I would echo Bodhesatva's comments on the fighting genre. This type of games peaked in the early to mid-90s, and sales have been falling steadily ever since. Initially, these games just moved from the arcades to the home consoles (series like Tekken and Soul Calibur had great sales on the Playstation/Dreamcast), but over the past five years they've been dying there as well.
To add some numbers to the discussion, here are the sales for all of the major fighting series (Street Fighter, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Guilty Gear, Soul Calibur, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters) released so far in the current generation:
| Virtua Fighter 5 |  | Sega | 0.47m | 7.43 | 0.47m |
| Virtua Fighter 5 |  | Sega | 0.13m | 7.25 | 0.13m |
| Soul Calibur: Legends |  | Namco Bandai | 0.10m | 7.45 | 0.10m |
| Mortal Kombat Armageddon | | Midway Games | 0.11m | 7.24 | 0.11m |
Street Fighter, Tekken, Guilty Gear, King of Fighters: None (no games released yet)
So there you go. Not a single traditional fighting game has managed to exceed 500k yet on a platform, and most of the released games have been dismal failures. Of course, you can argue "the main titles for Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken haven't come out yet" - but isn't that kinda the point as well? Publishers don't feel obligated to hurry these games along much, if at all. When discussing what games everyone is anticipating on VGChartz, I almost never hear any of these franchises mentioned anymore. Fighting games have become so niche, they've virtually disappeared entirely from the market.
Now compare to some of these games:
| Fight Night Round 3 | | EA Chicago | 1.67m | 5.82 | 1.67m |
| Fight Night Round 3 | | EA | 0.53m | 6.23 | 0.53m |
| WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 | | Yuke's | 1.14m | 6.76 | 1.14m |
| WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 | | Yuke's | 0.78m | 6.46 | 0.78m |
Now that's just sad, seeing Virtua Fighter outsold almost 4:1 by an EA boxing title, and a crummy THQ wrestling cash-in. Don't expect Tekken and Street Fighter to fare much better whenever they come out. Both series have been in decline for ages, and they'll be lucky to push more than a million.
Also look at this chart of the top-selling "Fighting" games all time: http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=&console=&publisher=&genre=Fighter&keyword=&order=Sales If you look only at traditional fighting games (no Smash Brothers, boxing, or wrestling), the first current-gen title is Virtua Fighter 5 at #49! There's not a single traditional fighting game in the top 45! Now that's just sad.
Meanwhile, the demise of the old-fashioned fighting game, with its extremely complexity and button memorization, has been Smash Brothers' gain. The reception of Brawl has been very different from Melee. Six years ago, the game received very good reviews, mixed in along with constant scorn and disdain from fighting purists who derided it as a party game. It's been fascinating to me to see how gaming has changed in the intervening half-decade; those individuals have almost entirely disappeared since then, as the fighting genre has collapsed in upon itself. Go back and look at some of the old Melee reviews if you don't believe me. There's a bunch of 80% ranking from jaded fighting gamers who can't avoid using the phrase "sure it's a fun game, but it's nothing more than a button masher".
When genres become too niche, they disappear, simple as that. As Bod said:
The only thing I'd add is that we *HAVE* had 10 years to watch this market (since the glut of fighting games circa 1995), and we already know what the correct answer is. All of the old games that failed to reinvent themselves are dying. (For another good example, see Tony Hawk Pro Skater and its fall from 5 million seller to nothingness today. Guitar Hero is another likely candidate 5-10 years from now.) But you almost had to live through the 90s as a gamer to realize just how big fighters were in their heyday, and how far they've fallen today.
End of 2008 totals: Wii 42m, 360 24m, PS3 18.5m (made Jan. 4, 2008)
