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Inventing genres is a tricky business: as soon as you come up with something that you think is new, you quickly realize that it can be pigeon-holed into an already existing genre.
Yu Suzuki attempted to invent a new genre with the Shenmue series - the "F.R.E.E." (Free Reactive Eyes Entertainment), but in the end most gamers and reviewers filed the game in the Adventure/RPG category, which is where I suppose it belongs.
I can't think of any new genres, but I can imagine types of games I would like to see more of; games which, as far as I know, haven't yet been produced the way I envisage them.
ANIMAL REALISM
With the current state of graphical quality and expertise (i.e. ultra-realism and motion capture, etc) - I think it would be unique if we (the players) where put into the fur (so to speak) of animals in a 'realistic' way.
Visualize a game which put you in the role of a cat such as a tiger, or even a slinky alley cat, and then imagine the gameplay based around realistic gameworlds and the spot-on motion capture of these beast's movements and real-world abilities.
Instead of collecting sparkling gems and saving the world from the big bad weasel, we would instead be thrust into an environment wherein stealth, hunting and danger are the primary gameplay elements.
Or perhaps we could be placed in the feathery frame of a bird - say an eagle - and play an altogether different flight-sim with all that this would entail....
I think "hunting" would be important in these "animal realism" games, but having said that, we could also be placed in the role of the "hunted" - perhaps as a vulnerable fox trying to avoid a vicious pack of bloodhounds and their red-coated masters across the rolling hills of Norfolk (or wherever).
Would "animal realism" be a new genre? I'm not sure, but there's a lot of scope for new types of gameplay within its gamestyle.
SLAPSTICK GAMES
Take your average cutesy platform/adventure and ask yourself: 'Are they humourous enough?'
I would say no. (Only Conker's Bad Fur Day comes close.)
In videogames, the best way to include humour is in the physical actions of the characters, so I would like to see more outrageous, flamboyant and comedic attack moves in these types of games.
Think of a boxing glove attached to the end of a long stick and spellbinding your enemies with a flurry of stinging jabs.
Think of danger-neutralizing flash powder which would transform your enemies into ridiculous forms such as Elvis impersonators and camp sailors.
Think of popping hungry ferets down your enemy's strides, and vicious death moves involving nutcrackers and the obscene use of bodily functions.
Yes, more physical slapstick humour in cartoony platformers - that's what's needed.
ENEMY-FREE PLATFORMERS
Imagine a realistic one-directional gameworld and you as a perfectly motion-captured human character.
The game would consist of just "you against the gameworld" - just "you against the architecture".
No stupid enemies, just an acrobatic lead character with the sole purpose of negotiating an extravagant assault course full of hidden traps and visual puzzles.
Dispel also any kind of cliched and interfering storyline: just make it a pure and simple atmospheric platformer. Now that would be refreshing.
The haunting solitude of Tomb Raider 1 has never been equalled.
These are just a few of the types of gamestyles I'd like to see in the future....
Yu Suzuki attempted to invent a new genre with the Shenmue series - the "F.R.E.E." (Free Reactive Eyes Entertainment), but in the end most gamers and reviewers filed the game in the Adventure/RPG category, which is where I suppose it belongs.
I can't think of any new genres, but I can imagine types of games I would like to see more of; games which, as far as I know, haven't yet been produced the way I envisage them.
ANIMAL REALISM
With the current state of graphical quality and expertise (i.e. ultra-realism and motion capture, etc) - I think it would be unique if we (the players) where put into the fur (so to speak) of animals in a 'realistic' way.
Visualize a game which put you in the role of a cat such as a tiger, or even a slinky alley cat, and then imagine the gameplay based around realistic gameworlds and the spot-on motion capture of these beast's movements and real-world abilities.
Instead of collecting sparkling gems and saving the world from the big bad weasel, we would instead be thrust into an environment wherein stealth, hunting and danger are the primary gameplay elements.
Or perhaps we could be placed in the feathery frame of a bird - say an eagle - and play an altogether different flight-sim with all that this would entail....
I think "hunting" would be important in these "animal realism" games, but having said that, we could also be placed in the role of the "hunted" - perhaps as a vulnerable fox trying to avoid a vicious pack of bloodhounds and their red-coated masters across the rolling hills of Norfolk (or wherever).
Would "animal realism" be a new genre? I'm not sure, but there's a lot of scope for new types of gameplay within its gamestyle.
SLAPSTICK GAMES
Take your average cutesy platform/adventure and ask yourself: 'Are they humourous enough?'
I would say no. (Only Conker's Bad Fur Day comes close.)
In videogames, the best way to include humour is in the physical actions of the characters, so I would like to see more outrageous, flamboyant and comedic attack moves in these types of games.
Think of a boxing glove attached to the end of a long stick and spellbinding your enemies with a flurry of stinging jabs.
Think of danger-neutralizing flash powder which would transform your enemies into ridiculous forms such as Elvis impersonators and camp sailors.
Think of popping hungry ferets down your enemy's strides, and vicious death moves involving nutcrackers and the obscene use of bodily functions.
Yes, more physical slapstick humour in cartoony platformers - that's what's needed.
ENEMY-FREE PLATFORMERS
Imagine a realistic one-directional gameworld and you as a perfectly motion-captured human character.
The game would consist of just "you against the gameworld" - just "you against the architecture".
No stupid enemies, just an acrobatic lead character with the sole purpose of negotiating an extravagant assault course full of hidden traps and visual puzzles.
Dispel also any kind of cliched and interfering storyline: just make it a pure and simple atmospheric platformer. Now that would be refreshing.
The haunting solitude of Tomb Raider 1 has never been equalled.
These are just a few of the types of gamestyles I'd like to see in the future....
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Nomad Soul wrote:
> we could also be placed in the role of the "hunted" - perhaps as a
> vulnerable fox trying to avoid a vicious pack of bloodhounds and their
> red-coated masters across the rolling hills of Norfolk (or wherever).
An escape'em'up from the perspective of a desperate fox. Sounds interesting. The gameplay might be a bit limited though. Run, run, and run some more.
I also like the idea of an "enemy free" platformer. That Disater Report game sounds promising. Thing is, I've sold my PS2.
> we could also be placed in the role of the "hunted" - perhaps as a
> vulnerable fox trying to avoid a vicious pack of bloodhounds and their
> red-coated masters across the rolling hills of Norfolk (or wherever).
An escape'em'up from the perspective of a desperate fox. Sounds interesting. The gameplay might be a bit limited though. Run, run, and run some more.
I also like the idea of an "enemy free" platformer. That Disater Report game sounds promising. Thing is, I've sold my PS2.
F@ñ†@§¥M€!§†€® wrote:
> There's a game out in Japan for the PS2 called Zettai Zetsumei Toshi,
> which translates near enough into 'Desolate Town'.
*
Hmm, this sounds good. Hope it gets a Euro release.
> There's a game out in Japan for the PS2 called Zettai Zetsumei Toshi,
> which translates near enough into 'Desolate Town'.
*
Hmm, this sounds good. Hope it gets a Euro release.
And that Desolate Town game that FM mentioned sounds very interesting too.
Still, as dangerous and intense as surviving natural disaster would be, I think it would be even MORE fun to be doing crazy arobatics in places crammed full of people, watching them dive out of the way Crazy Taxi style as you fly over their heads...
Still, as dangerous and intense as surviving natural disaster would be, I think it would be even MORE fun to be doing crazy arobatics in places crammed full of people, watching them dive out of the way Crazy Taxi style as you fly over their heads...
Nomad Soul wrote:
>
> I like the sound of this. I like "unrealistic gameplay" set
> in a "realistic gameworld".
Yeah. Get the best of both worlds.
Then again, it doesn't HAVE to be unrealistic.
I'm going to practice my jumping and see if I can do it for real! ;-)
>
> I like the sound of this. I like "unrealistic gameplay" set
> in a "realistic gameworld".
Yeah. Get the best of both worlds.
Then again, it doesn't HAVE to be unrealistic.
I'm going to practice my jumping and see if I can do it for real! ;-)
There's a game out in Japan for the PS2 called Zettai Zetsumei Toshi, which translates near enough into 'Desolate Town'. It starts with your character travelling on a train when all of a sudden an earthquake strikes just as your train passes over a bridge.
The rest of the game involves you guiding your character around dangerous obstacles (falling debris, collapsing bridges, navigating around and sometimes across dangerous structures) whilst the aftershocks and tremors continue to wreak havoc around you.
At the same time you have to conserve your water supply and hunt for more whilst trying to escape from the earthquake zone.
It's survival horror genre, but with no supernatural enemies, only natural ones. Whether it will get a US or European release in unknown, but some sections of the UK games press have started to run articles on it already, so you never know.
The rest of the game involves you guiding your character around dangerous obstacles (falling debris, collapsing bridges, navigating around and sometimes across dangerous structures) whilst the aftershocks and tremors continue to wreak havoc around you.
At the same time you have to conserve your water supply and hunt for more whilst trying to escape from the earthquake zone.
It's survival horror genre, but with no supernatural enemies, only natural ones. Whether it will get a US or European release in unknown, but some sections of the UK games press have started to run articles on it already, so you never know.
Totoro wrote:
> I like the idea of the "enemy-free platformer".
> I too had a similar idea like this a few years ago, also influenced by
> Tomb Raider.
> I thought of a sort of "rock climb 'em up", where you had to
> just explore and climb huge mountainside locations and not have to
> worry about baddies, just a free roaming quest to choose the right
> route up the giant mountain.
*
Yeah, that's the kind of thing I was thinking of.
Some might say it would be boring, but as long as the gameplay was intense and immersive in an "on-a-knife-edge" kind of a way with ever-present environmental danger, it would be excellent.
> I like the idea of the "enemy-free platformer".
> I too had a similar idea like this a few years ago, also influenced by
> Tomb Raider.
> I thought of a sort of "rock climb 'em up", where you had to
> just explore and climb huge mountainside locations and not have to
> worry about baddies, just a free roaming quest to choose the right
> route up the giant mountain.
*
Yeah, that's the kind of thing I was thinking of.
Some might say it would be boring, but as long as the gameplay was intense and immersive in an "on-a-knife-edge" kind of a way with ever-present environmental danger, it would be excellent.
Strafex wrote:
> I think that unrealistic platforming in a realistic location would be
> fun.
>
> For instance, in a multi floor shopping centre (with all the
> escalators etc... like the Shires in Leicester), the scenario could be
> that some theif has stolen your wallet and you have to chase them.
>
> This means jumping and getting through crouds to chase after this
> running thief. Providing the AI and animation is done right, mayhem
> could be garaunteed.
*
I like the sound of this. I like "unrealistic gameplay" set in a "realistic gameworld".
> I think that unrealistic platforming in a realistic location would be
> fun.
>
> For instance, in a multi floor shopping centre (with all the
> escalators etc... like the Shires in Leicester), the scenario could be
> that some theif has stolen your wallet and you have to chase them.
>
> This means jumping and getting through crouds to chase after this
> running thief. Providing the AI and animation is done right, mayhem
> could be garaunteed.
*
I like the sound of this. I like "unrealistic gameplay" set in a "realistic gameworld".
I think that unrealistic platforming in a realistic location would be fun.
For instance, in a multi floor shopping centre (with all the escalators etc... like the Shires in Leicester), the scenario could be that some theif has stolen your wallet and you have to chase them.
This means jumping and getting through crouds to chase after this running thief. Providing the AI and animation is done right, mayhem could be garaunteed.
For instance, in a multi floor shopping centre (with all the escalators etc... like the Shires in Leicester), the scenario could be that some theif has stolen your wallet and you have to chase them.
This means jumping and getting through crouds to chase after this running thief. Providing the AI and animation is done right, mayhem could be garaunteed.
I like the idea of the "enemy-free platformer".
I too had a similar idea like this a few years ago, also influenced by Tomb Raider.
I thought of a sort of "rock climb 'em up", where you had to just explore and climb huge mountainside locations and not have to worry about baddies, just a free roaming quest to choose the right route up the giant mountain.
I too had a similar idea like this a few years ago, also influenced by Tomb Raider.
I thought of a sort of "rock climb 'em up", where you had to just explore and climb huge mountainside locations and not have to worry about baddies, just a free roaming quest to choose the right route up the giant mountain.
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