When Will FPS Games Stop Being So Popular? [Archive]

SOL BADGUY

03-11-2013, 09:11 AM

Tanooki

03-11-2013, 06:52 PM

Probably not any time soon. As long as there's a bunch of suckers willing to rebuy the same game every year with the same controls, same general physics, modes, and a new coat of paint any child could get good at with some time invested they'll keep catering to that market as its safe money.

WCP

03-12-2013, 01:25 AM

Eventually, I think there will be a VR helmet thing that will become the new standard going forward. You look at the Occulus Rift, and it's getting rave reviews, even with the resolution so low, and the lag still a bit of a factor. In another ten years, the resolution will be much better, the headsets will be much more lightweight, and the lag will be nearly imperceptable. Instead of playing games like Fallout 3, you'll be "inside" games like Fallout 3.

So, basically, first person isn't going anywhere anytime soon. People want to be "in" the experience, and a first person viewpoint is the closest we can get right now.

SOL BADGUY

03-12-2013, 01:57 AM

InsaneDavid

03-12-2013, 02:38 AM

LimitedEditionMuseum

03-12-2013, 02:38 AM

Because its a bunch of 16 year olds who act hard and cuss away....long as parents aren't in the room.

Ed Oscuro

03-12-2013, 02:40 AM

I can cuss up a storm just from being beaten in Bloons TD Battles. Neat little game by the way.

I hope FPSes never die, but I would like to see more games in the Uru: Ages Beyond Myst mold (and similar). I've looked at Second Life and even Active Worlds, and they're rather offputting for some reason.

SOL BADGUY

03-12-2013, 03:05 AM

Video games have been about killing your opponent since the second widely known video game ever created, Spacewar!

Well you had to play in person, which means you had to treat people with respect because you were in public and if you had any sense of social skills you wouldnt yell out a 10th of what people call each other in their bed rooms while hooked up to Live.

danawhitaker

03-12-2013, 03:08 AM

It also seems that its making game players meaner, or brought in meaner people. I wouldnt play Black Ops on multiplayer even if I liked the genre because of how pathetically bad those people are to each other.

World of Warcraft is full of mean, abusive players too. It's not remotely limited to FPS games. Heck, I've seen people get ridiculously angry over bingo (yes, I kid you not) on Club Pogo. Certain rooms in a couple Bingo games are designated "sharing" rooms, where it's considered proper etiquette to wait to call a bingo until you know other people have gotten one. There was a time where those rooms didn't exist, and a small group of people would spend their time whining at people who didn't "share". Now, they have their own rooms, and they still won't use them. You've not lived until you've been cussed out while trying to get a Bingo badge on Pogo that requires you to be the only one in the room to call Bingo x number of times in a week.

People seem meaner because anonymity and the internet depersonalizing people makes it very easy to forget there's another person on the other end of the keyboard or controller.

SOL BADGUY

03-12-2013, 04:15 AM

Im not going to let this become a fight about why people fight with each other hahaha.

bb_hood

03-12-2013, 08:45 AM

I guess theyve always been popular, but it seems theyve become even more popular the last 10 years to the point of over saturation. Will something else have to catch rapid fire, or will it just finally collapse under its own weight?

So, just for the record, Im not a fan. I love DOOM though, and would play Rage, I have played Borderlands, but didnt find it fun, and one of the characters voices annoyed the shit out of me. "I NEVER DIIIEEEEE!"

And I love bullet hell shooters, and other such space shooter or air plane ones.

I think they have been popular ever since the first James Bond game on N64. After being forced to play Bond multiplayer about a billion times I had quickly grown tired of the genre. I think they do appeal to a broad audience so I dont think they will stop making FPS games anytime soon. Im not a fan of FPS games, there are a few ones I like but most do not appeal to me at all. It seems to me that many people who own XBOX360 mainly own the system to play halo, which is understandable. I really dont like Halo but I can see why alot of people like it.

Also, I know its pretty obvious, but bullet hell shooters and other shmups type games are just in a totally different genre. These games I do like. It kinda pisses me off when people ask me 'what kind of video games do you like' and I respond with 'shooters, fighting games, rpgs,' and their response is always: 'oh you like shooters? You play halo?'

YoshiM

03-12-2013, 09:40 AM

Today's FPS is yesterday's glut of 2-D platformers in the 90's just like the glut maze games and slide n' shoot games before that.

Graham Mitchell

03-12-2013, 01:17 PM

There's a lot not to like about FPS's, but there are so many games being released today but I like them for a couple reasons.

First off, they tend to be pretty big on actual gameplay. I'm not going to get into specifics but I think we can all admit that many games released today are more movies than games, and they require time, not skill, to complete. But FPS's (at least the single-player ones) can have levels that really demand you to use your head and build some skills to complete. Some even reward some level of exploration as well. Games like FarCry 3, with an open world map, are sort of the action-RPG's of yesteryear, which I think is cool.

Also, some experiments on the forula have been really successful, and quite fun. Portal and Dishonored are two good examples of this.

But, for every Super Mario World there's a glut of Zool 2's, and the same is present today. Many of them are pretty disappointing when they're released, and I'm really not into the multiplayer component at all, for many reasons. As such, the good ones are getting hard to find.

InsaneDavid

03-12-2013, 01:49 PM

Well you had to play in person, which means you had to treat people with respect because you were in public and if you had any sense of social skills you wouldnt yell out a 10th of what people call each other in their bed rooms while hooked up to Live.

That's the point in it of itself. Social skills are something people (especially a good chunk of youth, not all, but quite a lot) no longer possess. I guess that's bound to happen if your face is looking down at a smartphone 18 hours a day. I swear, I would have never expected that something designed to foster communication between people, the phone, would in turn create a society of introverts.

Back on topic, I agree with what YoshiM said. FPS games are just hot right now so there's a glut of them.

bb_hood

03-12-2013, 01:55 PM

People seem meaner because anonymity and the internet depersonalizing people makes it very easy to forget there's another person on the other end of the keyboard or controller.

This is what I expected when I first started playing PS3 games online about a year and a half ago, and Ive had very few experiences of people being rude or assholes. Ive played Marvel v Capcom 3 alot online, and many times ive received compliments or friend requests after winning or losing both casual and ranked matches. Not everyone is an asshole online.

Graham Mitchell

03-12-2013, 03:25 PM

This is what I expected when I first started playing PS3 games online about a year and a half ago, and Ive had very few experiences of people being rude or assholes. Ive played Marvel v Capcom 3 alot online, and many times ive received compliments or friend requests after winning or losing both casual and ranked matches. Not everyone is an asshole online.

I think the fighting game community is pretty cool right now. I think They tend to be older and more sportsman like. I actually enjoy playing online (or Ina viewlix linked cabinet at the local arcade!!). Plus, you aren't forced to interact with people. You fight, the round ends, move on.

I got yelled at and called a fag so much playing kill zone 2 that I'm done with fps's online.

Ponyone

03-12-2013, 03:40 PM

Today's FPS is yesterday's glut of 2-D platformers in the 90's just like the glut maze games and slide n' shoot games before that.

This is what I was gonna say. Space shooters in the early 70's 80's. platforming and fighting (side scrolling and 2 player) in the 80's to 90's. 3d platformers in the late 90's early 2000's. you can pretty much apply this to all the 'pop' genres of their time

Ponyone

03-12-2013, 03:43 PM

I think the fighting game community is pretty cool right now. I think They tend to be older and more sportsman like. I actually enjoy playing online (or Ina viewlix linked cabinet at the local arcade!!). Plus, you aren't forced to interact with people. You fight, the round ends, move on.

I got yelled at and called a fag so much playing kill zone 2 that I'm done with fps's online.

Again, this can be applied to any genre. I bought Virtua Fighter 5 for 360 at discount long after it was released. I play my first online match against someone whos been playing for a long time and got my ass handed to me. He then sent me a msg calling me names and how badly I sucked and what have you. Give a kid a sense of anonymity, he thinks he's a real hot dog.

kupomogli

03-12-2013, 04:06 PM

An over abundance of platformers then and FPS now are completely different. Back then, platformers were the easiest genre to develop so that's why we saw so many. The FPS genre is popular because it's a casual type game. Easy to jump in with literally no thought process on playing other than shoot at anything that moves. I know a few people who own FPS games and nothing else, or FPS games and little else.

Rob2600

03-12-2013, 05:58 PM

Today's FPS is yesterday's glut of 2-D platformers in the 90's just like the glut maze games and slide n' shoot games before that.

FPS games are just hot right now so there's a glut of them.

Space shooters in the early 70's 80's. platforming and fighting (side scrolling and 2 player) in the 80's to 90's. 3d platformers in the late 90's early 2000's. you can pretty much apply this to all the 'pop' genres of their time

Let's look at the numbers:

2D platformer games were the dominant genre from 1985-1996. That's 11 years.

Rhythm/music games were huge from maybe 1999-2010 (Dance Dance Revolution-the last Guitar Hero game and DJ Hero 2). That's 11 years.

One-on-one fighting games were a dominant genre from let's say 1991-2000 (Street Fighter II-Marvel vs. Capcom 2). That's 9 years.

Skateboard/BMX games were huge for maybe 5 years (1998-2003)?

"Slide & Shoot" Space Invaders type games were a dominant genre from 1978-1981. That's only 3 years.

Now let's compare those genres to FPS:

bb_hood posted that FPS games have been popular since Goldeneye 007 on the N64. That game came out in 1997! That means FPS games have been a dominant genre for 16 years (and still going). That's not even counting Doom, which came out in 1993 or Wolfenstein 3D, which came out in 1992!

Even if we get really crazy and say FPS didn't become a dominant genre until Halo, that's still 12+ years! (2001-present)

So yeah, no comparison. FPS games have definitely overstayed their welcome when compared to other huge genres throughout video game history.

The Adventurer

03-12-2013, 06:01 PM

When Adventure Games return to save us all.

kupomogli

03-12-2013, 07:58 PM

What Rob2600 said.

Leo_A

03-12-2013, 08:12 PM

If the technology had allowed, I'm sure FPS games would be alive and well today even if the genre had gotten its mainstream start 10-15 years earlier than it did. That genre, the sports genre, and the racing genre are three that are always going to remain perennial standards for videogaming. I just wish the growth in online capabilities hadn't done so much damage to the single player campaigns for these types of games.

I had my fill of online FPS's after a long fling with Half-Life 15 years ago and a good bit of time with several other games the next few years on PC's. So I have no desire even after all of this time to bother with it all, particularly since it seems to have taken a step backwards on console's in many ways to modes more akin to the basic deathmatch modes PC gamers became so familiar with back in the 1990's.

And after getting my start on PC's, I can only deal with gamepad control in these games in slower paced single player campaigns.

Rob2600

03-12-2013, 08:16 PM

Leo_A

03-13-2013, 12:07 AM

Racing games have never been at the top of the list so I think that's a valid point even though it has always been a major genre throughout the history of gaming. But I'd say sports games certainly have been regularly vying for the top for generations. For instance I see just as much sports activity on my online friends list, particularly with EA's football series, as I see FPS activity.

But my primary point wasn't to rank the popularity of genres. I simply see no reason why there should be an expectation that this genre should decrease significantly in importance anytime soon. First person shooters along with the sports genre, the racing game genre, and for casual gaming the puzzle genre are all here to stay. And I don't see any of them ever joining the likes of space shooters as long as videogaming exists or see a reason to ever expect that they will.

They're videogaming's perennials. They're not just something people are having a brief fling with that has somehow outlasted its stay compared to past examples like the 2D and then 3D platforming genres that have almost been relegated to a tiny niche not much better off than space shooters beyond Nintendo's own offerings.

Rickstilwell1

03-13-2013, 01:58 AM

Racing games have never been at the top of the list

Except for Mario Kart. There's a racing game series where it's one of the only video games certain people play.

When will FPS games stop being popular? Maybe when Lil Wayne stops rapping. They both hit their peak in popularity around the same time and helped cause their respective industries to go to being the same tired stuff again and again. Maybe when he hangs up his mic and starts skateboarding as his main thing, games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater will make a comeback and he'll be a playable character. I'm just kidding but I may be onto something...

SOL BADGUY

03-13-2013, 06:34 AM

I think though that DOOM made FPS insanely popular, but that was on the computer side of gaming. Then when Microsoft made their Xbox of course an FPS designed for it (Halo) became popular and gave pc gamers who would buy a console their biggest reason to.

To me though, its killing creativity in the industry. Games used to have such cool ideas in it, now that there are better graphics just think of how awesome fantasy worlds would look like now. Instead these games are just making you worry about what guns you have, and humans you play as killing other people in real life looking worlds, or alien worlds that arent too fantasy inspired. Platformers in the past had so much variety, you HAD to come up with different types of attacking enemies or then youd just be a rip off of Mario or Sonic. Now everyone shoots a gun......Its just too limiting and all this potential isnt being reached by most AAA titles.

recorderdude

03-13-2013, 09:07 AM

From a very, VERY biased perspective, I miss when platformers were the big thing. Sure, a lot of them were samey and safe, just like FPSes are today, but there was still a good deal of CREATIVITY involved. People actually had to design characters for them, players, enemies and bosses alike, and overall they were a lot more varied than FPSes are today. Sure, there was three bubsies for every sonic, but even the BUBSIES took effort. With FPSes, you can make a generic terrorist mook with little to no effort whatsoever and still sell well.

The same goes for fighting games. Yeah, there's more fighter's histories and SF2 knockoffs than anything, but there was still a lot of creative work involved in designing the characters for most, and making them memorable by looks alone.

Still, you can't hold back the progression of technology or change the mindset of a generation of kids that are growing up on FPSes, and you can't even hold back the fact that most modern platformers are simplified and overtutorialized for the kids that can't play "daddy's gun games" yet. However, you CAN find the diamonds in the rough in ANY oversaturated genre and enjoy them for what they are.

Leo_A

03-13-2013, 06:46 PM

Except for Mario Kart. There's a racing game series where it's one of the only video games certain people play.

When will FPS games stop being popular? Maybe when Lil Wayne stops rapping. They both hit their peak in popularity around the same time and helped cause their respective industries to go to being the same tired stuff again and again. Maybe when he hangs up his mic and starts skateboarding as his main thing, games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater will make a comeback and he'll be a playable character. I'm just kidding but I may be onto something...

There's so little racing in today's kart racers (Unlike Super Mario Kart) that I personally consider it its own genre.

Games with guns are always going to be there. The only reason the FPS didn't appear for years was technology restraints. It's a natural genre for videogaming and I can't imagine the FPS genre ever dying out or becoming a niche. Hopefully it retracts a bit as the freshness of it on consoles starts to wear thin (Particularly the online component which really was almost nonexistent on consoles not very long ago). But I think that's the best those that dislike the popularity of this genre can hope for barring the liberal segment of the population successfully stigmatizing such digital violence to such a degree that the customer base disappears for harmless entertainment that features it.

I don't even think that there's hope that epic single player campaigns can ever regain some of their lost importance. Beyond hopefully the occasional exception like Half-Life 3, I think single player campaigns will continue to take a backseat and that we will see more games ignore that mode entirely (Which is what saddens me the most since I wouldn't mind this situation nearly as much if games like Half-Life 2 became routine rather than the exception; 5 hour single player "afterthoughts" aren't my idea of great campaigns).

The 1 2 P

03-13-2013, 08:44 PM

As long as there's a bunch of suckers willing to rebuy the same game every year with the same controls, same general physics, modes, and a new coat of paint any child could get good at with some time invested they'll keep catering to that market as its safe money.

You could say that about sports games as well. Some fps games do recycle the same modes, etc but they aren't all like that.

World of Warcraft is full of mean, abusive players too. It's not remotely limited to FPS games.

Yup. I've dealt with jackasses in UNO(of all games) a number of times. You'd think that in a 4 person lobby/game everyone could be civil but unfortunately thats just not how it is.

As for the topic at hand, the FPS genre isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The main Halo and Battlefield games move 10 million+ units and Call of Duty games move 15-20 million+ units. And then theres all the other popular fps games that move 3-7 million units. As long as theres a nice mix of variety and the familiar I can easily see fps games dominating the entire next gen as well. That doesn't mean there won't be room for other games but the popularity of FPS games isn't likely to be surpassed anytime soon. And thats fine with me because it's still my favorite genre.