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Genres lost to us through the years.

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Talk Show Host

Talk Show Host

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While I was browsing through Steam I came across to "The Longest Journey". I was instantly filled with memories (used to play it with my girlfriend at the time for hours) which quickly manifested to daydreaming about other classic adventures or genres that have disappeared and we can't enjoy any more.

Where are my flight simulations? I remember reading excitingly through the pages of magazines about snippets for previews or reviews for Falcon, Stealth Fighter, Red Baron, Wings or Flight of the Intruder (yes, I'm that old).

Where are my Space fighting simulations? Where are the X-Wings, Tie Fighters and Freespaces of our time?

Where are the adventures of our time? Is episodic content of Sam and Max and some Sherlock Holmes games all that is left of the genre? The last adventure I remember playing was Dreamfall on Xbox (which was not an adventure in a classical sense, ala LucasArts or Sierra). Where are the great characters of Space Quest and Heroe's Quest or Grim Fandango?

Even the RTS and TBS games were stuck for years (RTS had more of a problem really) and now only seem to enjoy some new life with titles like Company of Heroes and the ever present Civilization 4.

What do you think was the reason for the disappearance of these genres? I think it's not only a market thing. I can't really believe that a new Monkey Island using the Wii controls would sink without a trace, that there would be no people to buy a new Tie Fighter or Freespace with expanded online features or that no one would enjoy a good combat flight simulation in a (maybe) persistent online world!

Did those genres collapsed out of their own weight and the lack of ideas after over saturation? Are developers to blame the same as publishers?

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Dimahoo

Dimahoo

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I agree about the Space fighting games - they're in the post but they're PC based. There appears to be very little on the consoles short of Elite 4. Even a new Project Slypheed would be quite good.

As for Flight sims - well FSX has so many updates you don't really need any others.

And have you played Conder Glider simulator on the PC? Bloody amazing. Being a rather nich title i was going to post about it, but i haven't bothered yet. So i will now.

Condor

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Kinketsu

Kinketsu

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Side-scrolling beat-em-ups! Fixed camera with multiple players on screen.

Everything's all one-player rotating camera business these days. Boo!

I thought The Warriors game made a pretty good try at this, as much as a modern game is likely to. It also had a 2d scroller built in as an unlockable.

Ubisoft are releasing a Tom Clancy plane game this year. Hopefully it will be more Ace Combat than Blazing Angels.

There's a trailer out for that Clancy plane game. It's called HAWX. Really. HAWX. Cos it RAWX? I doubt it.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/864/864061p1.html

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Talk Show Host

Talk Show Host

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I agree about the Space fighting games - they're in the post but they're PC based. There appears to be very little on the consoles short of Elite 4. Even a new Project Slypheed would be quite good.

As for Flight sims - well FSX has so many updates you don't really need any others.

And have you played Conder Glider simulator on the PC? Bloody amazing. Being a rather nich title i was going to post about it, but i haven't bothered yet. So i will now.

Condor

I haven't tried Condor. I'll give it a try, thanks. In general though, it seems that publishers and developers have completely pulled away from epic space games and adventures. And I really don't think it's a market thing. As I said, an X-Wing vs Tie Fighter with today's technology would be amazing. Or an adventure game with the Wii controls for puzzles...

Could we say that some genres swallowed others? Like the infamous "Action Adventure" thing?

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Talk Show Host

Talk Show Host

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Zack and Wiki?

Yes, true. But one game can't save the day. I was talking more about classic franchises returning though. Monkey Island, Grim Fandago, you know, adventure games with cool characters, a story, twisted puzzles... It seems publishers have forsaken these franchises with the excuse (probably) that they are not selling. Wouldn't a new Monkey Island sell on the Wii?

Even a Sherlock Holmes game would be amazing on the Wii. Using all the forensic tools for example with the wiimote would be excellent.

And what about a new Tie Fighter or Freespace or a Falcon?

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Straps

Straps

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Side-scrolling beat-em-ups! Fixed camera with multiple players on screen.

Everything's all one-player rotating camera business these days. Boo!

If Castle Crashers ever gets released it might satisfy your needs for that type of game.

And I fully agree with the need for an updated TIE Fighter. It was such a fucking great game, I can't believe it used to work fine on my old P75 too.

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Sabreman

Sabreman

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I've been playing a lot of the old 3D puzzle games on the 16-bits recently. The Freescape games and stuff like Tower of Babel and Damocles. I guess these have morphed into more action-based FPS games, or gone the route of the 3D Zeldas with more emphasis on combat and story. Shame though, I really enjoy those eerily empty worlds.

I totally agree with lamenting the loss of 2D adventures and space games in particular, and really beardy turn-based RPGs in the western tradition. I'd give anything for a new traditional style Ultima.

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mwaawm

mwaawm

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Its the same as the tidal wave of shit thats been unleashed in every form of media over the last few decades, maybe people are just crap now so we are doomed to be forever served up reheated shit and we should resign ourselves to the possibility that enjoying entertainment of similar quality as we did way back when within ourlifetimes is going to be a very rare event indeed.

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Rudi von Starnberg

Rudi von Starnberg

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Flight sims?

IL-2 1946. Best and most comprehensive flight sim ever for a tenner.

Seriously. Get it. Get it get it get it. It's also really easy to get into because the difficulty is scaleable. You can even turn on invulnerability for your own plane if you want (as well as getting rid of the complex modelling of stalls and spins and engine management) although it's more fun to stay vulnerable but arcadey at first. Because the damage modelling is wonderful.

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Talvalin

Talvalin

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I've been playing a lot of the old 3D puzzle games on the 16-bits recently. The Freescape games and stuff like Tower of Babel and Damocles. I guess these have morphed into more action-based FPS games, or gone the route of the 3D Zeldas with more emphasis on combat and story. Shame though, I really enjoy those eerily empty worlds.

I totally agree with lamenting the loss of 2D adventures and space games in particular, and really beardy turn-based RPGs in the western tradition. I'd give anything for a new traditional style Ultima.

Was Tower Of Babel the one where you control three robots with different abilities and had to use them in conjunction to solve puzzles and move up to the next level?

This one?

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Talk Show Host

Talk Show Host

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Flight sims?

IL-2 1946. Best and most comprehensive flight sim ever for a tenner.

Seriously. Get it. Get it get it get it. It's also really easy to get into because the difficulty is scaleable. You can even turn on invulnerability for your own plane if you want (as well as getting rid of the complex modelling of stalls and spins and engine management) although it's more fun to stay vulnerable but arcadey at first. Because the damage modelling is wonderful.

I have that :unsure:

But I am talking about the genre. Where are the new releases to push things forward? To give new experiences. The genre is dead. Why? :lol:

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Great_Sage_Equal_of_Heaven

Great_Sage_Equal_of_Heaven

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Where are the adventures of our time? Is episodic content of Sam and Max and some Sherlock Holmes games all that is left of the genre? The last adventure I remember playing was Dreamfall on Xbox (which was not an adventure in a classical sense, ala LucasArts or Sierra). Where are the great characters of Space Quest and Heroe's Quest or Grim Fandango?

I've not played it but Jack Keane is said to be quite good and has a similar look & feel the Monkey Island games. :unsure:

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smac

smac

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[space sims] There appears to be very little on the consoles short of Elite 4. Even a new Project Slypheed would be quite good.

Have there been many console examples since Colony Wars on the PS1? I'm not going to count Rogue Squadron on the GC because it wasn't really a space combat sim. Really. Was it? No.

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routeburn

routeburn

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But I am talking about the genre. Where are the new releases to push things forward? To give new experiences. The genre is dead. Why? :unsure:

Because it's not "cool" to be a Flight Sim geek. The closest thing we've had is Steel Batallion for XBox with its huge control panel controller. For some reason, people don't mind having two DDR mats, a pair of SingStar mics, a Guitar Hero guitar, and a full Rock Bank setup in their living room, but having a flight stick and/or control panel is just "too geeky".

Also I think it's a sign of the times in a way. When Flight Sims were popular, it was the 90s, where it was the first time that computing power had been available to the consumer, which could deliver applications like those seen on Tomorrow's World a few years previously. These days, your DS or PSP could run a pretty decent flight sim if coded competently.

I would like to see something else done with the Ace Combat engine. Something broader, where the player could fly airliners, small planes, gliders, etc. with variable missions around civilian services. There are also some great MMO scenarios for this. How about something like Eve Online, but in a modern, real-world environment, with aircraft. Small planes, combat planes, transporter planes, based around airports/landing strips, with an in-game economy for manufacturing and transport. I reckon it'd do well.

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squirtle

squirtle

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I've been playing a lot of the old 3D puzzle games on the 16-bits recently. The Freescape games and stuff like Tower of Babel and Damocles. I guess these have morphed into more action-based FPS games, or gone the route of the 3D Zeldas with more emphasis on combat and story. Shame though, I really enjoy those eerily empty worlds.

I'd say that Shadow of the Colossus was the closest we have to that in recent times.

Oh, and Still Life 2 is coming for the PC as well for anyone that did the first one, which I did (and only needed gamefaqs on the stupid cooking puzzle).

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