One of the oldest genres of video game is the classic shooter. Shooters are games that require the player to blow away enemies or objects in order to survive and continue gameplay. They usually fall into one of two categories: 1) horizontal, or 2) vertical. These involve moving around the screen and shooting in whatever direction necessary to keep from being killed. This is an example of a sub-genre that has grown enough to become its own genre. In fact, because of the prevalence of these games, many people use the term "shooter" to refer to first-person-shooters. These games are realtime fast-paced action games in which the player navigates an environment from a first-person perspective and, usually, blows everything and everyone away whenever possible. Another of the first video game genres, especially from the computer platforms, was the adventure game. here has always been a strong following for this genre because of the challenge of puzzle-solving and the general lack of violence. This has also made it popular for many non-traditional gaming demographics. It is believed that the platform genre began in 1981 with the release of the games Donkey Kong and Space Panic. Games within this genre are usually identified by navigating environments that require timing and jumping in order to reach a destination while avoiding and/or disposing of enemies. Many of these, like Donkey Kong, have a series of screens, each with its own individual pattern of challenges. As companies began to develop platform games for home consoles and computers instead of arcade machines (i.e. Super Mario Bros for the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment system), they took advantage of the evolving processors and and greater memory capacity by transcending individual screens and utilising actively side-scrolling worlds.  Platform video games continued to evolve as gaming became more 3D. One of the greatest 3D platform games was introduced with the launch of the Nintendo 64 and was called Super Mario 64. Evolving from pen-and-paper games like Dungeons and Dragons, RPGs are a special type of adventure game that usually incorporate three major elements: 1) a specific quest, 2) a process for evolving a character through experience to improve his/her ability to handle deadlier foes, 3) the careful acquisition and management if inventory items for the quest (i.e., weapons, armour, healing items, food, and tools). Having said that, these games still have many variations and appearances. In many ways, puzzle video games are not dissimilar from traditional puzzles. What they offer are unique environments that are not as easily introduced in one's living room. For example, Wetrix enables the player to build up a series of walls that would be able to contain a deluge of water when it falls.  By their nature, simulations are attempts to accurately re-create an experience. These can be in the form of management simulations like SimCity and Theme Hospital, or more hands on like MicroSoft Flight Simulator or Gran Turismo. Like simulations, strategy/tactics games attempt to capture a sense of realism for the game player to experience. However, these titles are often turn-based as opposed to realtime and they give the player a greater sense of specific control over a situation. As you can imagine, sports games are those that simulate the playing of sports. Many of these have incorporated novel aspects beyond the games themselves. For example, most football video games like the Madden series enable the player to create and customise teams and play them for an entire season. Furthermore, many sports games include management elements beyond the games themselves. There is quite a bit of variety in this genre for fans of the games, the players, and the behind the scenes responsibilities of owning a team. Dance Dance Revolution is probably the single largest franchise in this genre. Of the rest, many require a specialised controller like DDR, but several don't. This grouping of games is differentiated by the timed elements usually synched to music somehow. As the name suggests, these titles are an interactive evolutionary step of the horror genre. The main gameplay mechanic in these is to "survive" the environment that includes fantastic or supernatural elements that are very frightening and often disturbing. Many of these titles are rated mature because of they are not intended for younger audiences and often include graphic scenes. It's important to recognise that many games are not limited to a single genre. Some are the combination of two or more game types. In fact, as gaming evolves, we see lines blurred between genres more frequently than not. Since the introduction of 3D gaming, the action/adventure genre has grown dramatically. It is practically a catch-all category that incorporates 3D games with realtime combat and puzzle-solving in a fairly cohesive storyline. Many of these games are also first-person-shooters. Some are 3D platform titles. And most survival horror titles qualify as Action/Adventure games too. 

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