*UPDATED*
Gone are the days platformers and fighting games are king, only recently sandbox games and RPG's were top and right now I'd say the king of the hill genre wise are FPS's and Rhythm games. Now sooner or later another break out success in a particular genre will capture the mainstream and become a big genre with many games that eventually gets stale and we continue the trend..
Wii is the mainstream console of choice being market leader and has seen quite a few on rails shooters in its short life including: Ghost Squad, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and most recently House of the Dead: Overkill. With todays announcement of Dead Space Extraction for Wii this Autumn having a 'guided' camera, I couldn't help but think well hey, they've been selling well for what they've been so far:
Link's Crossbow Training - 3.78 M
Ghost Squad - 620k
HotD: 2&3 - 940k
RE:UC - 1.26 M
Also HotD: Overkill 130k (on track to become a million seller)
And also they seem to be a perfect fit for Wii. They have the ability to be played only using the Wii Remote which means greater accessibility, they seem more graphically potent with a on rails camera which is something that can make a Wii game seem much sharper, they can also allow for much greater story telling to draw in the player.
Personally I think that the genre will be innovated in the next couple of years and hopefully grow up a little. They'll be many more games with guided cameras to aid players or to allow for greater scripted sequences. I don't believe they'll become the next big thing however as they seem to have limited gameplay opportunities.. I guess that's why I see the need for innovation..
So what do guys think? With the mainstream appeal of Wii and how this genre seems made for it is there a chance? Could it take just one break out hit to send this genre into thee stratosphere? On rails or a guided camera a genre with potential?
If not then what other genres may take over being top dog?
Now we have news of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles releasing later this year or early next year. Does this give more weight to the theory?
