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Top Ten Dying Game Genres
Ant sent us a fun link to an article running over at GameSpy discussing the Top 10 Dying Game Genres. Although I don't think Puzzle games have died - I think they've transformed: Pikmin is just a fancy puzzle game, after all ;) But I still want Dr Mario for my GBA.
Galaga is still one of the greatest games ever!
Posting as directed.
I could have sworn that there were only about 5 or 6 genres total. FPS, strategy (both real time and not), puzzle, sport, RPG (which includes MMORPG), adventure epic, and simulation. If ten genres are dying, then in five years we won't be playing anything.
The graphic adventure game brings back lots of memories... Ahh... King's Quest VI, Quest for Glory I-IV, Full Throttle. Games that actually required thought to play. I really wish they would start (re)making some cool adventure games set in a 3D world (Unreal 2 engine anyone?) I mean, who could say no to 3D Day of the Tentacle?
Beatings will commence if towels continue to be eaten...
I love the Sierra strategy games. It always seems that their games come out and within two months the price has dropped to $10-$20. GameSpy claims in this article "...but now their days as a game developer are pretty much over." Is it really that bad? Am I the only one left that loves their new titles? Empire Earth anyone?
All of these genres seem like something that a young kid in the 80's grew up to. As the technology has advanced, so have the games. I mean you don't see any text based adventures anymore except with MUDs. The same with educational games. Many are still made but as we get older we tend not to play them anymore and therefore pay little attention to them.
I would have to agree with the puzzle genre dying. No one wants to slap down $50 when you can play the same game online for free. A puzzle game has to be more complex and have more detail than just moving blocks in order for me to buy it. I personally bought Pikmin and I loved it but I don't play it that often anymore.
I don't know why they say that text-based games are dying. Muds are still very popular among the online community. Last I check there are hundreds of text based MUDS out there.
Quality over Quantity.http://www.virusgaming.com/
... would have to go to the whole paddle tennis craze that hit the nation awhile back. What was that game called... ping? ... no that's not it.
They are regular genres confined to limited technical resources. One example that they have is "Text adventure". Well, obviously, people are not interested text games any more but it doesn't mean that the niche is gone, it has just been filled with games with more technical capabilities but which still satisfy the same needs and appeal to the same types of people.
Or another example: They mention that "beat 'em up games" are gone, and say that it was because they were 2D. Again, obviously no one is interested in Street Fighter or something like that but it doesn't mean that the whole idea of beating the shit out virtual monsters has vanished.
In fact, all of these have just evolved, when you look at any modern game, you can always see the features that are borrowed from old games and just enhanced with new tech.
When men used to be men
Has anyone ever tried to play one of those adult games? They're probably the least entertaining of all but I imagine they will last quite a bit longer than most others. At least until every computer gamer has a girlfriend/hell freezes over.
chillax137
Graphic Adventures dying? I think not.
How can they say this when Lucas Arts has announced two new games in this "dying" genre?
Full Throttle 2
and
Sam and Max 2
hmmmmm. I think Im going to whip out monkey island and play through that series again...
--Nycto
I don't think so. Monkey Island 4 came out about a year ago, and there will probably be a MI:5. I hope so, for Threepwood's sake. Lucasarts is working on Full Throttle 2, which was, at last count, a graphic adventure. Sam and Max 2 is also in development, which will probably be a graphic adventure. They are partially right, though. I miss the days of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
"Dr Uberman?"
I am very surprised to see Tetris on this list. I had thought that Tetris was still very much alive. Perhaps it is just the geek background in which I work at college, but for some of the people I know, Tetris is the only game they play. Tetris still has versions coming out (mainly looks, not playability), but still, if there are new versions out, surely that must mean there is still some demand?
;-).
Duck Hunt is dying out? Perhaps. I have an old Win95 games CD with Gunboat DuckHunt on it. That was fun
"Alle reden vom wetter. Wir nicht." - SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund.
j00 4r3 3n73r1ng l337 w0r1d.
Naked BMX racing games are alive and well!
1) Super Monkey Ball (NGC)
2) Super Bust-a-Move (PS2)
3) Fantavision (PS2) (come on, it was the first friggin game even released on the PS2)
It might not be a prominent genre on consoles these days, but you can't say it's been dead for two years...
P.S. If you want a good puzzler, check out Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo . The name might put you off, but it is probably the best two-player puzzle game I have ever played. It takes a bit from Columns but adds a "fighting game" twist on it with attacking, defending, counter-blocks, and, of course, super combos.
Games continue to change form and adopt newer forms of graphics. But the best games have a solid foundation and rely on the graphics to tell the story and not to sell the game. Take a look at the list of top games at GameTab. Two Zelda's are in the Top 10 (at least right now). The new gameboy version is hanging onto a top spot while the seemingly controversial Wind Waker has snagged the supreme ranking. Wind Waker is in essence a new tale about Link built upon the foundations of the very first Zelda game for the NES. Nothing has really changed at the fundemental levels.
Notice the lack of PC games on the top 10. A few titles might be missing from the database but it might generally be assumed that a wider variety of titles exists for the consoles that are able to be appreciated by the broader audience. All of the games in the Top 10 are refinements upon a simple formula and many of them are sequels in name if not in spirit of old games.
The videogame industry has not quite run out of ideas like holiday has. It's a pretty darn good idea to be a gamer. If you're burnt out, buy a GameCube which is considered to be for the kiddies. And go make Kimiko happy!
light-gun games are dying? over all the dead bodies I collected from Time Crisis, Time Crisis II, Vampire Night, plus whatever else that I havn't quite bought due to money issues.
On the other hand, the "beat-em-up" - isn't an older version of mortal kombat (which, admittedly, died) had a "keep going" mode that was pretty much like that?
And frogger (3D) is not a fine replacement for pacman/woman/child/mutant-uncle?
Space-shooters have their own incarnations too. in arcades especially. It is amazing how many 194_ variations there are in Japanese arcades. metal slug is available if you want a side-ways-scroll one
I do agree with the graphic adventure, though. Space quest was the bomb. Leisure Suit larry was some crazy stuff too...
However, I would like to remind everyone that in fact I am quite sure that particular genre lives on as adult games. (same thing for full-motion video ones) - so, don't fear - the games are just growing up along with the rest of us. heh.
and no, nobody misses the ghetto edutainment crap.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
I don't know why they say maze games are dying. Games such as Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc all utilize the basic maze strategy...albeit you have to frag your way through the maze, but it is still just a maze.
slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
That's like... weird, or something.
To round out the list:
- "That's not really dying" posts.
- Nostalgia posts ("I remember those games...").
- Michael Moore's speech was great/terrible posts.
and of courseRyan T. Sammartino
"Ancora imparo"
Well,that doesn't mean they are dying. There are probably more gamers today playing puzzle games than ever before: you get them free with your computer, you can play them on-line (games.yahoo.com), you can play them on handhelds, etc.
So why are graphic adventures now seemingly a dead genre?
They don't seem to be--games like Myst are basically a graphic adventure game only that the graphics are better. So, for that matter, are many games that at first glance look like FPSs or RPGs (Half Life, Splinter Cell, etc.).
Time Crisis and its sequels and clones were some fun light gun games, but I have a feeling we won't see many more in the future. One reason is the shift from CRT displays to DLP projection and Plasma/LCD/OLED thin panel displays. There simply isn't an easy or cheap way to make a light gun work with a non-scanning display. Light guns and light pens were cheap hacks back in the day, but doing something similar with a more modern display will require much more precise and expensive optics.
here are the genres that are supposedly dying:
10. Space Shooter or "Shmups"
It's not dying: it has been dead for quite a long time.
9. Puzzle
What??? Lot of people still plays solitaire... even minesweeper!
What might be happening is that there are not new types of puzzles...
8. Light Gun
They're not really dead as they weren't really alive... aside of some people playing on nintendos, there were not a really market for they. I always thaught that the problem was that there is only one way to play with this things... aim and shoot.
7. Text Adventure
They didn't die: they evolved! quite long ago they became graphic adventures.
6. Maze
rrright, they died. But that is not a game genre, just a kind of puzzle.
5. Virtual Reality
Again, that's not a genre. I thing much of us would love to play a FPS with a helmet or somthing truly immersive... but most of us can't afford it, and (AFAIK) the real good ones are way too expensive
4. Educational
They would be right only if Educational games had ever been alive. But i still think that they would be a good idea
3. Full Motion Video
And then again... this is not a genre, it's just poor designed video games with a bad transition/gaming ratio...
2. Beat 'Em Up
They are right (at least!). RIP. We'll miss you (i loved double dragon).
1. Graphic Adventure
They are right again. Why did Graphic adventures died? I really really enjoid Maniac MAnsion, Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island (I II & III)... why aren't new-3d-full-of-eye-candies-graphic-adventures? Perhaps there's a need for a new Roberta.
--krahd
mod me up scottie!
The really sad part of all this is that a few of the genres that are supposedly dying are the ones that were my favorites (text adventure, graphic adventure), and they were my favorites because they combined two things that I craved into one: A challenge to my intellect, and a game set in an engaging story or plot.
This is not to say I can't or won't play other games. It's simply that they do not hold my interest as much as the older genres I mentioned above. The real sad part is the fact that these genres have died or are dying because of the law of supply and demand. No one is demanding these games anymore, so no one is supplying them. That's the real sad part, IMHO.
Karma: Frotzed (mostly due to the Frobozz Magic Karma Company)
Graphic adventures place emphasis on puzzle-solving and a good storyline. Because of the latter, they also tend to be linear.
RPGs are more like the games that you described. The motivation is more on leveling your character up and becoming more powerful rather than a storyline-driven game.
I think that many gamers prefer the freedom and "possibilities" that RPGs tend to offer over graphic adventures. Pick your character, choose where you should be placing emphasis on as far as spells/stats go, etc...
The freedom factor strikes me as one of the reasons that GTA3 has been so successful.
Ditto for the "Beat 'em Up". Their description: "Most beat 'em ups were fairly straightforward, you were a guy and your goal was to beat up other guys until they disappeared into thin air." Except now instead of a 2D side scrolling guy, we have a first person shooter, with a 3D environment and a Space Marine or Solid Snake whose job it is to get to the end of the level while beating up (or fraging) all the dudes along the way. My, how things have (not) changed.
Maze games could be argued are incorporated into other genres, like the above mentioned FPS, although the genre as a distinct entity does seem to have gone away. Other genres metioned in the article I do not miss. Text adventure, ugh. These things were just obtuse on purpose and a waste of time. (Although perhaps a connection between EverQuest and it's Diku Mud progenitory would be appropriate.) Educational games, sorry. I have A&E now. And virtual reality games were never really popular enought to say the genre has vanished -- it just never caught on in the first place.
But two I truly do miss. Full motion video: Sierra produced a 9 CD adventure game called Phantasmagoria that was just amazing. It featured live actors against rendered back drops. The range of emotion and expression achieved was far superior to any full CGI you get now. Sorry for all you CGI Spirits Within fans ;), but all of the CGI used in theater and games just has a flat look to it.
The other genre I do miss is the graphical adventure. I don't know why these aren't more popular. Maybe because they were made too difficult of many people to play? I think that must be the reason. Stupid puzzle of ridiculous complexity will turn all but the most hard core off to these types of games.
Games have become much more costly to produce. I believe that that is the main reason we see (or seem to see) fewer genres these days. Producers can no longer take a chance on a game that may sel less than 50 thousand copies, I suppose. I wonder if consumers would accept cheaper games, if it meant that some of the more specialized genres could come back. I wonder if that would ba a good question for an Ask Slashdot.
As the article itself notes some of these genres aren't dead, they're *free.* This is quite a different statement. I play asteroids and tetris on a regular basis, I simply didn't have to pay fifty bucks for them.
Saying these genres are dead is like saying computer solitaire is dead, even though it takes up more user gaming time than everything else put together, because it *comes with* virtually every graphical enviroment in the universe.
Or like saying the automobile is dead on the day that everyone on the planet is issued one that will last forever.
These genres aren't dead, they're bloody ubiquitous.
It's just that EA and Sierra can't soak us repeatedly for them anymore.
As for "virtual reality" being dead ( a concept inherently ridiculous in light of the sales of The Sims), in the manner they mean, it isn't dead. It's an idea ahead of the technology's ablility to deliver it and thus is merely in stasis until our hardware catches up with our imagination.
Trust me, when they figure out how make a pair glasses and gloves for a hundred bucks that'll give you your own virtual Sarah Michelle Gellar they won't be able to make 'em fast enough.
KFG
"I love the Sierra strategy games. It always seems that their games come out and within two months the price has dropped to $10-$20. GameSpy claims in this article "...but now their days as a game developer are pretty much over." Is it really that bad? Am I the only one left that loves their new titles? Empire Earth anyone?"
Empire Earth was Created by Stainless Steel Studios, http://www.stainlesssteelstudios.com/
My point was that Sierra primarily publishes other people's games now, like Half-Life. Most of Sierra's Adventure games were developed in-house.
"All of these genres seem like something that a young kid in the 80's grew up to."
Guilty.
"how was side scrolling platform games not on this list. haven't seen one of them in a long time."
I didn't include side-scrolling platformers because platformers are still around, they're just 3D.
Sure, this article isn't perfect and I probably should have included Pinball, but oh well, life's tough!
-Kevin Bowen
8) Light Gun
7) Text Adventure
5) Virtual Reality
3) Full Motion Video
All of these shouldn't be considered game genres, they're just a description of the technology involved. Any "genre" based on a technology is a fad, and that technology will eventually be replaced.
Text Adventures were "Text" Adventures because they didn't have the graphics horsepower around back then that they have now. If the creators of Zork started out today, they'd make a game with a simliar design with 3d graphics.
You could have a virtual reality shoot'em up, a virtual reality rpg, a virtual reality adventure game, and so on. Again, it's a description of the technology used to implement the game, it's not the genre. It was a fad.
Full Motion Video is the most obvious non-genre here. Again, based on a technological fad. We can put movies in a game, so why not turn the "game" into a movie? There were different kinds of games that had a lot of FMV in them, I wouldn't put them all in the same genre. Though they did all pretty much suck.
And as for puzzle games, if they don't cost $50 anymore, does that mean they're dead??? No! Puzzle games are probably the most alive and kicking genre there is today! They're everywhere, even your Grandma probably plays a couple of them!
I do agree with the article on one point at least: Oregon Trail for the Apple II most certainly did rock.
While not a 3D remake, some people are remaking classics using the freeware Adventure Game Studio (AGS). King's Quest I and II have been redone (very well I might add) by Tierra Entertainment (and they're working on Quest for Glory II), and there's a fan-made Space Quest 7 in the works as well as a fan-made Quest for Glory 6.
The Adventure Genre LIVES!
But Maaa! Everyone else has a
Surely I'm not the only one who misread your last item as "Britney Spears Hentai..."
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
#2: A couple years ago? Try like 1997, maybe '98.
I don't usually nit-pick, to be honest, but you just can't start off an article with such confusing laziness.
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
Execution: -4
No game was ever better than Liesure Suit Larry: EGA pr0n with a plot! If only I had a 5.25" drive, I think I still have the disks for LSL3.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
I really think RPGs and graphical adventures sort of merged together. The first RPGs were mostly about combat and the first graphical adventures had no combat. However, RPGs started going beyond "kill this, get gem, bring gem back" to more complicated scenarios requiring you to talk to people and perform tasks. The Ultimas circa 6 and 7 really pushed the limits for RPGs in this regard. In fact Ultima 7 was IMHO more graphical adventure than RPG since the combat model was very simplistic and your stats did not carry very much meaning. It was the story and interactions that made the game.
The Infinity Engine Bioware/Black Isle games had a great deal of Graphical Adventure elements in them---most than most people realize. I still remember in Baldur's Gate I being able to slip past some killers by wearing a "cursed gender-switching belt". They pushed the envelope making RPGs stats as much of a requirement as items in solving the quest, especially in Torment.
At the end the Kings Quest games were going in the opposite direction---putting combat in an graphical adventure.
Brian Ellenberger
The sad thing is nearly all the commercial releases nowadays fall into one of three categories, Quake clones, Warcraft clones, and Sports Games. To me the most important dying genres are: 1. 2D platformers 2. Turn Based RPGs And despite the fact that most of the best selling games of all time fit nicely into these categories, there really aren't any companies willing to produce new content for them. What Gamespy really needs is a list of genres that need to die. How about "Mindless Warcraft or Command and Conquer clone", or "Game loosely based on popular movie license"... and surely the world wouldn't miss "Financial simulation that is so random that there is no strategy involved".
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Strip Poker & Other Sex Games
lol, anyone remember those... More often than not B/W horrible graphics, but you still felt a sense of achievement when having stripped a girl completely. I wonder what would happen today if such a game was released?
Sports Games
I mean the specific genre like Summer Gammes, Winter Games, etc. Where you have to wiggle your joystick as fast as you can. Talk about hardware destroyer!
What angers me is that graphical adventures are so uncommon these days... Especially Grim Fandango was easily the game of the year to me, better than most movies I've seen lately even! Everything from the character personalities to the unique setting and music. A true masterpiece..
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
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As they pointed out, text based gaming isn't gone, and it's probably not going to go away. It's just not mainstream anymore.
And I would say that I have failed to find any game that satisfies me the way that a good text adventure does, except for maybe playing a game while reading a book (which is much harder to do). Also, what "technical capabilities" are you talking about? Hardly anything has changed since the infocom days; the same technology is used (albiet SLIGHTLY more advanced with the introduction of a few new engines - TADS, advent, etc). If you're talking about the addition of graphics, then you're not talking about a text adventure.
My imagination kicks the crap out of a graphics engine any day, and so I'll continue to prefer a good text adventure, and that's *exactly* what I've got. Incidently, I keep some of them here.
Still...it would be nice if there where more epic text adventures - ones that take a year or so to play. But that's probably way more than I can expect.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
I don't know about anyone else, but I thought that the Monkey Island series was just great because it was absolutly hilarious.
Also, the first monkey island game came with that crazy pirate face decoder, which anoyed the living daylights out of me because I constantly misplaced it and couldn't play (although it too added to the general hilarity of the game).
Finally, I wonder if anyone else has fond memories of prince of persia, because for the longest time that was the best game available to us poor mac users.
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals."
I love the Sierra strategy games... GameSpy claims in this article "...but now their days as a game developer are pretty much over." Is it really that bad? Am I the only one left that loves their new titles? Empire Earth anyone?
Empire Earth was Created by Stainless Steel Studios
My point was that Sierra primarily publishes other people's games now, like Half-Life. Most of Sierra's Adventure games were developed in-house.
Genres aren't dying, they're just becoming less well-defined. It's getting harder and harder to pigeonhole modern games into exactly one genre, because they aren't sticking to patterns (in basic design, at least). The only "genre" that has really died is text adventure, but that's only an implementation of RPG. Diablo is the same thing with graphics, and that's still going strong.
This is somewhat true. One could argue Grand Theft Auto is just a free-roaming beat 'em up \ racer.
One game I wanted to somehow mention in this article was 1989's David Wolf: Secret Agent, which tried to combine hang-gliding, flight simulation, driving, diving, and bad acting into one poorly digitized adventure-like package. Try categorizing that one.
Strip Poker & Other Sex Games - lol, anyone remember those... More often than not B/W horrible graphics, but you still felt a sense of achievement when having stripped a girl completely. I wonder what would happen today if such a game was released?
That's true, they probably should have been included in this article since they peaked in the 2600 days and Custer's Revenge... well... jeez
how was side scrolling platform games not on this list. haven't seen one of them in a long time.
I didn't include side-scrolling platformers because platformers are still around, they're just 3D.
All of these genres seem like something that a young kid in the 80's grew up to.
Guilty.
Sure, this article has some flaws and I probably should have included pinball, but oh well, life's tough!
I guess there will always be people that set up the holodeck to simulate a 1996 PC to play Masters of Magic.
Pathman, Free (as in GPL) 3D Pac Man
Oh.
C|N>K
The "Not getting laid tonight" catagory.
... is the interactive fiction equivalent of Cage's 4'33", and is still the subject of controversy in the community. It's worth trying, and it will only take five minutes out of your day (but stimulate a lifetime of contemplation) (well, maybe not).
Here's the link in case you missed it.
On the plus side we do now have a new twist on the old Civilization type genre. Suicide diplomacy. You start with loads of goodwill, friends and allies, and you have to try to alienate them all in the shortest possible time.
You can't win Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Dilbert said it best... "When virtual reality gets cheaper than dating, the human race is doomed."
;)
Girl at door: "Is Dilbert home?"
Dogbert: "He's been in the holodeck since March".
Ahhhh well... you know it's true!
The death of gun games? What is that guy smoking. Time Crisis 3 came out, one of the more popular games now. Also a game called "Wolrd Combat" with 4 player action (4 machineguns in arade!) Also the helicopter game (air assault) where you fly in helicopters and shoot mechanized robots. Area 51 is classic and I still see people playing it.
Death of Puzzle games? Bust a Move, Puzzle Fighter, are still very popular. I would even consider Dance Dance Revolution a type of puzzle game but one has to use the whole body to achieve a goal.
Biggest Crap is the death of side scrolling beat them up games. One of the most popular games in Taiwan/Singapore/Malaysia is this side scrolling game based on Romance of 3 Kingdoms. 4 player action which gave rise to 4 generations of the same game. I think it is called "Knights of Valor"
Over all the article is writen poorly and without much research. Dont know why is there a debate the article hold no water if parts of it are not true.
It seems GameSpy thinks that a genre is dead just because it isn't flooded with copycat crap anymore. I prefer that "dead" genres produce artworks like Ikaruga and Viruta Fighter 4 than the sewage drenching "alive" genres like RTS and FPS.
I loved the metal guillotine gates you had to jump through.
Man you would NOT want to have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom in that palace...
In essence, the problem with this article is that it misses the point of most modern game designs. Let's take some top selling games from the last year or two:
Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City
WarCraft III
NeverWinter Nights
Each of these games has a role-playing component (develop your individual war leaders' skills).
Each of these games has a puzzle-solving component (open the ancient seal by following clues).
Each of these games has a maze component (learn you way around Vice City).
Each of these games has a "dot-eating" component (pick up the gold, hidden item, etc.). Each of these games uses 3D graphics, canned video.
Each of these games has a "twitch" component (although in single-player mode, WC III and NWN allow you to pause to get your bearings or grab a snack).
In essence, all that the article shows is that the "one trick wonder" game is dead; you need to have more going for you than a single concept or a technology demo. Indeed, if you look at the graphic adventure -- it simply integrated the text adventure, the canned slide show, and a few mini-games.
There are a few minor things that have disappeared. E.g. being able to type text into a game has been replaced by selecting from canned responses? Why? Probably because most people find the process of figuring out that you have to SCRATCH your name into the rock and not WRITE, CARVE, or SCRAWL it to be too damn annoying.