L.A. Speak : Video Gamers

flap v. to play video games. rel. flapper: a video gamer.

in the zone adj. when a player is totally captivated by the game. “Check out Eddie’s little brother--he’s in the zone.”

lives n. number of chances or turns.

1-up n. extra life. Evolved from Pac-Man, whose display screen announced first player’s turn as “1-up.”

shooter n. game based on shooting at attackers. Genre evolved from arcade games like Defender and Space Invaders.

cheeze victory n. win that exploits a character’s unfair advantages or flaws in the game’s design. In the early versions of Mortal Kombat II, for example, a character named Sub-Zero could trap an opponent and pummel him until he died--a cheeze victory.

dummy v. to remove features from a game when it is translated to another format. “She was great with the sword in the Japanese version--too bad they dummied it out of the American release.”

Easter egg n. hidden code or trick not mentioned in the manual that allows your character to become invincible, have more lives, etcetera.

10-button Aerosmith thing n. false rumor. Derived from erroneous account that Mortal Kombat III would have 10 buttons and that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith would be a secret character. Used to dismiss implausible features rumored in upcoming games. “Gimme a break, this is just another 10-button Aerosmith thing.”