Multiplayer
Gamers know it refers to: Any game mode that can be played with one or more other players, either co-operatively, competitively, simultaneously or by way of a turn system.
Non-gamers think it means: A CD changer
Battery back-up
Gamers know it refers to: The use of powered writable memory built into game cartridges to save game data.
Non-gamers think it means: Carrying a spare battery around in case your MP3 player packs up on a long train journey.
Level grinding
Gamers know it refers to: Repeated execution of lower-level side-quests or combat in an RPG in order to attritionally increase an avatars experience level and abilities.
Non-gamers think it means: Really smooth masonry work.
CoD
Gamers know it refers to: Any given entry in the Call of Duty franchise, or the entire franchise as a whole
Non-gamers think it means: Fish.
Character model
Gamers know it refers to: A sculpted and textured polygon mesh used to build an in-game protagonist, enemy or NPC.
Non-gamers think it means: The poor bastards who go through years of theatrical and modelling training only to end up posing in a pirate costume for a fancy dress web-site's promotional photographs.
Kill-screen
Gamers know it refers to: The crashed video display resulting from a fatal game glitch, more common during the golden gaming age of the 70s and 80s when unaccomodated high scores in particular would break a games internal mathematical system.
Non-gamers think it means: The crescendo of a particularly gory scene in a horror film.
Sky box
Gamers know it refers to: The textured enclosure used by 3D games to simulate the sky in outdoor areas.
Non-gamers think it means: The thing that sits underneath the TV and decodes satellite television broadcasts.
XP system
Gamers know it refers to: An underlying character ability development system using a currency of experience points imparted in exchange for in-game actions.
Non-gamers think it means: A PC running a 10-year-old version of Windows.
Sprite
Gamers know it refers to: A piece of 2D art used to depict an in-game character, object or special effect.
Non-gamers think it means: A small supernatural creature, usually humanoid and often having some sort of elemental properties.
Super combo
Gamers know it refers to: An unblockable string of attacks in a fighting game, comprising or culminating in the execution of a special powered-up attack which is earned by charging a dedicated power bar.
Non-gamers think it means: A really good band.
Hideo Kojima originally had "no plans" for a character like Metal Gear Solid's Cyborg Ninja until Yoji Shinkawa's art had him saying "hell yeah, a ninja cyborg!"
One of the most iconic D&D RPGs ever made stood out among Baldur's Gate and Fallout as it was the "first" to make companions "feel like fully functional parts of the story"
