Video Game Genres that Game Companies are too Afraid to Make

 All these genres mentioned once had great fame in their time, but now that we are infatuated with military shooters, 2D brawlers, casual puzzles and RPG clones you don't see these games any more.  I'm waiting for the day that these games rise from their ashes and dominate the systems again.

3D Fictional Fighters

Examples:  Tekken, Virtua Fighter, DOA
Description:  Two combatants fight within a 3D realm, battling each other with tons of combos that are difficult to master.
Afraid Because:  The resurgence of Street Fighter has made a boom in the 2D button basher industry.  Even Tekken has forsaken its 3D roots.  Also fighting games are abandoning their realism with fighting styles and moves and replacing them with explosions and missiles.  3D fighters focus on high resolution battle arenas and complex fighting styles, which is harder to make than Anime based sprites with outlandish attacks.  We are more likely to see a Blazblue than a Bloody Roar.

Skateboarding Games

Examples:  Tony Hawk, EA Skate, Shaun White Skateboarding, Skateboarding Evolution
Description:  Pick or create a pro skateboarder and net together tricks in a skate park.
Afraid Because:  Before the Kinect changed all sports games, skateboard games were all about button bashing, high scores and balance.  With the creation of Kinect and different peripherals, gamers wanted more realism and hands-on approaches to skateboarding.  That plan failed miserably due to paper thin gameplay and high peripheral cost.  No one dares go back to the Tony Hawk and Skate days.

High Quality Android Exclusive Games

Examples:  Monster Shooter
Description:  High spec addicting games for the Android
Afraid Because:  Google's OS is not much competition for Apples iOS and one of the main reasons is because of bad third party support in games.  The iPhone gets perfect compatibility with Modern Combat, Mortal Kombat, Battlefield 2, Super Street Fighter Volt, Soul Calibur, Simpsons Arcade and Star Wars Arcade.  The Android only gets 10% of those games and not all phones and tablets can handle the high end specs.  The Android is like the neighborhood OS and any piece of hardware can use it (imperfectly) thus making it almost impossible to make games exclusive to it.  Now add to the fact that gamers are more likely to use the free ad-supported games and you have little reason for high end developers to put much focus on the Android.

A Quality Non-WWE Wrestling Game

Examples:  WCW Vs. NWO Revenge, TNA Impact, Ultimate Muscle, AAA Heroes Del Ring
Description:  A high quality and addicting wrestling game that is actually competitive to WWE games
Afraid Because:  WWE owns the pro wrestling game genre and everyone else believes that fact.  WCW rarely got a playable game and other tributes to pro wrestling were either Japanese or very unplayable.  This is another example of a genre that needs to be beautiful, complex, easy to execute and have loads of detail in order to be successful.  On the flipside, everyone is taking a stab at the MMA franchise, but little is given to pro wrestling.  Any company worth its salt could easily dethrone WWE if they just put in a little time and effort. 

Adventure/ Survival FPS

  














Example:  Half-Life, Geist, and Call of Cthulu, Singularity
Description:  A first person perspective game that focuses on collecting items, solving puzzles and survival.
Afraid Because:  Due to today's audience, games are more like 90's action movies than slower paced and dramatic shooters.  The Battlefield and Call of Duty band wagon has ensured that easy money comes from huge explosions, wacky plots and multiplayer.  A game that makes players explore and survive is rare because of our need for instant gratification. 
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