Top Ten thriving game genres

Probably these (not in any specific order):

1. Simulations (The sims,Simcity 4)
2. Horror survivalist (silent hill 2)
3. Real time strategy (warcraft 3)
4. Sports
5. MMORPG's
6. Turn based war simulations (cossacks)
7. FPS
8. Platformers (Ty, Zelda)
9. RPG's
10. Fighting (Tekken 4)

Or a mix of them like Dues Ex, which was an FPSRPG. :P

My list of thriving genres. Emphasis on the word 'thriving', and definatley not my list of genres I prefer to play. :)

10. Survival Horror - this genre is still going ok, with Resident Evil 0, Silent Hill 3 still creating interest.. but improvements I've seen have really mainly been graphical.
9. Racing - People still love to race, so this genre will never die.. Career modes, online play etc help enhance this genre, but I wonder where else this genre can go.
8. Platformers - for the same reason above. The kids just love em.
7. Sports sim - soccer, football.. It's another safe genre. They just seem to be throwing more and more fancy graphics.

(These genres are the ones really thriving though.. )

6. RPGs - Final Fantasy etc.. I think Final Fantasy X2 sold millions on just on pre-order.. holy...
5. Extreme sports games - Tony Hawk, and all those bike, snowboarding etc games where you pull off tricks.
4. Freeform racer/third person shooter - Grand Theft Auto3... (also Mafia, True Crime Streets of LA..) 7 or 8 million buyers of Vice City can't be wrong!
3. The Sims, Sim City, Tycoon, and all your god/building/maintaining games..
2. MMORPGs - it's thriving to the point of saturation
1. FPS - in all their variants.. Online (Battlefield 1942, Counterstrike etc) or single player (Unreal 2, Castle Wolfenstein, too many to name.. you know them all). Gamers will always buy FPS's, and developers will always be churning them out.

Mixing genres are the way of the future I reckon. Genres of old have made the transition to 3D and have been milked out for all they can, and now that those genres are absolutely exhausted, mixing genres are the only way to keep things interesting.

So here's my list of genres of great potential..

5. MMOAG. Massive Multiplayer Online Action Game..
4. An MM online version of Elite 2: Frontier. It's something I've dreamed about ever since the internet became popular. :) That Eve : Second Genesis games looks like it could be that!
3. Single player FPS/RPG. Your basic FPS with a few puzzles backed with a storyline has been done to death. Mixing other genres with First person shooters will keep them interesting.
2. Online FPS/RTS like that Savage (http://www.gamers.com/game/56334). Savage also gets my award for 'coolest looking grass fields' in a game.. :) Another example would be that half life mod with the marines vs aliens (the name of which escapes me atm).
1. Online Grand Theft Auto 3, (GTA3 to me was a mixture of third person shooter, racer). Seriously, whoever does a decent job of an online Grand Theft Auto 3 like game first is gonna strike it big time. The masses want it, and there's nothing out there offering it at the moment.

Heh, the maze genre in the top 10 dying genres got it slightly wrong... Wolf3D had quite a maze element in it (emphasised by the Pac-Man bonus level).

All the game genres will combine into the SUPER MEGA GENRE and take over the world!

Massively Multiplayer Online Turned Based First Person Space Shooter Role Playing Action Real Time Strategy Puzzle Educational Survival Horror Racing Platformer Text Adventure Fighting Sports Simulation Maze Game, played with a light gun and a virtual reality headset.

I played that, it Sucked [:p]

Pantmonger

Saturation point hit the MMORPG / MMOG market after Ever(crack)quest came out, there's already far too many out there, and it will only get worse.

I get a little irritated when I keep seeing MMO being attached to any genre and people pretending it's a new genre of game :)

I personally am not sure what I would say thriving genres are. Alot of combat based games really, in various forms. First person, shooter, "tactical" crap, even the ol' beat 'em up (although usually far more 3D nowadays) etc. RPGs still go quite well in all their forms, online, multiplayer, single player first person, third person etc.

quote:Originally posted by redwyre

All the game genres will combine into the SUPER MEGA GENRE and take over the world!

Massively Multiplayer Online Turned Based First Person Space Shooter Role Playing Action Real Time Strategy Puzzle Educational Survival Horror Racing Platformer Text Adventure Fighting Sports Simulation Maze Game, played with a light gun and a virtual reality headset.

You may be kidding about it, but I can see it happening... [:)]..

One day... [:)]

I'm trying to work out the definition of thriving for this post. Does it mean that there is lots of it, or that there is lots of innovation going on in it?

There's a f*ckload of FPS (usually set in a dystopian future) but not a lot of innovation coming through here - just a lot of refined gameplay.

Racing games are a dime a dozen too - not much innovation here either.

Half the PC market is RTS - although, this genre seems to have a bit more differentiation than a lot of others for some reason usually in scenarios/settings.

I'm surprised no-ones mentioned Rhythm-Action games. I haven't played many myself, but half of the arcades nowadays are full of them. There's a surprising amount on console too...

And coming in at number 1...
the envolope please

Dating Sims.
[:p]

Dating Sims? OMG! Sad but true probably... next thing we'll hear about Everquest people getting married in game.

As for games... everyone is going to get sick of the heavily themed wargames such as Black Hawk DownVietcong (especially with the 247 coverage of the war machine), and will likely look for more refreshing scenarioschallenges. Hopefully this won't mean a swag of hackneyed space or tolkeinesque games, rather some new ideas.

Rhythm games like DDR? Anything that makes people jump around like retarded boys trapped in a McDonalds playground fails to gain my respect. I'd love to see someone bust some DDR moves on a real dance floor, that would be too damned funny. Oops, off topic, but I have to make clear my contempt for DDR. *glares at redwyre*

Scott.

quote:Originally posted by rezn0r

Dating Sims? OMG! Sad but true probably... next thing we'll hear about Everquest people getting married in game.

I'm sure I've heard of that happening before...

quote:
Rhythm games like DDR? Anything that makes people jump around like retarded boys trapped in a McDonalds playground fails to gain my respect. I'd love to see someone bust some DDR moves on a real dance floor, that would be too damned funny. Oops, off topic, but I have to make clear my contempt for DDR. *glares at redwyre*

Just 'cause you SUCK at it....

*prepares a DDR intervention for redwyre*

quote:
Rhythm games like DDR? Anything that makes people jump around like retarded boys trapped in a McDonalds playground fails to gain my respect. I'd love to see someone bust some DDR moves on a real dance floor, that would be too damned funny. Oops, off topic, but I have to make clear my contempt for DDR. *glares at redwyre*

I dunno, but having watched some of those dance-gamers, there's certainly a lot of skill involved. I've played a couple of them (on console in the safety of the AIE) and they're harder than they look -there is definitely a great deal of foot-eye co-ordination involved.

It's not your 'hardcore' (lame label to signify elitism) type of game but I think anything that brings more casual/part-time gamers into arcades or towards videogames has got to be good.

They're quite popular in American schools with them being set up for kids to lose weight.

rezn0r: I think liking DDR is a group 2 thing... :P

Reznor: DDR is just a bit of fun man, doesn't have to be the contemporary 'cool' all the time. Ive never played it because Im pretty much gutless and would look like an arse but good on the people that do.
Fight the man. lol

Jonathans right if it brings in casual and hardcore gamers is always a good thing.

BTW some people did get married on Everquest but only their characters, not the actual people. Now thats wierd.

DDR is great, I'm personally not good at it, but the few times I have played it, I could see how it'd be notoriously addictive. I also think it's done good things for video games in terms of changing how we interact and interface with video games. Well, it hasn't reshaped video games, but it has opened the door to possibilities and is another stepping stone towards, hopefully, new and exciting ways we play games. At the moment, new accessories are expensive, but I wonder if there will ever come a time when we ditch the traditional joypad for something different?

lol, I think I was the only member of Group 2 to resist the DDR epidemic. You still hooked on that game, red? [:)]

EverQuest is not the only MMOG that allowed players' characters to marry. I remember playing a primitive 2D japanese MMOG (pre-EQ) that actually featured it. When you clicked on another player it would tell you their name, level and spouse (if any).

quote:Originally posted by TheBigJ

lol, I think I was the only member of Group 2 to resist the DDR epidemic. You still hooked on that game, red? [:)]

EverQuest is not the only MMOG that allowed players' characters to marry. I remember playing a primitive 2D japanese MMOG (pre-EQ) that actually featured it. When you clicked on another player it would tell you their name, level and spouse (if any).

From memory, I think two Koreans met each other playing Diablo II on B.Net, and as a result got married. Wonder if that could be a new genre: Virtual Personals or something like that...