About game genres
I've decided to give this article this so generic title precisely because I want to talk about different topics concerning game genres, not only one. So this article will be varied.
Recently I was involved in a debate about the fighting game genre (such as Tekken, Street fighter, mortal combat, etc) and someone said that it's weird how this genre has barely changed along the years because indeed, although new technologies and systems have been adapted, such as 3D or physics, the main characteristics of this genre remain the same: side battle system, life bars, rounds, UI, combos, etc.
But then I thought: if it was different, would we call it "the fighting genre" anyway? I mean, there are a lot of games (genres) including fighting, like adventures, action or rpg. But we don't call them fighting games. In fact, we recognise precisely fighting games by the aesthetics, by the visual aspect. And this makes me think that a large part of videogames and how they are valued or classified depends on the aspect, not the mechanics.
We say that a fighting game belongs to the fighting genre precisely because of those characteristics previous commented: UI, lateral battle system, combos, K.O, rounds... And we call "evolution" of genres, of videogames and the industry even, the change of this aspects. But if we changed them, games wouldn't be the same game, actually.
Am I making my point clear? The conclusion is that what games are depends significantly on how they look like and how you introduce them. Those are fixed points. Shooters are recognised by a first person camera with a gun, a cross, ammo, etc. Can we make a shooter game with a 3rd person camera? We could, but many would then classify it as an adventure game. Racing games have a circuit, laps, 4-8 players... Try to change that, and it won't be a racing game anymore.
And this drives me to the next topic I wanted to talk about: merging genres. When games started back at 70's-80's, they were mostly basic mechanics, not even genres. We can still see that in android games which are usually more basic.
Nowadays, many of those mechanics are inserted in a larger and more complex game, being just a little part of it.
Partially, this reminds me of life evolution in Eath (or at least the theory about it). Theorically in a primitive Earth, some components joined (water, primitive gases, electricity (thunders), extreme temperatures) and a basic nutrient was created in water: protein. That wasn't even alive! Through pass of time, those proteins mixed and evolved, forming eventually a cell. Just that. Then cells joined and formed organisms, then microscopic living beings, then fished... etc etc etc and here we are, humans! Humans formed clans, villages, towns, cities and metropolis. So, what I mean is that, all of what you can see nowadays started with a damn protein. Simple things can mix and join to form very complex and amazing things.
In games, mechanics turned into genres. But since some time ago, even genres have started to mix into... new "multi-genres". For example, what is an adventure game? Adventure can include a lot of things: fighting, shooting, rpg, story (like a novel), strategy, puzzles... and just as a part of it.
What I mean with all of this is that, to make the industry evolve and innovate, make it all grow, we mustn't stuck in our current genres. Thinking of platform games, shooter games or fighting games is, nowadays, very primitive and basic. We need to stretch our sight to a larger scale. We need to see what we now consider the whole only a part. The same way that nowadays, the mere action of shooting isn't enough to make a game but back in the 70's-80's many developers made games just about shooting, now we need to see what we call a game a tiny part of it.
A good way to accomplish it is mixing genres and characteristics from them, like I described with adventure games. In fact, adventure games are my favourite precisely because i think they're an evolution. But be careful! We must not do it without thinking because we risk to make something... bittersweet. Our genres must combine well, intermix with sense.