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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...
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/
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!
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.
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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!
"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
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
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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 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...
I'd say that though gun games aren't dead, they're certainly dying. You mentioned Time Crisis 3 and World Combat. I'd probably add Police 911 to that (The one where it tracks your real movements). That makes a total of 3 games over the past few years, which isn't exactly booming.
Bust a Move and Puzzle Fighter, though still popular, are old. There aren't really that many new puzzle games coming through the pipeline. And classifying DDR as a puzzle game is iffy at best.
Same with the side-scrollers. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, AD&D, and Gauntlet are all old and not a lot of new games are being made of that genre, hence it's dying.
I think you're confusing good genres with dying genres. Even though a game may be really good, if no new games are being made for that genre, then it's dying.