RPG

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This is the history of role-playing games:
>evolved out of -improvisational- theatre
>games where players -choose- their characterisation and actions/narrative outcomes
>Dungeons & Dragons (1974), combines role-playing with the =statistical= rules of war-gaming, so that battles can be more objective and strategical
>The first Computer RPGs: Akalabeth (1980), Wizardry (1981) weren't actually role-playing games but strategy games, they only incorporated the statistical/battle element with dungeon exploration
>Fallout (1997), Planescape: Torment (1999), The Elder Scrolls, are the same but with more elaborate exploration, dialogue, and story paths
>and that's the extent of the WRPG: strategy games with a few choices
>>For the JRPG:
>>The CRPGs got popular in Japan before the actual (table-top, LARP, etc) role-playing games
>>therefore they confused statistics for role-playing itself
>>the extent of the JRPG?: shallow strategy games that focus on the juvenile plots, characterisation, FMVs, and soundtracks; culminating in 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within', a single 106-minute-long cutscene JRPG
>>>The exception to this sad history of the CRPG is Deus Ex, which has a plot as developed as any linear action game, but yet can be stretched to accommodate a variety of roles chosen by the player, compared to the shallow multiple-choices of WRPGs and the dearth of choices in JRPGS.