i think GTA blends genres quite well. its like a car racing, first person adveture - theres cars, shooting and missions.
thats why its such a kewl game

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Original post by Rixter
I would have to agree with FragLegs, as soon as computers got fast enough, Ultima Underworld, Wolfenstein, and Doom began the ever popular first person shooter (not so much UU) genre. Even The Sims was though up not long after the original SimCity, but they weren''t able to make it until computers were fast enough to handle it. Black and White is also a genre breaking game, with its virtual pets (at least on this level of sophistication), nothing was quite like this before.

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Actually the very first FPS could be considered that early 80''s classic Battlezone...it was every bit as 3D as Wolfenstein...

Sorry, I don''t buy the technology angle...The Sims could have been made 10 years ago with simple VGA type graphics...or even earlyer as a text game...

Think about it...what is fundementaly different about todays games BESIDEs graphics and sounds then games made 10-15 years ago?...Metal Gear Solid II was just released...yet it features very simular gameplay to the NES original...the advances in technology went into updated 3D graphics and sounds...not neccissarily the gameplay...heck they even found some extra processor power to deal with melting ice cubes and broken glass...this could have been done years ago with sprites if such attributes are so important to a game...

such film SFX as "bullet time" in the Matrix could have been done years ago...the software used was basied on the same image interpolation ideas as the old "morph" software first used in films like Willow...all it took was someone saying "hey this old stuff works good when going from one extream image to another (transform a cat to a human face)...I wonder if it would work when images are simular?"...then useing one of the oldest photographic tricks in the book to capture images (a linked set of still photo cameras...used as far back as the 1800''s to capture the motion of horses running)...and poof!, you have a new SFX technique to amaze people with.

The technology is already here...maybe not for the highly detailed and realistic MMORPG game you have in mind where ice can melt and charactors can get sunburnt...but honestly, are such attributes cause for the declaration of a new game genre to be made in your honor? Even if melting ice and sunburns has nothing to do with the gameplay?

new genres rather than twists on existing ones? Maybe, but you''re going to have to look to the source. Right now the big genres are Sim, FPS, and RTS. Parent, hunter, warrior. What are we missing? Maybe herder?

is that you No_mercyJedi?

FF7: same old rpg game but it has new interface: 3D graphics

Diablo: same old point and click game like Command and Conquer but there is new interface: instead of controlling a group of armies, you control one character

Doom: same old shooter but there is a new interface: it is in 3D!!!

You don''t need to think of a genre, just think of a new interface of you game and it will sell well. Otherwise, think of a good story and work on a RPG.

You''re right about BattleZone MSW, but The Sims slows down my computer (a k6-2 350), and i don''t think its the graphics doing it. Besides, thats just what it said in the game (it pops up little tidbits about the game and people who worked on it throughout the game). Yeah, it could have been done sooner with simpler graphics and stuff, but would have ran pretty slow from all the AI stuff involved, but then again, if it was programmed really really good, who knows.

How about a first-person text RPG?

How will games be marketed if they have too many genres associated with them. Publishers like aiming towards certain niche audiences so unless we do our own publishing, we''ll be no better off now than in 2,000,000 years time!(I don''t have any proof for that statement)

Anyway, games become stagnant when they jump on whatever bandwagon is running at the time, if FPS''s are popular, you''ll get a whole bunch of those, same with most other genres. To get to the goodstuff, you have to look way beyond the mainstream, and things will only be getting worse not better, as the games industry becomes more and more like the movie industry, it''s bound to happen.

With my brand new genre busting-world-shaking game idea, I''m sure I''ll change all that!

j/k

In addition to genre blending, I''d say new genres do come along, though not at a very quick rate, maybe one every few years.

The newest clearly definable genre I can think of off the top of my head (that isnt merely a combination of other genres) is the dance/rhythm/music genre, ala PaRappa, DDR, Space Channel 5, Samba De Amigo, etc.

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Original post by gmcbay
The newest clearly definable genre I can think of off the top of my head (that isnt merely a combination of other genres) is the dance/rhythm/music genre, ala PaRappa, DDR, Space Channel 5, Samba De Amigo, etc.

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Hey, hey, hey! Y''all don''t go clogging that up now! Not before I drop my new DJs-and-Dancin'' game tentatively titled Groovin'' ! (Remind me to talk about that sometime...)

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!