FPS is killing the American gaming industry

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns,Mass Effect 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn,Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

You mean those super-popular, mass-selling games are killing the industry? Try convincing shareholders that.Ninja-Hippo

Activision is killing the industry

Killing it? No

Making it less interesting? Yes

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

1Stark1

You mean those super-popular, mass-selling games are killing the industry? Try convincing shareholders that.Ninja-Hippo

So what if they're making money? How does that affect the gamer? Don't you get it? If everyone sees that FPS is all thats hot, we'll see less of other genres on the market.

It sucks ass that Black Ops will come out doing nothing new from MW2 and sell 10 million copies while other games struggle to break 2 million. I could see if FPS games were doing something different but come on.

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns,Mass Effect 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn,Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

1Stark1

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns,Mass Effect 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn,Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

1Stark1

Every one of those games listed is more different from each other than similar. Just because you pull a trigger in all of them, doesn't make them the same.

Back with the NES and even before that, most games were side scrolling platformers. Then Street Fighter came along and everything had to be a fighting game.

For a while it was FPSs once Wolfenstein and Doom came on the scene and we're back to shooters.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. In time, the genre of the age will change and someone too young to notice the cycles will have this same complaint.

Back with the NES and even before that, most games were side scrolling platformers. Then Street Fighter came along and everything had to be a fighting game.

For a while it was FPSs once Wolfenstein and Doom came on the scene and we're back to shooters.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. In time, the genre of the age will change and someone too young to notice the cycles will have this same complaint.

VoodooHak

[QUOTE="1Stark1"]

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

Zune_HD

Good point, however I believe a lot of that is gamers simply not willing to invest in a unknown title. Bayonetta recieved great reviews but sold poorly.. why? It had great action, outstanding visuals, and the erotic appeal, but it didn't move units because people didn't know what a bayonetta was. There are great titles out there with lasting appeal but we have to let gamers know about them (websites, word of mouth ect..) if we want to see a influx of "other genres" being sold at that rate.

I have no problems with FPS games being the most popular genre as long as it can evolve and blend other genres too stay interesting. MW does a good job of stuffing RPG features in the online while co-op is never boring, and you also have great games like Bioshock that transcend genres.

Last generation, open world games were all the craze and now we have some truly amazing open world titles to show for it, this gen the amazing influence of Half-Life and Call of Duty 4 don't seem so bad, especially since that means they evolve the most and we now have things like first person cover and strategy infused into our FPS games where before such things were only in other game types.

Besides, you seem to be forgetting games like Mass Effect 2, Forza and GTA IV that went on to sell millions.

FPS are on the same level of "killing the industry" as the casual games like wii fit

[QUOTE="Zune_HD"]

[QUOTE="1Stark1"]

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

OhSnapitz

Good point, however I believe a lot of that is gamers simply not willing to invest in a unknown title. Bayonetta recieved great reviews but sold poorly.. why? It had great action, outstanding visuals, and the erotic appeal, but it didn't move units because people didn't know what a bayonetta was. There are great titles out there with lasting appeal but we have to let gamers know about them (websites, word of mouth ect..) if we want to see a influx of "other genres" being sold at that rate.

new vegas brah

[QUOTE="OhSnapitz"]

[QUOTE="Zune_HD"] Then quit buying all the Killzones, Halo, Resistance and CODs. If it's "killing the American gaming industry" then why do you continue to buy and play them? Actions speak louder than words my friends. Everybody always gets hot and bothered about when a new COD gets announced but yet they still buy the games and these FPS sell 10+ million copies. :?

DragonfireXZ95

Good point, however I believe a lot of that is gamers simply not willing to invest in a unknown title. Bayonetta recieved great reviews but sold poorly.. why? It had great action, outstanding visuals, and the erotic appeal, but it didn't move units because people didn't know what a bayonetta was. There are great titles out there with lasting appeal but we have to let gamers know about them (websites, word of mouth ect..) if we want to see a influx of "other genres" being sold at that rate.

[QUOTE="Ninja-Hippo"]You mean those super-popular, mass-selling games are killing the industry? Try convincing shareholders that.1Stark1

So what if they're making money? How does that affect the gamer? Don't you get it? If everyone sees that FPS is all thats hot, we'll see less of other genres on the market.

No one forces anyone to buy FPSs. And there are still plenty of other genres available on all consoles and the PC. Maybe not as many as FPS, but so what?

Really, the Chicken Little claims about X game or X company killing the market are getting old.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"][QUOTE="OhSnapitz"]

Good point, however I believe a lot of that is gamers simply not willing to invest in a unknown title. Bayonetta recieved great reviews but sold poorly.. why? It had great action, outstanding visuals, and the erotic appeal, but it didn't move units because people didn't know what a bayonetta was. There are great titles out there with lasting appeal but we have to let gamers know about them (websites, word of mouth ect..) if we want to see a influx of "other genres" being sold at that rate.

OhSnapitz

I know, I was agreeing with you. :P

I didn't buy Bayonetta, but that's because I'm just not really a fan of those types of games, bought DMC4 and GoW3 and I never even beat them because I get bored of them. Also, I play on my PC mostly. Don't really touch my PS3 all that much.

Yea I have noticed that too, it's pretty frustrating when people don't even respect a console like the Wii because of the lack of a I guess flagship first person shooter. I think everyone is taking crazy pills myself. Doing the same thing over and over in a game doesn't appeal to me much.

That's why most of the highest selling games of all time AREN'T FPSes, amirite? :roll:

Come on, TC.

I'm gonna have to agree with the OP on this one. I am sick and tired of these gaming newbs thinking they are hardcore gamers just because they bought the

OMG SOOPER EPIC WIN MODUHN WARFARE KALL OF DOOTY OMGLOLOLOL

...on the first day it came out. and then when you try to talk to them about something else, like mario galaxy or littlebigplanet, they go ape$@#* on you, like...

OMGOMGOMG THAT GAME IS 4 BAYBEEZ LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

that being said, I am quite excited about conduit 2.

That's why most of the highest selling games of all time AREN'T FPSes, amirite? :roll:

Come on, TC.

DarkLink77

That's because there's a problem when gaming becomes mainstream. All the casuals will simply only buy games they know/have played, and this is where the gaming market is suffering. Games like Halo, Call of Duty, etc are all games that casuals have played(and the only ones they know of) and will continue to buy and they make up most of the buying industry most likely. The gaming companies see this as a cash cow and try to jump onto the band wagon by making only well known IPs that sell. Thus you get a lot of sequels to games that hardcore gamers get sick of, but casual gamers eat up.DragonfireXZ95

I hate to do this but...**sigh**.

Halo and COD are games for casuals? Halo, one of the most played games on Xbox Live, whose fans were still playing Halo2 right up to Halo 3's release. And COD, a game that also tops the most played games on PSN and Xbox Live. These are the antithesis of "casual". I understand that someone may not like these games, but attempting to belittle anyone who does by using "casual" in a deragatory manner is the epitomy of a very weak argument.

FPS's are somehow casual. they're immediate, fun and challenging and the online multiplayer plays a big role in the success of this genre.

some people just don't like games where you need to rack your brains over puzzles, story etc.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]That's because there's a problem when gaming becomes mainstream. All the casuals will simply only buy games they know/have played, and this is where the gaming market is suffering. Games like Halo, Call of Duty, etc are all games that casuals have played(and the only ones they know of) and will continue to buy and they make up most of the buying industry most likely. The gaming companies see this as a cash cow and try to jump onto the band wagon by making only well known IPs that sell. Thus you get a lot of sequels to games that hardcore gamers get sick of, but casual gamers eat up.WardCleaver02

I hate to do this but...**sigh**.

Halo and COD are games for casuals? Halo, one of the most played games on Xbox Live, whose fans were still playing Halo2 right up to Halo 3's release. And COD, a game that also tops the most played games on PSN and Xbox Live. These are the antithesis of "casual". I understand that someone may not like these games, but attempting to belittle anyone who does is the epitomy of a very weak argument.

Agreed, online FPS seems like the only thing played these days.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]That's because there's a problem when gaming becomes mainstream. All the casuals will simply only buy games they know/have played, and this is where the gaming market is suffering. Games like Halo, Call of Duty, etc are all games that casuals have played(and the only ones they know of) and will continue to buy and they make up most of the buying industry most likely. The gaming companies see this as a cash cow and try to jump onto the band wagon by making only well known IPs that sell. Thus you get a lot of sequels to games that hardcore gamers get sick of, but casual gamers eat up.WardCleaver02

I hate to do this but...**sigh**.

Halo and COD are games for casuals? Halo, one of the most played games on Xbox Live, whose fans were still playing Halo2 right up to Halo 3's release. And COD, a game that also tops the most played games on PSN and Xbox Live. These are the antithesis of "casual". I understand that someone may not like these games, but attempting to belittle anyone who does by using "casual" in a deragatory manner is the epitomy of a very weak argument.

It sucks ass that Black Ops will come out doing nothing new from MW2 and sell 10 million copies while other games struggle to break 2 million. I could see if FPS games were doing something different but come on.

1Stark1

[QUOTE="Zune_HD"]

[QUOTE="1Stark1"]

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games. I'm always up for some Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and to a lesser extent COD. But that seems to be all that people want these days. Why is it that this seems to be the only MAJOR genre that touches 10+ million these days. Halo and COD are great games, but are they worth the numbers they are receiving. I would rather see games like Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, FF13,Demons Souls,and SMG touch these numbers. Not only are FPS games flooding the industry, but devs aren't trying anything new with them, and it seems people don't care. Reach came out and sold more in a Week than games like Mass Effect 2, SMG, Demons Souls etc did in their lifetime sales. Why not an open world FPS thats more story based and have dynamic characters? All FPS games have static characters and no interesting story plot or environments. What are people getting from them that they're selling this much over the other genres?

OhSnapitz

Good point, however I believe a lot of that is gamers simply not willing to invest in a unknown title. Bayonetta recieved great reviews but sold poorly.. why? It had great action, outstanding visuals, and the erotic appeal, but it didn't move units because people didn't know what a bayonetta was. There are great titles out there with lasting appeal but we have to let gamers know about them (websites, word of mouth ect..) if we want to see a influx of "other genres" being sold at that rate.

First person shooters aren't killing anything except first person shooter NPCs.

Uncreative game design is the problem, and although it's quite the problem with FPSs, FPSs are far from the only genre that experiences it.

[QUOTE="WardCleaver02"]

I hate to do this but...**sigh**.

Halo and COD are games for casuals? Halo, one of the most played games on Xbox Live, whose fans were still playing Halo2 right up to Halo 3's release. And COD, a game that also tops the most played games on PSN and Xbox Live. These are the antithesis of "casual". I understand that someone may not like these games, but attempting to belittle anyone who does by using "casual" in a deragatory manner is the epitomy of a very weak argument.

blackgamer1213

Why does everyone always assume Halo is casual? Yes it has a pick up and play type gameplay but when you start playing at higher levels come tell me it's casual. And the criteria for being hardcore have never been single play and difficulty. Half Life 2 had an easy campaign but is that game considered casual? Yes CoD's fanbase is mostly casual but Halo has a big mixed community.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]

That's why most of the highest selling games of all time AREN'T FPSes, amirite? :roll:

Come on, TC.

blackgamer1213

Every generation have their glut of a certain genre. Back in the mid-90's there was a glut of fighting games, enough so that there were even some for the PC. I'm not interested in the genre myself. But, that was the hottest thing then and that's what everyone (on the console side) wanted. Oh well. That one settled down after a while. I expect the FPS boom (on consoles) will too.

[QUOTE="blackgamer1213"][QUOTE="WardCleaver02"]

I hate to do this but...**sigh**.

Halo and COD are games for casuals? Halo, one of the most played games on Xbox Live, whose fans were still playing Halo2 right up to Halo 3's release. And COD, a game that also tops the most played games on PSN and Xbox Live. These are the antithesis of "casual". I understand that someone may not like these games, but attempting to belittle anyone who does by using "casual" in a deragatory manner is the epitomy of a very weak argument.

Casboof

Why does everyone always assume Halo is casual? Yes it has a pick up and play type gameplay but when you start playing at higher levels come tell me it's casual. And the criteria for being hardcore have never been single play and difficulty. Half Life 2 had an easy campaign but is that game considered casual? Yes CoD's fanbase is mostly casual but Halo has a big mixed community.

well if FPS is what everyone wants then arent they helping the industry?

well if FPS is what everyone wants then arent they helping the industry?

kobraka1

The domination of FPS games and their popularity this generation is no different then side-scrollers which dominated the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, fighting games which dominated the 16-bit era, 3-D platformers which dominated the 32-bit era, and GTA-Style games that dominated last generation.

Every era has a genre that rises in popularity and tends to dominate the shelves, the charts, and drives alot of developers to make a game in that genre to cash in on their popularity.

The rise of FPS titles is a part of that cycle and is no different then what has happened in past generations.

[QUOTE="kobraka1"]

well if FPS is what everyone wants then arent they helping the industry?

blackgamer1213

Money talks. If there's enough demand, it wouldn't matter to developers if those who didn't like FPS games were in the majority. If developers decide to milk it for all it's worth, oh well. It's not like other genres are non-existent.

There's always been a glut of certain genres. I still remember a glut of platformers. Then there was a glut of fighting games. Heck, there was even a glut of WW2 flight sims* on the PC 1998-1999.

*Microprose European Air War, MS Combat Flight Simulator, Jane's WW2 Fighters, Activision's Screaming Demons Over Europe

[QUOTE="blackgamer1213"][QUOTE="WardCleaver02"]

I hate to do this but...**sigh**.

Halo and COD are games for casuals? Halo, one of the most played games on Xbox Live, whose fans were still playing Halo2 right up to Halo 3's release. And COD, a game that also tops the most played games on PSN and Xbox Live. These are the antithesis of "casual". I understand that someone may not like these games, but attempting to belittle anyone who does by using "casual" in a deragatory manner is the epitomy of a very weak argument.

Casboof

Why does everyone always assume Halo is casual? Yes it has a pick up and play type gameplay but when you start playing at higher levels come tell me it's casual. And the criteria for being hardcore have never been single play and difficulty. Half Life 2 had an easy campaign but is that game considered casual? Yes CoD's fanbase is mostly casual but Halo has a big mixed community.

I agree with the TC. Those modern console FPS games aren't even taking the genre any further.

If it's a problem then stop supporting it. Easy as that.

There are tons of devs out there that don't make FPS games, and will make more non-fps games if you support them.