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Are there "dead genres"?

Do you think there are "dead genres"?

  • Yes. I think certain genres have essentially reached a creative endpoint.

  • No. I think most / all genres can still be added to in meaningful ways.


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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
If "dead genre" is defined as... a genre in gaming with a history of little to no recent innovation, as well as no expectation for future innovation.

Examples might include the 2D fighter, the metroidvania, the simcade racer...

This is not to say that these genres are "bad" per se, only that their format has been wrung dry in terms of creative potential.

Do you sense this as well or am I too pessimistic?

(Is this GT5, GT6, GT Sport, or GT7? Nobody knows)
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No genre truly dies, someone will eventually make it fresh again, maybe with a hybrid like Pacman+roguelike and boom, everyone does Maze games again.
Classical 80's and 90's style Shmups are few and far between now. It used to be a staple too, until the crazies took over and turned it into a laser focused niche genre with danmaku/bullet hell. A few more Earthion style games and maybe we get a newfound appreciation of the classic style.
 
Hero shooters are thankfully headed that direction.
I think it would depend how that genre is defined.

If it's two small teams enter a small map and shoot eachother for 3 minutes...you're probably right.

If it's just defined as players choosing characters based on "hero abilities and attributes"...much less so.
 
I wouldn't say there are dead genres but there are certainly highs and lows, as well as transformations. Boomer shooters were "dead" until around 2017 and now they're almost as common as metroidvanias, with a lot of variety and new ideas brought to the table.

Simcade isnt dead either, not with tokyo xtreme racer releasing next week.
 
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I fully believe all of this stuff is cyclical, with two caveats. One is where other forces limit the innovation or development that can be done - see sports games where you have leagues that basically do not allow fun (no more NFL Blitz) and are fine with the games being scummy P2W casino bullshit, and simulation like racing games that naturally trend towards a limit. A sim-like racing game, you can only do so much with a Nissan driving in Laguna Seca, we probably reached the point of diminishing returns with this on PS2.

Everything else, there is room, we are starting to see RTS games come back and they were dead for a decade.
 
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"Classic" third person action adventure games ala Tomb Raider (1996), MDK/MDK 2, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, classic Prince of Persia games, Soul Reaver, etc.. are dead IMO


There's still third person action adventure games of course, but they are completely different than these classics to the point that they are essentially a whole different genre of game.
 
If you are overfamiliar with a game then you are zoomed in on it and a 1% change can seem huge but if you are not familiar you are zoomed out and a 100% change can seem small.
 
I don't believe there are dead genres, at most just ones that have become niche, like point-and-click adventures or real-time strategy.
 
Other than indies, AAA gaming is creatively bankrupt. It's a dying industry. Take out the big boy games 9crap games) like Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox and the mobile stuff.....the industry isn't doing nearly as well as they say
 
Not much going fighting games wise as far as I'm aware.

Yes Sports titles have essentially become roster updates with pay to win casino card games
Sport titles are based on real sports though, you can't really innovate on a rigid set of rules. I suppose the input method could be iterated upon.
 
Stealth is unfortunately dying
I wouldn't say its dying, just being incorporated other genres. We're seeing a revival of immersive sims (which also happen to be a case of this) for example and those often incorporate stealth mechanics.
 
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Music based games like Dance Dance Revolution, Singstar and Rock Band.
The crash of music games that rely on various instruments will always surprise me. We've went from multiple series (including some niche ones like DJ Hero) to pretty much a single semi-professional series that's not intended for casuals.
 
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There are meaningful additions to be made, but they won't be because corporations are going to stick to safe formulaic content.
 
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