Board 8 > Nintendo officially endorses "Search Action" as a genre name

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/enterzalman/status/1423567571857641481

a turning point!

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better than Metroidvania imo

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Could also be exploration action, but yeah these names were always better

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To be fair, we don't say "Marionics" or "Dragon Fantasies" or anything like that.

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search action is awful
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KingButz posted...

search action is awful

Why?

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Search action doesn't adequately convey what genre you're talking about. I wouldn't understand what that meant in a vacuum without this topic.

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As with all other cases of trying to control language to replace a natural and accepted term with a new, prescribed one: good luck with that!

Edit: Actually it seems more like this is just a direct translation and probably not meant for English audiences at all? Obviously Metroidvania doesn't exist as a term in Japan in the first place.

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Well were they actually going to call it "Metroidvania"?

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Anyway, Strand Action next pls

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Leonhart4 posted...

Search action doesn't adequately convey what genre you're talking about. I wouldn't understand what that meant in a vacuum without this topic.

This is fair. I expected MGS/Splinter Cell.

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Underleveled posted...

This is fair. I expected MGS/Splinter Cell.

You don't think stealth would be used?

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search action just sounds like knuckles stages

exploration action would be better

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Underleveled posted...

To be fair, we don't say "Marionics" or "Dragon Fantasies" or anything like that.

Roguelikes!

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Leonhart4 posted...

Search action doesn't adequately convey what genre you're talking about. I wouldn't understand what that meant in a vacuum without this topic.

the La-Mulana devs refer to it as "Ruins exploration archaeological action"

so I fully endorse exploration action
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Tom Bombadil posted...

Roguelikes!

That term has its own problems...

Leonhart4 posted...

Search action doesn't adequately convey what genre you're talking about. I wouldn't understand what that meant in a vacuum without this topic.

Ok now explain how Metroidvania conveys genre in a vaccum. Or RPG or FPS.

Genres only mean anything in context in the first place.

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Epyo posted...

search action just sounds like knuckles stages

exploration action would be better

The Japanese word used could be translated as exploration. But also, Knuckles stages are kind of in the same genre as Metroid.

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foolm0r0n posted...

Ok now explain how Metroidvania conveys genre in a vaccum. Or RPG or FPS.

my point is that there's already a commonly accepted term among gamers, so if you're wanting to replace it, it needs to be something that's more to the point than what's already being used or it won't be accepted

although those other terms do convey what type of game it is more than "search action" which just feels like two random words put side by side

heck even using "stage clear" to describe Mario games gets the point across better

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It's way more to the point than Metroidvania. For one, the term has nothing to do with 90% of Castlevania games. You have to know that the term was created during a specific time 20+ years ago when SOTN was popular. And it says nothing about what part of Metroid it's about. Is it the aliens, the shooting, the abilities, the exploration, the platforming? Role Playing Game and Roguelike are similarly nonsensical, and FPS is not as intuitive as it seems as first either.

So effectively everyone just memorizes what Metroidvania and other genre terms refer to after a while. It's easy to add Search/Exploration Action in the mix, especially since it's more intuitive than most genres.

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Kenri posted...

As with all other cases of trying to control language to replace a natural and accepted term with a new, prescribed one: good luck with that!

Edit: Actually it seems more like this is just a direct translation and probably not meant for English audiences at all? Obviously Metroidvania doesn't exist as a term in Japan in the first place.

Metroidvania is used in Japanese, too

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I'm fine with calling it exploration action since that's actually to the point but search action doesn't adequately sum up a genre because "search" is too vague a term

you "search" for things in most action games after all

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foolm0r0n posted...

It's way more to the point than Metroidvania. For one, the term has nothing to do with 90% of Castlevania games. You have to know that the term was created during a specific time 20+ years ago when SOTN was popular. And it says nothing about what part of Metroid it's about. Is it the aliens, the shooting, the abilities, the exploration, the platforming? Role Playing Game and Roguelike are similarly nonsensical, and FPS is not as intuitive as it seems as first either.

So effectively everyone just memorizes what Metroidvania and other genre terms refer to after a while. It's easy to add Search/Exploration Action in the mix, especially since it's more intuitive than most genres.

I actually had no idea what Metroidvania meant, despite hearing the term countless times, until like last year when I played Hollow Knight. I never played Metroid or Castlevania growing up, and assumed it was just side scrolling games that are hard or something

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I would recommend playing some Castlevania games

IGAvanias are best :D

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Underleveled posted...

To be fair, we don't say "Marionics" or "Dragon Fantasies" or anything like that.

There were a lot of other platformers and JRPGs contemporary to Mario or FF in a way that there kind of wasnt for Metroid/Castlevania. We didnt really need a word for Metroidvania until indie games got more mainstream and suddenly there were a million games like Metroid.
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MZero posted...

Metroidvania is used in Japanese, too

Oh that's... legitimately surprising to me, since Castlevania isn't even called Castlevania there.

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ninkendo posted...

I would recommend playing some Castlevania games

IGAvanias are best :D

I did play Rondo of Blood actually, but that was also recently and not a Metroidvania!

Kenri posted...

Oh that's... legitimately surprising to me, since Castlevania isn't even called Castlevania there.

Some of them are, actually. The GBA ones and a few others I think. It's pretty confusing

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Exploration sidescroller seems more accurate. Aren't they all sidescrollers? Pretty similar otherwise to "action-adventure" when I think about it.

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let's just call them frobly-moblys

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They should call it Metroidracula in Japan

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Akumetro Draculoid
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LeonhartFour posted...

you "search" for things in most action games after all

If you mean audio logs or like ammo packs, it's not the main thing in the gameplay. Every shooter, platformer, and even puzzle game nowadays has RPG mechanics for example, but that doesn't make RPG a bad name (it's bad for other reasons).

Some collectathons like Banjo Kazooie are definition "search" games though, but it also makes a lot of sense to put them in the same genre as Metroid.

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LeonhartFour posted...

my point is that there's already a commonly accepted term among gamers, so if you're wanting to replace it, it needs to be something that's more to the point than what's already being used or it won't be accepted

The difference is that this Nintendo post is a formally published article and Metroidvania is a made up term. They (Nintendo) aren't trying to "replace" anything.

Your point doesn't apply here; it would only be relevant if, like, a group of gamers was trying to start a cultural movement to convince other people on the internet to start calling Metroidvanias "search actions". Then you could tell them that they were wrong.

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Epyo posted...

search action just sounds like knuckles stages

exploration action would be better

This is translated by DeepL so it's not actually from Nintendo themselves. Exploration Action is a better translation anyway imo

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

The difference is that this Nintendo post is a formally published article and Metroidvania is a made up term. They (Nintendo) aren't trying to "replace" anything.

It's also explaining what kind of game Metroid is for people who don't know so calling it a Metroidvania probably wouldn't help much!

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Somewhere Matt McMuscles is screaming "I TOLD YOU SO" because he's been pushing search action in his vids for a while.

We should have always called them Metroidlikes and not Metroidvanias too. SotN was 3 years after Super Metroid really established the genre, and 11 years after the original Metroid created it to begin with.

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Kenri posted...

As with all other cases of trying to control language to replace a natural and accepted term with a new, prescribed one: good luck with that!

This. People already use Metroidvania, attempting to change its name is as pointless as trying to change 'roguelike' or 'role-playing game'. Most genre names are a little ambiguous at best, but they become popular and that's what sticks! I really don't get the fuss people make over this one particular name.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

The difference is that this Nintendo post is a formally published article and Metroidvania is a made up term. They (Nintendo) aren't trying to "replace" anything.

Nintendo uses the term Metroidvania. In multiple news articles on Switch they have used it to promote a list of games on sale or whatever, and they explain briefly what the genre generally includes. Microsoft also uses the term officially for similar things on Xbox, despite there not even being any Metroids available on that platform! And as Kenri and MZero say, this article is not an official translation and so might not even be accurate.

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foolm0r0n posted...

If you mean audio logs or like ammo packs, it's not the main thing in the gameplay. Every shooter, platformer, and even puzzle game nowadays has RPG mechanics for example, but that doesn't make RPG a bad name (it's bad for other reasons).

Some collectathons like Banjo Kazooie are definition "search" games though, but it also makes a lot of sense to put them in the same genre as Metroid.

You search for secret exits in Super Mario World, and that's a pretty big part of the gameplay. A lot of traditional platformers have key items you search for in addition to just trying to get to the end of the level. For instance, you can't beat every level in Sonic 3 & Knuckles without finding all the Chaos Emeralds. It's just too vague of a term to capture what they're going for.

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andylt posted...

And as Kenri and MZero say, this article is not an official translation and so might not even be accurate.

SHINE lied to us about video games? I feel lost

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redrocket posted...

SHINE lied to us about video games? I feel lost

is this your first ninkendo topic

He posts topics that are as misleading and vague as the term "search action" all the time...!

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i think i prefer action-explorer to search/exploration action imo

(all are better than metroidvania)

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the term they use is "tansaku akushon"

tansaku - search/explore
akushon - literally the english word action

I think you can safely say the translation is accurate in that regard

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I only provide accurate news to the masses

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I don't think it's an official endorsement of a genre name! And if it is then Stage Clear is also a genre now according to Nintendo.

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Leonhart4 posted...

You search for secret exits in Super Mario World, and that's a pretty big part of the gameplay. A lot of traditional platformers have key items you search for in addition to just trying to get to the end of the level. For instance, you can't beat every level in Sonic 3 & Knuckles without finding all the Chaos Emeralds. It's just too vague of a term to capture what they're going for.

You can beat 90% of those games without exploring

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What's a better term for RPG, though?

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WazzupGenius00 posted...

the term they use is "tansaku akushon"

tansaku - search/explore
akushon - literally the english word action

I think you can safely say the translation is accurate in that regard

context is important! it's not inaccurate per se but explore is much better. When describing games, it's usually used in the context of like "explore dungeons" or "explore an open world" where search wouldn't really make sense.

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Exploration action>Search action.

StartTheMachine posted...

We should have always called them Metroidlikes and not Metroidvanias too. SotN was 3 years after Super Metroid really established the genre, and 11 years after the original Metroid created it to begin with.

This is absolutely right. I adore Castlevania and especially the Iga ones, however it is definitely an imposter here. The gap between Metroid 1 and Symphony of the Night is 1.5x the gap between Symphony of the Night and Cave Story, and most Castlevania games arent even Metroidvanias in any way.

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foolm0r0n posted...

You can beat 90% of those games without exploring

You can, which is why they're categorized as "stage clear" games by Nintendo. The ultimate goal is still just to beat the level.

But if you're enough of a gamer that you'd actually encounter the phrase "search action," you've probably done a lot of exploring in those games. Same with something like DKC, which prides itself on having tons of hidden collectibles.

And if you have to describe what it is to someone with "you know, like Metroid," you might as well just stick with Metroidvania.

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And really, "search" fits something like finding collectibles because it's a tangible thing you're attempting to find. With a Metroidvania, exploration fits better because the goal isn't necessarily to find some tangible thing. It's to go everywhere there is to go.

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