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116 Comments
- DiggityDugged, on 10/12/2007, -4/+73Katamari Damacy?
- WeeklyGeek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+58Electroplankton?
Grand Theft Auto?
The sims?
Come on. - edge10, on 10/12/2007, -6/+54Guitar Hero?
- iluvatar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32I second Katamari.
Also, how about some Wario Ware? - sinfree, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28These games are good examples. I think the problem may be that there are so many genres out there that pretty much no matter what game you make, it can probably be shoved into one or two of the existing genres.
- elCapitanNemo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22Sandbox
- misologist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Is that anything like "If you don't like open discussion then don't participate"?
- hbweb500, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18Why is it always "if you don't like, don't complain?" Are people too lazy to institute positive change?
"What is that, Abraham Lincoln? You don't like slavery? Don't complain!" - keiths, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"Guitar Hero"
The Guitar Hero genre, music games, is 9 years old now. Since the first DDR came out in 1998. Not only that but Guitar Freaks was first released in 1999. - GlitchEnzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14This is just silly. Are we to expect some amazing new genre every year? Do book-readers and movie-watchers sit around complaining that there haven't been any new genres in 60+ years?
What I think is more important is perfecting the existing genres and even performing fusions between genres. However another problem is how there are no firm rules for defining genres. For example, Shadow of the Colossus could be simply considered another Action Adventure game. However, it could also be considered a cross between Horse Simulation and Moving Mountain Climbing Simulation. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15"Grand Theft Auto?"
hardly a new genre, 3, VC, and SA just made it look better - h0ly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12@WeeklyGeek
Some people say (edit: including Will Wright himself) that LCP (Little Computer People) predates The Sims.
I've never played it, but there you have it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Computer_People
screenshot:
http://www.c64gg.com/Images/L/Little_Computer_People_ingame.gif - OmegaNine, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14GTA is just a 3rd person shooter with some run around room...IMHO
- aplardi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Matrix Rip-Off Genre?
- mazerrackham, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Sorry, I shouldn't have been so complainy.
The article is an interesting read, but it does leave out some pretty innovative games that have been popular recently. Katamari and Elebits come to mind. I also think one of the great things about the Wii in particular is that it's innovative control really opens the door for more creative game development. - stefanwulf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7To address some of the comments made:
I really do like games...that's why I spent enough time thinking about them to come up with the article :)
Recently I have really loved games like Katamari, and Elebits, along with well-done examples of established genres like Psychonauts, the new Sam and Max, and Okami. The thing with Katamari and Elebits is that they have yet to inspire all the other games that will really explore and flesh-out the system that they introduced, and that's the worrying trend that started me writing this article. It seems that original games are less and less likely to spawn the follow-ups and spin-offs that really bring about a genre.
It is difficult to draw genre lines, and you can draw very broad ones the way hollywood and literature have, or more narrow ones, the way music tends to subdivide ad infinitum. Either way, though, they've slowed down considerably.
It's definitely possible for a medium to be fully explored...and as they age new genres are rarer and rarer. Modern writers are still doing some amazing things that I've never seen before, and that I'm really enjoying, but I take it as a given that most of their newly introduced devices won't actually turn out to be seminal. In both film and literature, however, and especially in music, you do still see the emergence of new genres with some regularity. Blacksploitation in the 70's, Mockumentaries in the 80's (although they're debatable), and in literature modernism emerged as a distinct genre in the 20th century, along with free verse poetry. These are not all in the past decade, but we are talking about far more mature mediums than video games. What worries me is that while new genres continue to appear in most media, video games seem not to have produced anything for the last 25-30% of their commercial existence.
It's possible that this is just a lull before a second golden age, which I really hope because I don't think that video games have been fully explored. That's a large part of why I got a Wii, actually, because I have high hopes that the flexibility of the new control scheme and the stated focus on gameplay over graphics will help spur creativity, the same way it did back when controllers had to be packed into arcade cabinets with fairly simple graphics capabilites, so you could focus on the gameplay concept and use wheels, trackballs, pedals, or whatever tailor the input to the mechanics you wanted, instead of the other way around. - LittleDanzig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yeah, this line of reasoning is almost as classic as the "If you don't like it, why don't YOU do it better?" argument, which I'm sure I'll run across as I read a few more of these comments. That "you have to be able to do something to criticize it" argument seems to be a favorite in any topic which doesn't deal directly with surgery or piloting an airplane.
- NineSpoons, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6http://www.neicomamirror.com/mirror-service/f/LAJzJ1z3_http:||videolamer.com|index.php|1456.html
- Negyxo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Genres take time to develop because genres are mostly defined by the technology that can enable them. Meanwhile, why not play innovative or hardcore games instead of Call of Duty 18 or Madden 2007 or any of those other "relabel, reprint" games.The trick is to actually research and find those "underground" (aka: not madden or any other annoyingly similar mainstream game) games and then go hunting for them. That's how i found Katamari Damacy and more recently Ikaragu. If you havent played either.. you really should.
- MouseCircus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm surprised no one mentioned Pikmin 1 and 2. I suppose you could just classify it as a strategy game. I've even heard people call it an RTS.
Whatever genre it may be, it's still an extremely refreshing gameplay experience like nothing else.
I do partially agree with this article, though. There are unique games being made, but they don't come around often enough. Five years ago, I would have never thought that I would say this, but...video games are starting to get a bit boring. It's one of the reasons why I find it extremely hard to justify the high cost of the new consoles. I gave in and bought a 360, but I don't think I'll cave for a PS3. - patks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5i think the reason for that is that "rolling games" and "hide and seek games" are not a genre yet. i can see rolling games making inroads with loco roco and anything else that is so clearly inspired by the katamari games (which i love by the way) but only time will tell whether that develops into an actual genre, or is left as just a few unclassifiable games.
- Dakusan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9shadows of the colossus... maybe?
- Matteos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The problem is marketing. You could make an argument, from a marketing standpoint, that any game can fit any genre.
Katimari - Puzzle game
Grand Theft Auto - Adventure/Shooter game
The Sims - Strategy/RTS
The music industry does the same with music...
The movie industry does...
and we could go on... and on... and on... - sideshowRAHEEM, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7GTA III was the birth of true open game play, it has been copied so much by so many games you have to call it a new genre.
- nixonrichard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4the Monkey Ball genre.
- LittleDanzig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Have you considered the fact that maybe the concept of "genres" in gaming is, at its heart, a dying dinosaur? It seems to me that the succesful games these days are the ones that venture to blur (or even destroy) the convenient divisions that seperate one "type" of title from another, and I think that most gaming consumers (with the exception of the MMO and FPS faithful) are more than willing to accept games that are very much "non-genre" pieces. You mention Elebits and Katamari, and I think both are prime examples of what can be done when this pseudo-religious adherence to "genre rules" is eschewed in pursuit of something new and unique.
So I guess, in summation, are you sure it's that games have stopped growing? Or could it be that they've just outgrown this concept entirely? - Aesthesia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There has been an MMOFPS out for along time now it's called Planetside.
- misologist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Platoon shooter is a genre? Seems more like a real time X Com than a new form of games. It's certainly true that if you want to draw a line every time something mildly new is done then you can claim one in ten games creates a new genre.
- Daedalus81, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ohhh looks like you fell for a marketing gimmick!
- boomerxl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Exactly, the real problem is a lack of overall refinement of the existing genres. Sometimes it seems that the market is being drowned in a tidal wave of generic FPSs and yet-another-EA-sports-game.
Gears of War (an excellent example of refinement) is hardly original in any sense, yet it manages to take all of its "inspired" elements and pull them together in a flawless way. - eliotmat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4http://www.naturalselection.com
- Foma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It looks like a lot of people aren't reading the article. It's actually a lot more intelligently put together than I expected.
FTA:
"Either nobody is making games in new genres, or nobody is following up when a new game breaks ground, leaving it to become a one-time quirk or a novelty, rather than the start of a new branch of gaming."
So all these single-game "genres" that people are mentioning don't really count, although I can appreciate the sentiment. - djSyndrome, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Bemani, which coincidentally celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, is one example of a 'new' genre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bemani - LittleDanzig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Unfortunately, yes, the literary crowd is MULTITUDES more obnoxious than the gaming crowd when it comes to making noise about the "been there, done that" phenomenon. Hardcore literature fans have a sense of self-entitlement that would put most of you to shame. Movie people are about three hundred times worse.
- Herffinator, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5What about games like Grand Theft Auto... what would that be under... it seems like its becoming a type of genre...open world...type experience that many developers are jumping on.
Maybe it wasn't mentioned in fear of getting a letter from good ol' Jack. - dr00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2gamemakers are in the business to make money.
until consumers as a hole reject these rehashed games, we'll keep getting them.
i agree it's really disappointing, but there's no real 'fault' you can blame on any one specific thing (namely the gaming industry itself). - vhold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't think it's fair to say GTA was the birth of sandbox gameplay, it certainly popularized it though.
First game that popped into my head:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_%28computer_game%29 - misologist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This style of game had a ten year anniversary recently. The article is about how it's been a decade since the emergence of a new genre. A decade means ten years. 2007 - 10 = 1997 and 1997 > 1989. Let me know if I lost you at any of these steps.
- DeathBorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Don't worry, once virtual reality gaming becomes a reality (a la the Matrix) then we will have a crapload of new genres. However, I agree that the old genres are getting tired out.
- grumbel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Boring video games are boring, there however is a easy solution: Don't buy them and concentrate on the interesting stuff. The true gems only come around maybe once every few month, but that was never much different. I would certainly love to see some games with some deeper stories then most games try to get away with these days, but then this has actually very little to do with 'innovation' or 'genre' and everything to do with plain old story telling.
Speaking about Pikmin: One could call it a cross between Zelda and Lemmings (or even more simple LiquidWar in 3D), but speaking about genre, as with most games, it simply gets fishy to try to squeeze them into one. RTS certainly fits to some degree, but on the other side Pikmin has close to nothing to do with Dune2, Warcraft and friends and much more to do in terms of controls and gameplay with classic Nintendo games, especially Zelda. If you would give Link a magic flute and some little animals to follow it would fit perfectly into a Zelda game. - misologist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Katamari and some others have been extremely innovative. I think the article draws a line between creative one offs and genre starters, though. It may be too early to see Katamari's legacy, but for now it seems like it's a one time melding of puzzle, action, and Japanese charm. If anything, though, a new genre emerging from Elebits, Trauma Center, etc would be a good thing. This is one of those articles that hopes it is proven wrong.
I'm very excited about the Wii's possibilities, too. It has so much potential; not just in creating new innovative games, but think of the PC type games that were always awkwardly done on consoles. The thought of playing the newest Mario, strange innovative new games, and Sam and Max all on one system is very thrilling. - Sidedish, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3MMORPG's have taken over the world...
- Lupich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Crossplayer is coming out in a while too. Wtf is this stupid article talking about.
- teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Just got Elebits today from Gamefly and while I enjoy it i fail to see how its inovative. Its physics gameplay which was done almost perfectly in Psi-Ops and Half Life 2 already, the only difference is you use the wii mote to aim instead of a mouse or analog stick.
- Sixcolors, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Genre doesn't matter, it's what you do with it that makes a game stand out. Warcraft 3 is Starcraft with orcs is Warcraft 2 in space. It's like saying that there hasn't been a new instrument invented in centuries or decades and, let's face it, the guitar is getting pretty lame.
- misologist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Danzig, that's a very compelling position and one I've contemplated after becoming entirely fed up with peoples obsession with classifying music. There's only so much arguing over if old In Flames was Swedish melodic death metal or Swedish melododeath a man can take.
- Subcide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Rez was an awesome mashup of a bunch of different genre's to make something totally new.
- jarvolt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Games are such huge projects these days, and with all the money put into them, developers take fewer risks. I think that's the real problem.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Grand Theft Auto III was as big of a step forward for gaming as Jurassic Park was for digital effects.
- brasso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love that game! Anyone who got a good old copy of Half-Life should give it a chance. :)
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