Top Ten Dying Game Genres 539
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.
Good Fun (Score:5, Funny)
Article is full of mistakes (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:Article is full of mistakes (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Good Fun (Score:5, Funny)
Troc
Re:Good Fun (Score:4, Funny)
Screw the list... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Screw the list... (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, the only good virtual experience I have ever found is the battletech pods [wired.com]. You sit inside a pod which looks like a real cockpit of a battlemech from the inside and you go on a rampage. I guess all virtual stuff will suck until we can walk into a star trek-like holodeck and play some REAL games.
Re:Screw the list... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Screw the list... (Score:3, Insightful)
It's rather like the Star Tours or Star Trek: The Experience effect: the ride is cool, but checking out all the stuff leading up to it is half the fun... a good thing, considering how much time you are in line versus i
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't think so. (Score:5, Funny)
The human race will be dead. (Score:5, Funny)
Girl at door: "Is Dilbert home?"
Dogbert: "He's been in the holodeck since March".
Ahhhh well... you know it's true!
Re:Screw the list... (Score:5, Informative)
Fun quote extracted from the article: "There was really nothing like Grand Theft Auto a few years ago." -- um, actually there was something very much like Grand Theft Auto a few years ago. It was called...... GRAND THEFT AUTO. The game came out in, like, 1996 or something like that. Or does "a few years ago" translate to "more than 7 years ago"?
I definitely wouldn't say the Puzzle genre is dying. It's just moved to a new medium. Sure, few are interested in spending $40+ on a Puzzle game for their XBox or PS2, but many people waste many hours playing online Puzzle games. I think what it comes down to is not that these genres area all necessarily dead or dying, but they're not good candidates for console games.
I guess the folks at GameSpy think "Game Industry" = "Console Industry".
Re:Screw the list... (Score:5, Informative)
Right (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Right (Score:3, Insightful)
I think most games which are called "FPS"es really fit into a different genre.
Interestingl, I was at a talk by Warren Specter where he tries to classify Deus Ex. He calls Deus Ex a simulation.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Right (Score:5, Funny)
Based on a few people I've seen, I'd say "neuromuscular disorder"....
Re:Right (Score:5, Interesting)
Bemani games also include virtual drumming and guitar games, for example. It's a lot more prolific in Japan.
Re:Right (Score:5, Funny)
On a side, note, DDR may seem stupid but a) it's really damn hard and b) people who're really good at it look amazing. I watched some guy do all the hardest levels in the arcade, and it was like watching a professional tap dancer. I, on the other hand, look like someone tazed a rabbit.
Graphic Adventures (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:5, Informative)
Sam & Max 2 is on the horizon too.
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't that hentai?
If so... I'll take it.
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:5, Insightful)
Someone who would rather have a DOTT RPG or FPRPG, probably. I think gamers are enjoying "freedom" more and more, and this has always been an area where graphic adventures are relatively weak.
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:5, Insightful)
Remaking old, cool adventure games (Score:5, Informative)
While not a 3D remake, some people are remaking classics using the freeware Adventure Game Studio (AGS) [adventureg...udio.co.uk]. King's Quest I and II have been redone (very well I might add) by Tierra Entertainment [tierraentertainment.com] (and they're working on Quest for Glory II), and there's a fan-made Space Quest 7 in the works [sq7.org] as well as a fan-made Quest for Glory 6 [hero6.com].
The Adventure Genre LIVES!
Monkey Island (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Monkey Island -- Prince Of Persia (Score:5, Funny)
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...
Re:Graphic Adventures (Score:3, Interesting)
Hmm? (Score:4, Interesting)
Maybe single player VGA games are dying, but heck sometimes I still have a craving to play a little Space Quest!
Re:Hmm? (Score:3, Insightful)
And yes, I want another space quest, damnit!
Re:Hmm? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
RPGs and graphical adventures sort of merged.... (Score:5, Interesting)
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
Sierra dead? (Score:5, Interesting)
Some responses from the terrible author (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Re:Sierra dead? Larry Laffer LIVES! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sierra dead? (Score:4, Informative)
DOSBox [zophar.net], your general purpose DOS game machine.
Sarien [sourceforge.net], for Sierra games using the AGI interpreter, and
FreeSCI [linuxgames.com], for Sierra games using the SCI interpreter.
Needless to say, all of these utilities are far from complete.
Anyway, there you go.
Re:Sierra dead? (Score:4, Interesting)
It is. Here [hispeed.com] is the scoop on how Sierra was sold, then castrated and left pretty much useless (FYI, Half-Life was produced by Valve [valvesoftware.com], Sierra is a distributor).
Also here [allowe.com] Leisure Suit Larry's man Al Lowe gives hints that managements talks of old Sierra's rebirth are just that - talks:
After hearing nothing from him for the next month, I emailed him to see what had happened. It took him a month to email back that he was really busy and would get to me soon. More than four months have passed since that email and I've still heard nothing more from him."
This is how the company treats one of its most successful game creators; you can figure out the rest.
Andrius
P.S. While we're on Al Lowe, his CyberJoke 3000 [allowe.com] jokes mailing list is highly recommended. See archives [yahoo.com].
Re:Sierra dead? (Score:4, Insightful)
My Top Five Dying Game Genres (Score:3, Funny)
Freud Strikes Again! (Score:5, Funny)
Growing up (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Growing up (Score:3, Informative)
I respectfully beg to differ. [wurb.com]
Muds are still going. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Muds are still going. (Score:5, Funny)
----
"You are in a directory. The sign above the well worn path reads
# cd ~
You run home like a cowardly dog, tail between your legs.
#
----
Ahh. memories.
Re:Muds are still going. (Score:3, Insightful)
My vote.. (Score:4, Funny)
These aren't really independent genres per se (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Didja read the article? (Score:5, Insightful)
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 [freeshell.org].
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.
adult games (Score:5, Funny)
Re:adult games (Score:4, Funny)
http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/naughty.htm
Re: adult games (Score:3, Interesting)
Lucas Arts (Score:5, Informative)
How can they say this when Lucas Arts has announced two new games in this "dying" genre?
Full Throttle 2 [lucasarts.com]
and
Sam and Max 2 [lucasarts.com]
hmmmmm. I think Im going to whip out monkey island and play through that series again...
Adventure Games, Dead? (Score:5, Informative)
"Dr Uberman?"
Re:Adventure Games, Dead? (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, of course there'll be a Monkey Island 5. Remember, the Voodoo Lady has an unbreakable five-game contract with LucasArts.
Tetris? (Score:5, Insightful)
Duck Hunt is dying out? Perhaps. I have an old Win95 games CD with Gunboat DuckHunt on it. That was fun
Re:Tetris? (Score:5, Funny)
If not, it should be...
Re:Tetris? (Score:3, Interesting)
When I worked for a printer company I kept threatening to implement a back-door game of Tetris. One sheet per frame. (These were high-speed barcode printers, so you'd have been able to do 2-4 fps. More if you used smaller labels!) I figured it'd be a great gag for trade shows, and a good hook for a few extra sales for our supplies division.
Never did get around to it. sigh
Thank goodness... (Score:5, Funny)
Three puzzle games for GameCube, Xbox, or PS2? (Score:5, Informative)
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 [www.mame.dk] . 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.
Re:Three puzzle games for GameCube, Xbox, or PS2? (Score:4, Insightful)
Super Bubble Pop (all systems)
Bust-A-Move 3/3000 (GCN, PS2)
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (GBA) -- yes, it's coming out again!
The article shows a real lack of research. VR Games dead? Then how come Beachhead 2000 is the number-one non-redemption game in arcades today? No, I'm afraid there are too many inaccuracies to take the article seriously.
Holographic arcade game... (Score:4, Interesting)
Revisiting Old Games (Score:5, Insightful)
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 [gametab.com]. Two Zelda's are in the Top 10 (at least right now). The new gameboy [gametab.com] version is hanging onto a top spot while the seemingly controversial Wind Waker [gametab.com] 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 [gametab.com] happy!
how can they say some of this with a straight face (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
maze games (Score:5, Insightful)
/. prediction in article itself (Score:5, Funny)
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 coursefree != dying (Score:5, Insightful)
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.).
Light Guns and modern displays... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Light Guns and modern displays... (Score:5, Informative)
Because the console knows precisely where on the screen the beam is at any particular time, it can determine where on the screen the gun is pointed at because it only sees the beam at certain times; times that correspond to a particular location on screen.
Screens that don't have an electron beam won't work with the light guns. We'll wind up having to put little cameras or something inside of them so that they can recognize what part of the screen they're seeing.
The basic technology here is very, very old. IIRC light pens were in use by the military back in the 50's.
not a good article... (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Re:not a good article... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:not a good article... (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, one project I used to help familiarize myself with the Neverwinter Nights toolset was to mimic Quest for Glory I. I wasn't able to do everything quite right (you'd probably want a special hakpak for it), but it still went surprisingly well. Obviously, QFG is the best adventure game to remake using the NWN engine, but I think you could do a decent job with some other adventure games too. And that works so well because single-player NWN is basically an adventure/RPG game itself: it's nowhere near as heavy on the RPG aspect as, for example, BG and IWD are, and while RPG purists complain that the plot is scripted and dull, well, it's exactly the sort of plot you get from most adventure games. (Which, let's face it, are produced by an Adventure Game Cookie Cutter.)
Now that I talk about it, I am really tempted to make another go at finishing that QFG1 module. The thing that was holding me back was my inability to extract the conversations from the game without actually playing it through (not objectionable in itself, but it would involve a lot of note-taking and playing it through at least 3 times to get the different classes). Also Sierra would probably sue me if I tried to release it to anybody, and I can't really blame them.
The really sad part ... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Beat em up #2? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm sorry, but gamespy obviously doesn't know about
kaillera [kaillera.com].
Kaillera enables mame to play just about any old arcade hit online. Since it's
release 2 years ago, it's developed an entire subculture of dedicated players,
clans, and ladders.
According to statistics [kaillera.com] built by
kaillera the most popular game genre on kaillera is fighting games (King of
fighters, Street Fighter), followed by a single adventure game that dominates
the charts,
[www.mame.dk]
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara.
I think this game was misclassified as an Adventure game, because it's
gameplay really resembles that of Final Fight, and other Beat em ups
Thats all I have to say about that.
Some of these are not dead... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Some of these are not dead... (Score:5, Insightful)
I do think graphical adventure games are still around, albeit in a mutated form. They're just more complex, and they blended with other genres. The article mentioned how many RPGs and such have graphical adventure elements. I don't really think "graphical adventure" is a valid genre in itself anyway. I know they're talking specifically about the type of games Sierra made, but I don't think that's really deserving of its own genre on the same level as "puzzle" and "space shooter." But adventure games are thriving currently, so I guess they had to narrow it down.
And I really liked text games. I'm still mudding after all these years.
Re:Some of these are not dead... (Score:3, Insightful)
Let me introduce you to a few:
Ikaruga (dreamcast, import, coming soon to a gamecube near you). Done in glorious 3D, but on a 2D playing field.
Working Designs has brought over: RayStorm, RayCrisis, Thunderforce V, Silpheed
On the Sega Saturn, Radiant Silvergun still commands prices over $150 for an import never released here in the states.
Someone else has mentioned the 194x series, which is quite good as well. If you like side-scroller/platformer shooters, same poster
Educational?? (Score:4, Informative)
Most of the are based on a cartoon / kids show franchise, but they're still pretty good.
The Blues Clues ones are in particular excellent. My daughter loves them, and I can see how well they've been structured to help the child learn, whilst still being a lot of fun.
There's lots of others to choose from too, and more all the time...
Not only not dead, but quite healthy actually (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Oops! (Score:5, Funny)
Genres aren't dying (Score:3, Insightful)
Genres based on technology and it's limitations (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Maybe I'm just smokin too much crack again, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
#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
They need a lot more than top 10 (Score:5, Interesting)
More dying genres... (Score:5, Interesting)
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..
Some Responses from the Author (Score:5, Interesting)
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 [stainlesss...tudios.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.
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 [classicgaming.com]... 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!
On the PC maybe... (Score:3, Insightful)
So while thay might be redundant on PC's they make great games for PDAs. Just look at Pop-Cap Games. Diamond Mind, Dynomite and many other great fun games.
And there are the PC classics that are still fun on a PDA, like Astroids, Space Invaders and tetris...
So i feel that theses games make great PDA games, letting you kill time quickly on that long daily commute.
*BSD (Score:4, Funny)
I thought all games fell into 1 catagory... (Score:5, Funny)
Pick Up The Phone Booth And Die ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's the link [spatch.net] in case you missed it.
What about Flight Simulators? (Score:4, Interesting)
Quality instead of quantity (Score:5, Insightful)
Light Gun Games. (Score:4, Insightful)
Which is unfortunate, because at least at most of the Dave & Busters I've been to recently most people play with the light gun type games the most. Mainly while waiting for the 8-way linked NASCAR games, but still, they're playin the light gun ones.
Even a firefighter type game.
These games didn't die, they were assimilated... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Dr. Mario for GBA (Score:4, Informative)
CmdrTaco wants Dr. Mario for GBA.
CmdrTaco gets open-source Dr. Mario for GBA [pineight.com].
Re:My favourite game (Score:4, Funny)
Re:*sigh* (Score:3, Interesting)
I just wish they realized 3D isn't always the answer. I wish they don't screw the mechanics of Rygar by making it 3D. Metroid Prime is fine but has little to do with the original. That's just fine, better that a 3D rip-off of the original.
Thank God we still have mame and the different emulators for the 8/16bits...
Puzzles dead? huh... try again.
MUDs (Was:Re:What?! Zork isn't dead ...) (Score:3, Interesting)