RPG General News - About the 'CRPG' Term

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Felipe Pepe talks about the history of the 'CRPG'-term:

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How to define RPGs and CRPGs? And why the title of my book doesn't make sense anymore

It's been years since I posted here, but I wanted to address a few questions I get a lot. As the editor of The CRPG Book, I feel qualified to answer what are RPGs and CRPGs (as well as WRPGs and JRPGs) are in a very clear, concise and precise way: It depends.

More specifically: When? Where? And to whom?

Definitions tend to change as time passes, generations change and our collective perception evolves. For example, "Ancient Greek" refers to a civilization that would never have identified itself as either "Ancient" or as "Greek". In English, they were Mycenaeans, Achaeans, Danaans, Argives, Hellenes, etc.

In a similar vein, the original 1974 Dungeons & Dragons, considered the foundational stone of RPGs, does not in fact call itself an "RPG". While it talks about players selecting a role, it still considered itself a wargame - its cover is quite clear about this:

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