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[RedSwirl]

So true, and so sad

Only on consoles bro.

 

[Data West]

Most of those have been in decline for years.

Of course, so has yahoo. Bam.

 

[FLEABttn]

I don't know, I played Xenoblade, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Dark Soul in the last few months alone, which were all absolutely fantastic.

I don't think Dark Soul falls quite in that genre.

Which basically leaves 2 games in that genre in the past 12 months, when during the PSX era, it felt like a new one was being shit out every 3 weeks.

 

[krae_man]

You could argue everything but shooters is on the decline.

Edit: Oh and Dance games.

 

[Rapstah]

10 Guitar Hero's in 2 years?
What?
What?
WHAT?

I think that might be including DJ Hero games. Otherwise I think you get to 8 or 9 with the DS games counted.

 

[walking fiend]

LOL @ yahoo - what a piece of written crap.

if telltale is the only "future" of adventures than adventures are already UNDEAD. they were on the decline 14 years ago, but they came back - not with big publishers, but with many small european outlets.

and were on the list are rpgs? oh...i forgot, skyrim is the saviour of the genre and a masterpiece...

xtreme sports are dead since the ps2 days (2007) and mascot plattformers dies even more back in time. the only real genre that is on decline are raciing games.

Well, they don't sell either; at some point they were totally popular, though I guess the genre was obviously in a long-term decline shortly after the brief revial by Syberia.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Adventure games have been on their deathbed for a decade now, there no real decline there and honestly we've had more glimmering signs of life recently than awhile (Telltale, 999, etc). Mascot platformers, if anything, have seen dramatic growth this gen. Nintendo might be single handedly driving that growth, but it still there.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Bad article:

Racing games
As much a staple of a healthy video game diet as sports, racing games have been popular for nearly as long as video games have existed. But troubling sales have led to dwindling interest at the publisher level.

Late generation fatigue, as the software ecosystem resets next generation things will be better.

Music games
It's entirely possible that music games could have lived a long, healthy life, but when publishers flooded the market in a dizzying 2008-2009, players threw their hands up in disgust. In that two-year period, Activision released a whopping ten Guitar Hero games, while and Harmonix released three versions of Rock Band.

Article is 2 years late, 2010 was the decline year for music games. 2011 and 2012 have been rest years so far. The genre might not return to its heights, but it will return when publishers start, ya know, releasing games again.

Adventure games
Most major publishers have given up on traditional adventure games entirely, although Telltale Games has kept the genre alive by transforming adventure classics (like Sam & Max) and licensed content (like Back to the Future) into episodic content. The other bright spot? The successful hidden-object genre, which is now incorporating classic adventure game elements, like inventory puzzles, into the mix.

15+ years late, the adventure genre is actually in the middle of reviving. There are tons of indie adventures.

Extreme sports games
But sales began tapering off, and when Activision's innovative but problematic Tony Hawk: Ride faceplanted at retail, it marked the end of the line for these games as a major player in the industry.

Multiple years late, genre died off 2009 or so.

Mascot platform games
Years ago, game consoles were crawling with furry, jumping critters, but those glory days are long gone. Sega keeps pumping out Sonic the Hedgehog games, which sell just enough to justify sequels, but aren't nearly as anticipated (or critically-acclaimed) as they used to be. Other mascot platform franchises have fallen off the map entirely (Crash Bandicoot? Jak & Daxter?), and though Sony is readying a new Sly Cooper game, that would be the franchise's first new entry in seven years. Recent critical smash Rayman: Origins proves there's room for a comeback here, but we wouldn't bet our golden coins/acorns/idols on it.

A generation late., Mario being the obvious exception here that somehow isn't listed.

 

[xHAASx]

10 Guitar Hero's in 2 years?
What?
What?
WHAT?

Activision...

 

[The Lamonster]

Glad the article didn't mention Tower Defense or RTS games. Because I love them.

 

[The Elite]

Racing Games?

Really?

 

[RPGamer92]

List is missing Survival Horror.

Spoiler

;_;

 

[A.KU.MU]

FPS.

 

[Suikoguy]

Adventure games can't be on the decline when they were practically extinct a few years ago.

Pretty much, the Blackwell series also proved to me that Indie developers can make an awesome adventure game that almost stands up to the classics.

If anything, JRPGs have been on the decline this generation.

 

[Sentenza]

Adventure games can't be on the decline when they were practically extinct a few years ago.

Well, in the low budget/indie scene they are actually thriving.
Of course, if we consider just the triple A market than we can say adventures went the way of the dodo more than ten years ago.

 

[walking fiend]

A generation late., Mario being the obvious exception here that somehow isn't listed.

And Donkey Kong! DKCR sold pretty well I believe?

 

[Brazil]

List is missing the JRPG

Spoiler

:'(

The JRPG genre has already hit the bottom of the well. It isn't in decline anymore.

 

[Emitan]

Spoiler

;_;

Didn't you hear? Resident Evil 6 is coming!

HUEHUEHUEHUE

 

[sixteen-bit]

FPS.

On the incline more like

 

[Suikoguy]

The JRPG genre has already hit the bottom of the well. It isn't in decline anymore.

Eh, it could get worse. (See Adventure Games Genre about 6 years ago).

 

[Chamber]

What about fighting games. Tekken, SF, MK etc aren't what they used to be.

That genre is probably as healthy as it's been in a decade.

 

[Deleted member 13876]

And Donkey Kong! DKCR sold pretty well I believe?

I think the main point to make here is that sure there can be exceptions that are really successful today, but there was a time where the character mascotte platform pumping out bestseller after bestseller, or cheap franchise tie-in is long gone. There's room for a couple of games to really well but it's become more of a winner takes all scenario.

 

[Door2Dawn]

FPS.

I wish it was declining.

 

[Polk]

Adventure games have been in full-on niche mode for over a decade, so I'm not sure where they get this "dying" thing from. As for racers, there's still a steady flow of them coming out. If anything, the genre has just trimmed the fat in terms of what is coming out now compared to 5-10 years ago, which I don't consider a bad thing.

With Syberia and later rise of TellTale adventure games gained some mainstream attention. But it didn't led to more mainstream games/series follow their lead.
Aventure games are as (un)popular as 15 years ago.

 

[djtiesto]

Everything except FPS, TPS, shallow IOS games, and open world games are on the decline it seems.

 

[J-Rock]

So what genres are on the rise?

 

[The Faceless Master]

So what genres are on the rise?

non-games, shooters and normal sports.

 

[Proelite]

ಠ_ಠ
World in Conflict? Dawn of War II? Starcraft 2? Supreme Commander? Command and Conquer 3? RUSE? All not good? What is this blasphemy?

Although I agree that the genre is declining. Outside of Starcraft 2 no one is buying those games. Apparently people don't like to think. It's a sad state of affairs.

WIC: No base building no play.
Dawn of War II: Terrible
Starcraft 2: Terrible
Supreme Commander: Terrible
CNC 3: Maybe, the demo didn't grab me.
RUSE: No base building no play.

On a more serious note, it's hard to follow up to a half-decade where we had Startcraft, AOE, CNC, Red Alert, Warcraft 3, Generals, each one of which was a critical and commercial success/

 

[Gravijah]

WIC: No base building no play.
Dawn of War II: Terrible
Starcraft 2: Terrible
Supreme Commander: Terrible
CNC 3: Maybe, the demo didn't grab me.
RUSE: No base building no play.

there's a difference between a terrible game and a game you don't enjoy.

 

[Data West]

So what genres are on the rise?

WRPGs seem to be popping up more and more on consoles.

 

[Host Samurai]

Missing beat em ups.

 

[SolidSnakex]

That genre is probably as healthy as it's been in a decade.

I'd still say that it's in the same boat as racing games. Established franchises are the only games that really sell. You really aren't seeing any new games putting up impressive numbers. Fighters have Street Fighter, Marvel, SSB and Tekken while racing games have GT, Mario Kart, Forza and NFS. Codemasters racers put up decent numbers as well, but that's about it.

 

[xHAASx]

On the incline more like

Yeah.

 

[Concept17]

List is missing Survival Horror.

Been dead awhile.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

It's in huge decline, think of all the racing games that flopped or put companies out of business - Split Second, Pure, Motorstorm, PGR4, Blur, etc. Aside from GT/Forza and I guess NFS, very few racing games are selling well.

It's not a healthy genre imo.

But all those games released and exist. It's not like if you're a racer fan there's nowhere for you to turn. There's a ton of racers. And it's hard to think there won't be a ton more next gen.

 

[Dog Problems]

Adventure games
Most major publishers have given up on traditional adventure games entirely, although Telltale Games has kept the genre alive by transforming adventure classics (like Sam & Max) and licensed content (like Back to the Future) into episodic content. The other bright spot? The successful hidden-object genre, which is now incorporating classic adventure game elements, like inventory puzzles, into the mix.

How's the year 2000 treating you, Mr. Morris?

 

[kruis]

I'd still say that it's in the same boat as racing games. Established franchises are the only games that really sell. You really aren't seeing any new games putting up impressive numbers. Fighters have Street Fighter, Marvel, SSB and Tekken while racing games have GT, Mario Kart, Forza and NFS. Codemasters racers put up decent numbers as well, but that's about it.

Three studios specializing in racing games closed in 2011: Bizarre Creations (PGR, Blur) , Black Rock Studio (Split Second: Velocity, Pure) and THQ Digital Studios Phoenix (MX vs. ATV Alive, Cars, ATV Offroad Fury). Evolution Studios (Motorstorm) feared for its existence because each new Motorstorm game sold worse than its predecessor.

Studios specializing in fighters didn't face those problems.

 

[OneHitWonder]

I feel like there are more adventure games released in a year than there are FPS games. Maybe I'm wrong, just seems like adventuregamers.com always has new reviews up when I check it.

 

[NoirVisage]

Bullet Hell killed the genre, After Raiden it was all sorts downhill.

Truth..
And why Einhander was a treat.

 

[thetrin]

Funnily enough, the adventure genre is the only one I will mourn. I couldn't care less about the rest.

Everything except FPS, TPS, shallow IOS games, and open world games are on the decline it seems.

RPGs are starting to gain a head of steam recently. I think we'll see more RPGs moving forward.

 

[CouchMaster]

So what genres are on the rise?

'Press A for jump"

Also I'd say stealth action games..

 

[SolidSnakex]

Three studios specializing in racing games closed in 2011: Bizarre Creations (PGR, Blur) , Black Rock Studio (Split Second: Velocity, Pure) and THQ Digital Studios Phoenix (MX vs. ATV Alive, Cars, ATV Offroad Fury). Evolution Studios (Motorstorm) feared for its existence because each new Motorstorm game sold worse than its predecessor.

Studios specializing in fighters didn't face those problems.

Those racing games tend to be big budget, so they're going to do some damage to the developers if they flop.

 

[Dog Problems]

I feel like there are more adventure games released in a year than there are FPS games. Maybe I'm wrong, just seems like adventuregamers.com always has new reviews up when I check it.

Yeah, there's a lot of good stuff coming out on a consistent basis. Apparently the writer of the article doesn't pay attention to indie releases outside of TellTale.

 

[xHAASx]

'Press A for jump"

Also I'd say stealth action games..

First-person shooters.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

A sub genre but traditional party based wRPGs are on a decline: Most recent ones were Drakensang II the River of time and that studio went belly up and Dragon Age II which was poorly received in most circles.

 

[CouchMaster]

First-person shooters.

I wouldn't say its on the rise, its basically peaked out at this point and more and more games are mixing FPS with other genres like RPG and action/adventure. TBH a pure run-n-gun FPS like Halo is about as rare as any other genre on that list.

 

[Kabouter]

Hidden object games are in no way a bright spot. Screw those games. So often I see an interesting adventure title game, only to find seconds later that it's a rubbish hidden object game. Also, adventures were definitely in worse shape a few years ago.

RTS?

We haven't had a good one since COH.

We got Hearts of Iron III: For the Motherland just last year, incredibly good game. Only counting base games, Victoria II was 2010.

 

[Tunic]

I can agree with most of these genres on the decline. I don't think adventure games should be included because like others have said I don't think they have really existed lately. If anything, I think they are slowly getting back into mainstream a little. If I had to pick one genre that is dying if not dead already is the music game genre.

 

[Metroid Hunter]

Racing Games on the decline?

If Gran Turismo, Forza and Mario Kart are exceptions, then what do they mean it's on the decline? That's 6 games between 3 series that are growing!

Adventure Games on the decline?

MASCOT Games on the decline?! lol.

What the hell? Mii? Mario? Donkey Kong? Kirby?

 

[Kabouter]

Racing Games on the decline?

A single franchise, hardly proves anything.

Adventure Games on the decline?

Not an adventure game, just an action game.

MASCOT Games on the decline?! lol.

Exception.