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Special RAM (sometimes built into the processor) in which frequently accessed pieces of information can be stored to avoid having to search the entire memory bank for them. Caches can greatly speed the execution of a program.

Cache Coherent Memory

Systems which have more than one processor often have more than one cache. Cache coherent memory means that the processor will check both its own, and any other processors' caches, when writing to or reading from memory, to make sure it is always writing to or reading from the most up-to-date memory, whether that's in another processors' cache or general memory.


A small device, containing chips, designed to be inserted into a computer or system. It contains either ROM chips with program information or RAM chips (generally for saving information). Before the advent of CD-ROMs, most video games for home systems used to come on cartridges (also called "carts").


A CD-ROM standard designed by Philips that could only be played in its proprietary CD-i consoles. Marketed as a high-end multimedia machine, it was slaughtered in the marketplace by cheap multimedia PCs. A last ditch attempt in 1994 to emphasize the gameplaying aspects of the system failed as well.


A CD which can be written to by using a special hardware device. In actual CDs, pits carved into the surface of the CD are read by the laser in the CD-ROM drive. CD-Recordables, or CD-Rs, simulate the pits by putting ink spots on the CD. CD-Rs are generally gold in color, not silver or black.


A compact disc, similar to an audio CD, containing information that can be read by a computer or console. Since CDs can only be written to once (using special equipment), they are functionally read-only in nature, hence the suffix ROM (see ROM). CD-ROMs can hold about 650 megabytes (650 million bytes), far more than a magnetic disk or cartridge, allowing them to store memory intensive data, like video. Reading from a CD-ROM is far slower than reading from a cartridge or magnetic disk.


Compact Sega Genesis/Sega CD combo that sold at $399, it barely made it into production.


Consumer Electronics Show. A huge trade show for consumer electronics, like computers and TVs. Until E3, it was also the premier trade show for video and computer games. Although some companies still have a presence at CES, its influence is greatly diminished.

CGA (Color Graphics Architecture)

A graphics standard designed for XT machines. CGA cards were capable of displaying graphics at 320x200 and 4 colors - black, white, magenta, and cyan. Even for the time (early 1980s), these graphics were terrible, paling in comparison to other color machines available on the market.


Used for "life" in many Disney games, since Disney prefers not to insinuate that its cute characters could die in any way, shape or form, except for Bambi's mother. See Life.


Codes, tricks, or exploits that are programmed into a game which give the player special abilities, like invulnerability or extra weapons. Cheats are often programmed into games to facilitate easy testing, and left in to add depth.


A generic term for a semi-conducting integrated circuit. Chips are generally nearly flat black quadrangles a few millimeters thick. They are far faster than transistors or vacuum tubes (to put it mildly).

Cinepak Compression

Video compression standard developed by Apple. It provides excellent compression and good video quality. It is an asynchronous compression process — it takes orders of magnitude longer to compress video than to play it back.

CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)

The traditional architecture of a computer processor, it accepts instructions which it then interprets. CISC chips can process more complex instructions than RISC chips, which makes them easier to program for, but they deliver slower performance at comparable speeds. Thus, a 20 MHz CISC chip will, all things being equal, be slower than a 20 MHz RISC chip. The Motorola 680X0 and Intel X86 and Pentium chips are examples of CISC chips. Contrast with RISC.


In game terms, a classic game is an old game, like Pac-Man. More generically, it is used to describe consoles and software from before the crash of '83-'84, like the Atari 2600 and Intellivision and games like Combat, Target Fun, and Ninja Golf — whether or not they were actually classic in the fun-to-play sense.


A form of stop-motion animation that uses easily malleable characters. Examples include Gumby, Coraline, and Clayfighter from Interplay.


A process that occurs in 3D graphics. If an object in 3D space cannot be viewed, it is not drawn by the computer. If it can be seen, it is drawn. If only part of the object can be seen, it is "clipped" and the visible portions are drawn. Computing the portions which are visible takes many more processor cycles than simply drawing or not drawing an object. Sloppy programming can result in improper clipping, so that when the view is very close to the edge of an object, it may not be drawn when it is supposed to be.

Clock Speed

The speed at which a computer chip operates, usually measured in Megahertz (MHz).


Color Look Up Table. See Color Palette.


(1) A series of key clicks or button presses in a game that can activate a cheat. See Cheat. (2) The program instructions that run a computer or console. See Source Code.


A piece of software which COmpresses and DECompresses a stream of data, typically video or audio. DivX and x264 are examples of video codecs.


Any coin-operated machine. Usually refers to a coin-operated arcade video game.


A video game pioneer, Coleco designed the first digital home video game system in 1976, the TelStar arcade, which could only play one type of game, Pong. A cartridge-based system, the ColecoVision, followed in 1982. The ADAM computer (1984) was released just as the home computer and video game industries crashed simultaneously. Coleco is actually an acronym for COnnecticut LEather COmpany.


A cartridge system introduced by Coleco in 1982. It was far more powerful than the other systems available at the time (the Intellivision and Atari 2600). Although it sold more than 500,000 units in two years, it didn't have the installed base to survive the crash of '83-'84 and was discontinued in '84.

Color Palette

Can refer to two things. The color palette may be the total number of colors a system is capable of generating, even if they cannot all be displayed at once (the Genesis can display 64 colors from a palette of 65,000), or it may refer to the (64, say) colors that are being used on-screen at that time, in which case it would more correctly be referred to as a CLUT. Since 32-bit systems can generally display thousands or millions of colors simultaneously, discussion of color palettes is rapidly becoming archaic. Creating custom, well designed CLUTs is still a factor on PCs which can display only 256 colors, however.


In a fighting game, a "combo" is a combination of moves executed in rapid sequence, often following so closely together that the opponent has no time to respond. In some games (Killer Instinct being the first) combos can do more damage to the other character than the sum of the damage inflicted by the individual moves. Some moves are only available during or after combos.

Outside of fighting games, a combo represents two or more successfully performed actions in quick succession without any mistakes inbetween.


A defunct PC industry trade show at which many PC game companies had displays and provided demonstrations.

Commodore 64

A classic 64 K computer introduced by Commodore in 1982. It had a cartridge slot and was originally intended to be used with a cassette tape as the storage mechanism. It was very inexpensive, but displayed only 40 characters across the screen at a time and was functionally unexpandable. It had better graphic abilities than a stock Apple II, but not the Apple IIe.


A collection of old games, presented as a single package. Compilations of classic games are becoming more popular with companies who want to cash in on past hits. The recent trend are HD compilations containing HD versions of games from the last generation (PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox).


A piece of software that converts source code written in a high-level language (such as C) to object code (typically Assembly language) that a microprocessor can run. Also can be used as a noun, compile to refer to the object code itself.


A computer dedicated to playing video games. Examples include Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3.


In arcades, when a game is over, one is often presented with the opportunity to continue where one died (instead of starting over at the beginning of the game) by inserting another quarter or token. Most home games also have the continue option. Some have a limit or set number of continues to prevent one from finishing the game the first time it is played. Most games today all feature unlimited continues and forgiving auto-saving functionality.

Controller Pak

Nintendo's proprietary data storage card plugs into the N64's controller and stores up to 256k of game save data.


A game originally written for one platform (PlayStation 2, for instance) that's translated to work on another platform (like Xbox 360); also called a port.

Copy Protection

Special code in a program that prevents a disk from being copied using conventional measures. Copy protection may also require a "key disk" to be inserted every time a game is played, or information to be retrieved from the manual (such as a series of numbers) every time the program is started. Designed to foil piracy, copy protection is such a hassle for end users that few programs employ it.


Bootleg software presented as the legitimate article. The counterfeit software trade costs the industry billions of dollars a year worldwide, although it's a problem more in countries with less stringent intellectual property laws, like Hong Kong, India, and South America than in the U.S.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The "brain" of a computer (including a game system). It accepts instructions from a program, executes them via the ALU (arithmetic logic unit) and generates an output. While graphics output is generated by the CPUs in most PCs, many game systems use dedicated graphics co-processors to speed the generation of complex graphics, like 3D polygon spaces.


A way of rasterizing convex objects, culling tells the rasterizer not to bother drawing polygons on the back of convex objects, like spheres, that will be hidden from view.


An intermission during gameplay in a game, cut-scenes usually feature animation, information about the next level, or full-motion video. In the cartridge days, when space was at a premium, cut-scenes which contained lots to see and hear were very popular, because they were very rare. With the surfeit of storage space that DVDs and Blu-rays provide, they have become almost obligatory; usually a tedious video must be endured or if possible, aborted by pressing a button on the joypad. See also FMV.

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