TechRaptor - The Etymology of RPGs, Part 1

Some RPG history on TechRaptor - part 1. Robert Grosso explains the origins of WRPGs and JRPGs. He starts by quoting himself:

To quote from my previous article on Rogue Galaxy:

“Even as early as 2005, fans in the “JRPG” and “WRPG” debate have pitched their wagons, arguing over tonal, mechanic, even artistic differences between the two labels, in the process categorizing hundreds of games between them based upon these arbitrary listings. Today we see forum debates constantly bringing up this debate all the time, yet due to this stigma behind both “categories,” many games tend to suffer from it, especially through the misconceptions, or assumptions, of their design.

If only there was a way to explain why? To maybe get some points across on all of these different subgenres, issues and discussions on role-playing games…”

The debate between these two supposed genres of games is a long one, and frankly not something people want to hear. Go to any forum or you tube video, and you will see hundreds of debates on the validity of these styles of games, circulating through a laundry list of pros and cons to support their personal conclusions.

Yet, what do the terms really tell us? The biggest problems with such terminology is how misleading it can be, the assumptions of a game being made in a certain country notwithstanding. Many tend to cite graphical aesthetics, story and presentation, even battle mechanics as the primary differences between a Japanese and Western role-playing game.