The videogame industry has had a cashcow off the FPS genre.  Call of Duty has made a ton of money, and you have Halo and Gears in the mix.  There are smaller franchises to that also made money.  Well, what happens if the FPS genre ends up going the way music games have?  People end up saying ENOUGH and stop buying them, just sticking with what they have?  Is there any other genre that would jump in and pick up the slack?  Is it possible a decline of the FPS genre will leave the videogame industry without a money-making cashcow of a genre, and then this results in a decline of sales all around?

What genre do you see stepping in to pick up the slack?

I guess, this will not happen. The FPS genre is much to diverse. Look at games like HL2, Call of Duty, Bulletstorm, Borderlands and Bioshock. These are all FPS games, but very different in look and gameplay. The music games (guitar hero, just to name it) were all the same. More than 20 guitar hero and rock band games in 2 or 3 years, with no difference in gameplay was way to much. 

FPS games are now around since wolfenstein and doom and games for core gamers . Since then a lot of different gameplay innovations happened. From that perspective i would say, that maybe the military shootes like Call of Duty or Battlefield will see a decline in sales, but there will be always successful titles like L4D, Halo or Duke Nukem (hope so). The FPS perspective in games is just a gameplay mechanic. No one would start a discussion, if 3rd Person Perspective games will die out.

I doubt it, these have happened since Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake, Unreal etc etc etc etc. Music genre have been absolutely drained in the limited time it has been out. That is the amazing thing about these music games.... how much they have been milked in the small time they have been out.

Now they have stopped being drained there might be still some time for it. They just have to be patient in that regard.

I agree that the music genre so far, and excluding Wii Music (tho I hated that game), has been very much the same.  It hasn't been around long enough for us to see if it can become something as diverse as other classic video game genres.

That being said I can see the FPS genre starting to have an offshoot that is indeed as shallow and niche as the current music genre.  And that is the stereotypical realistically based war games, like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor.  I thiink they are going down the same path.

I will not say the same for something like the Halo franchise.  Halo is a game that, because of it's initial decision to not be based in reality, gives it more leeway in terms of creative ideas for gameplay.  And that is what it is all about. Gameplay.

If all the other side elements are too restricting, then the most vital element of a game will become restrictive as well, from a franchise based perspective (being able to improve upon in sequels etc...).

Seriously.  Halo can do a lot of things that don't make sense for a war game because it is ALLOWED to.  Why?  Because the creators said so - they didn't base the game in strict reality.  This applies to shooters, but also all other genres who are based too much in reality

Yeah sure Gears of War is a FPS.

The FPS genre is too wide for it to die. It will maybe take a new direction but it will never die.

It's not even a question of variety of gameplay types (the difference between your Killzone, Call of Duty, and Halo), but even if there were only two FPS series like there were only two major music-instrument games, they could last longer, because its a question of content. You could make as many Halo games as Dynasty Warrior games, and as long as you incorporated a different story and different weapons, you would have something at least halfway compelling

The Music itself was the content for the music games, and DLC, while convenient for the consumers, killed the genre in the long run, moreso in Rock Band's case. They either should have just made it a dedicated service platform rather than a sequel retail title, or not delivered any DLC at all, and there's only so much music out there worth putting in, as some of the stretches the later Guitar Hero games had to come up with will demonstrate

FPS's can vary so much in atmosphere, gameplay, style that i doubt the genre will ever be stagnated. in comparison the key aspect of the guitar hero/ rock band was basically the same for every release and people simply wanted to play their favorite songs, instead they got continual releases for 60 dollars with more psuedoinstruments they had no place to store. 

FPS is a tried and true genre that has been around for years. Technology is what has made it gain popularity. If the technology was around back in the NES days to make it so realistic they would have taken off sooner. They're not a fad so I don't see the genre burning out ever.

Game genres vary boom and bust in popularity.  The FPS genre is currently the most popular but there is no guarantee that this will last forever.  More and more developers are trying to hop on the bandwagon and steal some of the CoD/Halo pie.  Many of the FPS games, while still selling well, are already starting to seem like copies of each other. 

Over the last 25 years we have seen the rise and fall of the following genres:  platforming, racing, JRPG, fighters, music games, and more. 

I don't think the FPS genre will ever fall off the map, but hybrid games will continue to chip away at the FPS stronghold.  Is ME2 an RPG or an FPS?  Is Borderlands an RPG or an FPS game?  I believe we continue to see different different genres being blended into FPS.