All this week I have gave my definitions of each genre of gaming, including a group piece on particular genres that appear to be dying out. I have purposely left the best for last, and of course those of you that have read my articles will know that I’m talking about first and third person shooters and adventure games. The basis from which I define these styles of gaming is based on game sales and the quantity that are released. Household brands like the Call of Duty series, one released annually, plus various other titles including Battlefield, The Elder Scrolls games, Mass Effect, Fable, and Gears of war, Dead Space, and Assassins Creed.
At some point in history gamers experienced the first and third person genres, major titles such as Doom and the Original Duke Nukem probably had something to do with the now revolutionary fully destructible environments, multiple weapons, sometimes upgradable, and scripts. In depth story lines coupled with multiple choice gave us the gamer the opportunity to play how we wanted. Games like Black and White, as well as Fable gave us the option to be good, evil or neutral.
The online multiplayer experience amplified the popularity of the FPS whilst huge add on DLC’s kept campaigns and quests interesting for adventure games. Some older titles have made it onto the online browser scene, sometimes are even free to download.
It is hard to believe that games of our generation produce bigger cult followings, television series such as Star Trek and Star Wars produced comic and Trekky conventions around the globe. Fast and Furious ended up encouraging millions of boy racers to mod their cars and start street racing. Lord of the Rings had a similar affect as Star Trek, Aliens, Predator, The Matrix, Various Bruce Lee films and Rocky have all produced fans to go out of their way to purchase merchandise, anime films, and attend gatherings dressed up as their favourite characters. The gaming industry has certainly had a similar effect on its fans as well. Big games conventions like E3 bring consumers from around the globe wearing replica uniforms, weapons, and so on. This is especially true of the Alien and predator sagas.
The FPS shooter has certainly produced a world phenomenon, with infamous online gaming, and world championships where players can compete for massive monetary prizes. I still find myself surprised come the beginning of winter when the new COD is released, I’m not sure what it is that encourages the consumer to make the purchase yearly. I have played these games, the story is usually rather intriguing, but we all know these games are bought for the online multiplayer mode and not it’s defining story line and missions.
Alas, the TPS and FPS continue to break sales records, and dominate the gaming industry as we know it. There must be a sort of charm in shooting your friend in the face with a shotgun, or laying a Claymore for them to walk over. There is no doubt in my mind that the genre will continue to sit at the forefront of gaming until somebody, somewhere can produce a new niche or unique experience for us to move on.