• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Some game genres are more prestigious than others.

Kieli

Kieli

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
Had a shower thought. A musou game will never win GoTY (from a major gaming publication) ever in the history of the lifetime of our species. Fundamentally, this genre intrinsically has a low ceiling in terms of gaming greatness.

On the other hand, action games and RPGs can and have risen to the stratospheres of the gaming greatness. Puzzle games and sims are a little weird because they seem to be stuck between this area of immense impact (Sims, Tycoons) + negative casual connotation.

What say you?
 
oni-link

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,032
UK
Yeah this has pretty much always been the case

Shmups are a niche genre, so the average gaming public will enjoy a 6/10 open world game more than a 10/10 shmup
 
Iori Fuyusaka

Iori Fuyusaka

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,901
No one even mentioned AI: The Somnium Files in any of their game of the year discussion, so yes, certain games, no matter how good they are, just don't stand a chance.
Betty said:
So you're saying there's no chance my waifu gacha game can be GOTY?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Sorry, no. It can be the number one worldwide earner, though.
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,636
A fighting game will never win GOTY again. SF2 was a W for sure but this will never happen again in the era of open-world third-person action-adventure games.
 
Mr.Deadshot

Mr.Deadshot

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,285
Memorable games that trigger certain feeling while playing are GOTY most of the time.
And memorable is mostly achieved through spectacle, character attachment or great story.
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

I love pineapple on pizza!
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,509
Earth, 21st Century
I was always surprised by how popular FPS games are. When I was younger I saw them as just another genre. When I got into industry stuff I learned they were one of THE genres. Who knew shooting people would be so popular?
 
oni-link

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,032
UK
andymcc said:
yep.

kinda sad too.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I get what you mean but really it's just that some games are a lot more niche than others

Popular big AAA games have become pretty homogenized and appeal to a lot of people, there are downsides to that of course, but there are pluses too

It's cool that we do at least still get a lot of niche games. If you're really into turn based strategy games or shmups or dungeon crawlers there are still people making those games
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
Sadnarav said:
Horror
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Schlocky, b-tier horror yes. But something like the Shining or Apocalypse Now (depending on how you define horror) can definitely snag some Best Pictures.

Maybe even Annihilation could count, but I never liked that movie.

Clockwork Orange too.
 
oni-link

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,032
UK
Jakke_Koala said:
Speaking of which, what game is a 10/10 schmup? I want to try one out, but they all seem so hectic
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'm not a huge expert on the genre but they do tend to be hard

A lot of the fun comes down to score chasing. Most of them can be "beaten" in 20mins to an hour, but getting to the end isn't really the point. You start off by seeing if you can get to the end, and once you do, you try and get to the end with the best score

Crimson Clover and Gradius V were a ton of fun to me
 
Sadnarav

Sadnarav

Member
Nov 6, 2019
863
Kieli said:
Schlocky, b-tier horror yes. But something like the Shining or Apocalypse Now (depending on how you define horror) can definitely snag some Best Pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
There's a lot of good new horror that gets snubbed. Get Out, Us, Hereditary, The Witch, The Ritual

I think that usually Fantasy and Scifi are also in that view in both movies and cinema with some divergent points like LotR, Arrival and Shape of Water
 
Griffith

Griffith

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,585
The reason why most Musou games won't be considered for Goty is because most them are derivative, formulaic games that despite having what most people consider fun gameplay, do little to advance the medium. While GOTYs tend to be very popular games, they also tend to be ones that have ambitious goals whether that is in terms of technical prowess, greater writing and memorable aesthetic and Musou games despite being fun are hardly great demonstrators of those aspects.
 
Jakke_Koala

Jakke_Koala

Member
Sep 28, 2018
1,173
oni-link said:
I'm not a huge expert on the genre but they do tend to be hard

A lot of the fun comes down to score chasing. Most of them can be "beaten" in 20mins to an hour, but getting to the end isn't really the point. You start off by seeing if you can get to the end, and once you do, you try and get to the end with the best score

Crimson Clover and Gradius V were a ton of fun to me
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Not really into score chasing tbh. And those games aren't on ps4 apparently, though i have my ps3 for Gradius V.
Is it worth €10 for entry in a new genre?

I've heard Nex Machina is really good, so maybe wait for a sale on that one.
 
Glio

Glio

Member
Oct 27, 2017
24,529
Spain
Kieli said:
I mean, I'm struggling to think of a genre? Maybe comedy?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
RPG and action are favored by critics, yes

Just as in cinema it is easier to be prestigious if you make a drama, if possible historical, than a horror movie.

Or for example, Terry Pratchett mentioned how his fantasy books were relegated from the "Best sellers" even though he sold more than them. The fact that some genres are more prestigious than others happens in all artistic forms, is a form of snobbery.
 
collige

collige

Member
Oct 31, 2017
12,772
I don't think Musou is a particularly good example since it's a fairly tiny genre that frankly hasn't really had a GotY worthy effort that I know of. The issue is definitely real though, sports and racing games in particular are pretty much always gonna gonna get shafted regardless of quality.

Raysoul said:
Smash Ultimate?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Got 4 out of 390 game of the year awards last year
 

Deleted member 10737

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
49,774
we all know 3rd person action adventure games are the best at conveying emotions, telling good, hollywood-tier stories, and moving video games as a medium forward. sorry other genres.
 
Sadnarav

Sadnarav

Member
Nov 6, 2019
863
Fighting, Racing, Musou, Sports, Strategy, Visual Novel, Point'n'Click, Schmup, Hack'n'Slash

What other genres are seem as "lesser"?
 
Cosmic Voyager

Cosmic Voyager

Banned
Oct 24, 2019
6,560
SolVanderlyn said:
I was always surprised by how popular FPS games are. When I was younger I saw them as just another genre. When I got into industry stuff I learned they were one of THE genres. Who knew shooting people would be so popular?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Just imagine how many gun-loving hillbillies there are waddling around the countryside, and all of a sudden it makes much more sense
 
You must log in or register to reply here.