Yeah, pretty much. Generally on the side of "isn't a roguelike", though, which generates silly stuff like "not like Rogue = not roguelike". I'll admit I've never really figured out why there's such insistence on exclusion, though. Bringing more awesome games into the roguelike umbrella is pretty nice. I like seeing a little genre expansion, here and there.
I think it's basically this:
The game, Spelunky, is a pretty straightforward platformer, which isn't an insult; there are some really awesome platform games out there nowadays. The problem is labeling it a roguelike, because it just isn't. It is in no way, shape, or form a roguelike. The argument seems to be that since it has random maps, it's a roguelike-- which, ok, I have hairy legs, so I must be a badger?
You could say that Super Hexagon is a roguelike by that definition (permadeath and randomly generated levels). Which of all things is wrong and unjustifiable.
"Those
filthy casuals and their
filthy casual games, each of which suffer from the same problems plaguing MODERN GAMING - too easy, too flashy, too simple - are now attempting to
encroach on, nay,
invade our final, beautiful bastion of turn-based, difficult, complicated,
adult Roguelikes. No, do not misunderstand me, lads! There are some excellent examples of each of these genres; just the other day, I sat at my tippy-tappy touch-and-writey with the new 'Roguish Legacies.' A good platformer on its own merit, but a roguelike? It is
beneath the label. Truly, we of
superior intelligence should not willingly spend our pounds on this filth until such time as
modern game engineers are willing to cater to us
higher breeds with
superior games as they were in times past. Verily, the golden age of complicated, immersive, difficult video games is
over."