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i am not a big fan of FPS, but here is a list in no particular order.

duke nukem 3d - pc
quake - pc
doom - pc
ultimate doom - pc
final doom - pc
wolfenstein 3d - pc
goldeneye - n64
all 3 halos grouped together - xbox

i don't play them too often, but the genre is really being to feel stale, but maybe it's just me. what separates all these modern FPS besides the visuals?

unless somebody makes a groundbreaking addition to gameplay, i hope this genre dies like the FMV fad.

final fight cd wrote:i am not a big fan of FPS, but here is a list in no particular order.

duke nukem 3d - pc
quake - pc
doom - pc
ultimate doom - pc
final doom - pc
wolfenstein 3d - pc
goldeneye - n64
all 3 halos grouped together - xbox

i don't play them too often, but the genre is really being to feel stale, but maybe it's just me. what separates all these modern FPS besides the visuals?

unless somebody makes a groundbreaking addition to gameplay, i hope this genre dies like the FMV fad.

The genre has enjoyed popularity for over 18 years, I'd hardly consider it anything close to resembling a "fad".

final fight cd wrote:i don't play them too often, but the genre is really being to feel stale, but maybe it's just me. what separates all these modern FPS besides the visuals?

unless somebody makes a groundbreaking addition to gameplay, i hope this genre dies like the FMV fad.

Finally someone who agrees with me! They're all bloody clones of one another. The perpetual platformers of 3D gaming.

AppleQueso wrote:The genre has enjoyed popularity for over 18 years, I'd hardly consider it anything close to resembling a "fad".

I think what he means is it being the driving force of gaming. Like we have said many times on the site, all generations have one or two genres that push it. FPS have been it for the past two and its time for another genre to overtake. Dont get me wrong, I love a good FPS game as much as the next guy, but Im ready for a new genre to take top spot for a few years.

Granted he could have honestly considered it a fad and in that case take what I said as a personal opinion.

fastbilly1 wrote:I think what he means is it being the driving force of gaming. Like we have said many times on the site, all generations have one or two genres that push it. FPS have been it for the past two and its time for another genre to overtake. Dont get me wrong, I love a good FPS game as much as the next guy, but Im ready for a new genre to take top spot for a few years.

Granted he could have honestly considered it a fad and in that case take what I said as a personal opinion.

i kind of meant what fastbill said. either do something innovative for a change or get the hell out.

You know, for all the bullshit that FPSs get on this forum from some people, you'd think they regularly come out with three a month or something. According to Wikipedia, all console FPSs last year:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Halo 3: ODST
Wolfenstein
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Killzone 2
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

They missed Left 4 Dead 2, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and maybe 1-2 DLC only games (e.g. Battlefield 1943) - I don't know if they missed any others (none come to mind currently). I am not counting hybrid FPS/RPG games like Fallout, Borderlands, etc.

That's only a "whopping" 8 major releases! I'm almost certain there were a hell of a lot more RPGs, platformers, sports, and games for other genres released last year. There's really not a glut of FPS games the way that some people suggest there is, and frankly most of the games in the genre continue to be top-tier titles with high production value because they sell well.

dsheinem wrote:
That's only a "whopping" 8 major releases! I'm almost certain there were a hell of a lot more RPGs, platformers, sports, and games for other genres released last year. There's really not a glut of FPS games the way that some people suggest there is, and frankly most of the games in the genre continue to be top-tier titles with high production value because they sell well.

i didn't know there were only 8. when i think of game releases for this generation i pretty much think of FPS and nothing else.

dsheinem wrote:You know, for all the bullshit that FPSs get on this forum from some people, you'd think they regularly come out with three a month or something. According to Wikipedia, all console FPSs last year:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Halo 3: ODST
Wolfenstein
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Killzone 2
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

They missed Left 4 Dead 2, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and maybe 1-2 DLC only games (e.g. Battlefield 1943) - I don't know if they missed any others (none come to mind currently). I am not counting hybrid FPS/RPG games like Fallout, Borderlands, etc.

That's only a "whopping" 8 major releases! I'm almost certain there were a hell of a lot more RPGs, platformers, sports, and games for other genres released last year. There's really not a glut of FPS games the way that some people suggest there is, and frankly most of the games in the genre continue to be top-tier titles with high production value because they sell well.

Tell me, how many of those titles that you listed got major press and advertising before and after its release? That's right, almost all of them, and the ones that didn't get into said top tier were pretty close in the running. Conversely, when is the last time you saw a commercial for a JRPG on TV? I mean, really saw one, not just finding one on Youtube that someone happened to see at some point. I honestly don't remember. The point I'm trying to make is overexposure. These are the games that people won't shut up about, despite the fact that the same thing has been done hundreds of times over. Now, the same could be said for any genre, but the fact that these FPSs all adhere to the same overtly and intentionally violent and controversial framework that it's something much worse than saturation. It is one of the key factors that is giving video games such a bad name in the media, and all the developers do so for shock value to sell more copies. I know that making money is what a company is about, but the fact that they would take the industry down with them is just appalling. The really annoying part is that the game companies think that these are the only kinds of games that will sell. Thus, they will keep making them and advertising them, and the cycle will continue indefinitely. If this continues, video games will be forever confined to a single stereotypical genre, just like the superhero genre in comic books. The FPS is the grave that video games will be buried in if some changes aren't made. If not permanently, at least intermittently, to keep things alive.

lisalover1 wrote:Tell me, how many of those titles that you listed got major press and advertising before and after its release? That's right, almost all of them, and the ones that didn't get into said top tier were pretty close in the running.

So you are faulting the industry for promoting a genre that happens to be popular? Yes, game companies are indeed in it to make money (as you point out below), and to not advertise means not making as much.

Conversely, when is the last time you saw a commercial for a JRPG on TV?

All of the Final Fantasy games get tons of advertising in print and on air, and I know I've seen ads for the non J-RPGs like the Mass Effect series, Dragon Age, the Zelda games and other big franchises in the past few years. J-RPGs don't usually sell well, and that is why most companies don't want to put up the advertising bucks. I'm sure when they have in the past, they've been burned.

The point I'm trying to make is overexposure. These are the games that people won't shut up about, despite the fact that the same thing has been done hundreds of times over.

J-RPGs do the same thing "hundreds" of times over, as do platormers, shooters, etc. - every genre does the "same things over." BUT in each genre - yes INCLUDING FPS - there is regular (if incremental) innovation. The majority of FPSs of 2009 don't bear a lot of resemblance to the majority of FPSs of 2005, for example.

Now, the same could be said for any genre,

I just did

but the fact that these FPSs all adhere to the same overtly and intentionally violent and controversial framework that it's something much worse than saturation. It is one of the key factors that is giving video games such a bad name in the media, and all the developers do so for shock value to sell more copies.

Ok, here you lose me. The most controversial games of the past ten years have been the GTA series, Mass Effect 1, and perhaps God of War. I suppose we could group MW2 in there as well (although it is quite recent), but I remember much more "negative media" about those other games. None of those are FPSs. Most game genres - yes including JRPGs - are violent (if the game has a battle system, it is violent).

I know that making money is what a company is about, but the fact that they would take the industry down with them is just appalling.

Take the industry down with them? What?

The really annoying part is that the game companies think that these are the only kinds of games that will sell. Thus, they will keep making them and advertising them, and the cycle will continue indefinitely.If this continues, video games will be forever confined to a single stereotypical genre, just like the superhero genre in comic books. The FPS is the grave that video games will be buried in if some changes aren't made. If not permanently, at least intermittently, to keep things alive.

riiiiighht...since when has a popular genre dug a grave for the industry? Sorry, but your arguments just don't resonate with either the history of the industry or the coverage of the industry from the press.

J-RPGs like the Mass Effect series, Dragon Age, the Zelda

Yeah, and I see ads for platformers like Tetris all the time.

Ok, here you lose me. The most controversial games of the past ten years have been the GTA series, Mass Effect 1, and perhaps God of War. I suppose we could group MW2 in there as well (although it is quite recent), but I remember much more "negative media" about those other games. None of those are FPSs. Most game genres - yes including JRPGs - are violent (if the game has a battle system, it is violent).

I didn't say that they all had world-stops-spinning, news-networks-move-in-for-the-kill, Jack-Thompson-rises-from-his-grave controversy. They're just imitators of that, which is just as bad, if not worse. At least the ones who do pull it off show that they market things effectively. The problem is that they give anti-video game members of mass media easy bait for degrading video games on any front they like. It doesn't matter what it is, all they have to do is show a screenshot of any of these games in a particularly violent and clearly biased moment and say, "Is this really what you support?" At that point, they've won over the ignorant masses, and anything the other side says will be completely disregarded.

Take the industry down with them? What?

Haven't you been paying attention? That's what I've been talking about in that entire last post!

riiiiighht...since when has a popular genre dug a grave for the industry? Sorry, but your arguments just don't resonate with either the history of the industry or the coverage of the industry from the press.

I'd really like to see evidence otherwise [no, really, I would; it would be quite encouraging], but this is the path that video games could be heading down if something isn't done. On another note, you'd be crazy to argue that superheroes are not the first genre people think of when they think of comic books. It's an analogy, not a mirror image; although it is frighteningly similar. Also, video games are a very new form of media, they have not had enough time to grow, and hopefully mature. This relatively infant state is a very impressionable time for the industry, for better or worse. There's no definite way of determining the future of anything, but you can analyze trends and make assumptions.

I just did

You are certainly an odd one. You're responding to your own argument; what's more, you make it clear that I already addressed this in the previous post.