Etrian Odyssey just got a ++ for causing me another "game over" :)
It's rather rare nowaday where my party gets eliminated this... often.

Oh, and that's the first boss of the game. My party is only level 5, though.

I loved this game, but in all fairness it didn't have a learning curve. It had a learning cliff!

My and a substantially smarter friend spent a week back while we were in high school, just trying to figure out how to play the game. We didn't have the manual (I think we pirated it), but it still should've had some proper tutorials and stuff. 

I loved Master Of Orion 1 and 2, but 3 just killed the series for me. :(

I also miss Homeworld (best 3d-RTS EVER!), and the Mechwarrior / MechCommander games. ;_;

Even Supreme Commander was a disappointment coming from Total Annihilation. :-/

I also prefer fantasy-style jrpg's (tales and classic-style final fantasy games) as well as strategy rpg's, which can also be considered niche.

Secret of Evermore was one of my favorite SNES games back in the day, I remember being amazed at how long it was (back then) and I had to rent it three times straight in order to beat it (wasn't allowed to buy games back then but I got one rental every week, odd). ActRaiser and Zombies Ate My Neighbors also top my SNES faves for games that never received (good) sequels that should have! And no ActRaiser 2 doesn't count!

DK, Secret of evermore was one of my favs too..my only gripe was 2nd player couldnt control the dog!!

I don't know if I'm a "niche" gamer, but I am very much enjoying Etrian Odyssey right now. I do like the old style RPG gameplay of it. There is not enough of those.

X-com games still give me a great nostalgic feeling. I've been wanting another X-com game to come out for a long time now. Heh, this is also the only game I've played that I seem to do better when I'm drinking. Odd.

I buy ALOT of games, and I rarly rent any. The reason for this is I like most any game.  I see previews for games, think it looks cool/semi cool, and ignore most future reviews and just buy em.  I play it unbiased and always have a blast. I am just a streight up hardcore loser gamer, and just love most any game.

I looooove Harvest Moon, especially when I want to play a calm game to relax.

One of my other personal fav. is bejewelled... I'm addict!

I think fighting games are becoming more and more niche, especially the 2D ones...

Really sad.