore: What the hell defines the casual/hardcore split? Is it violence and mature themes? The hours spent playing a game? The duration of a typical play session? The skill required for success? These terms are so diluted as to be nearly meaningless. Then there's the implied inferiority of 'casual.' Whether they want family-friendly games, short play sessions, or more accessible controls, these people paid the price of admission just like the rest of us, their dollars aren't somehow worth less than the 'hardcore.'
______-Killer: Any product which proclaims its main competitor to be a champion is already bound for failure. A product good enough to attract a gang of wannabe murderers is already too successful to kill, anyway. Maybe try coming up with your own ideas of what could make a good product instead of trying to rip off somebody else's design and improve it, eh?
Dooooooomed: Oh, please. There's way too much volatility in this market to declare any product or company doomed. Hardware sales ebb and flow within a generation, and with a typical generation only spanning five or so years, it's not that hard to ride out a lean cycle and have another go at it next time around. Decisions can be made, conditions can change, so stop pretending that anybody's fate is sealed.
Bomb/Flop: I might be more inclined to allow these terms to survive if the people throwing them around had any idea what a bomb really is. It seems like any game which doesn't make the NPD top five for at least one month is a flop, without any consideration of that game's costs, expectations, or long-term sales pattern. Get a clue, or STFU.
Does anybody else have terms they want to banish from gaming media and discussions?
Edit: Updated with some of the suggestions below.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
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