[quote name='Maklershed']It's already happening .. tower defense games. And I think the fighting/beatemup "fad" happened in the arcade/sega days.[/QUOTE]
Depends on what you mean by "fad." What people play? What gets released in abundance? What is released in abundance that has a market for it, and what is released that doesn't?
Until we see sales/profits decline, I think we'll see more cookie-cutter games. Companies will be afraid to take on some kind of big-budget art-darling Tim Schafer project. Digital distribution helps them to a degree (we'd never see the everyday shooters, braids, and bittripbeats of this gen without it), but the question being asked is too vague.
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']exactly. Digital distribution already shows that it can re-start fads. Geometry Wars is to blame for the oversaturation of SHMUPs on XBLM/PSN and others.[/quote]
Overstaturation? Hmm. I don't know about that. What I like about the 360, and to a lesser degree, PS3, is that they've made "scores" count again. I still remember how shocked I was when I read that people were, en masse, trying to outdo each other's GW scores. THAT's some retro shit right there. Score fighting, somehow, stayed limited to that game pretty much only, though, with the exception of achievement/trophy whores. Now they compete for levels, points, and recognition. It's semi-retro, since we're comparing silly numbers and tokens.
But that's not a genre, now, is it?
[quote name='ninja dog']SFIV had a huge marketing push[/QUOTE]
where? I didn't really see much of anything I'd call "marketing," let alone a huge push.
[quote name='pete5883']Just watched King of Kong, Billy Mitchell seems like a read dickhead.[/QUOTE]
Something about his smug look, brushed hair, and U-S-A! necktie collection make you want to slap the taste right out of his mouth. But if you step back for a second, count to five, and think "well, tomorrow he's going to wake up in the morning and still be Billy Mitchell," then you develop some sympathy for the guy.