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http://igo.ampednews.com/news/3650/
Seems like if you're not a fan of these genres, you're not going to see them go to the wayside anytime soon.
According to Video Game Journal, by Jason Kraft and Chris Kwak, the first-person shooter genre is “a growing and highly attractive genre” for prospective developers and publishers.
The two analysts measured the sports, racing, “crime-based action” (once occupied solely by Grand Theft Auto), and first-person shooter genres’ potential for growth, current size, and market share.
The report inquired, “How does a publisher decide to develop a title for one genre and not another, between equally large genres?”
Kraft and Kwak concluded that sports games, out of the four, are the least attractive genre for the typical publisher, since Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive hold exclusivity agreements for the National Football League and Major League Baseball, respectively, and licensing costs can total millions of dollars. The racing genre, meanwhile, ranks as a favorable genre, though not eclipsing the attractiveness and growth of the first-person shooter market. Lastly, Kraft and Kwak classified the crime-based action genre as “unattractive” for any game not carrying the Grand Theft Auto label.
The duo compiled data pertaining to cumulative genre revenue per console, covering the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and the Dreamcast. The four prior mentioned genres accounted for over 73 percent of revenue for the 2005 fiscal year.
Cumulative genre revenue per console has expanded quickly for first-person shooters, cited the report, though the racing genre shows attractive long-term growth. “We regard racing as a large and stable, yet still attractive, genre," the report said.
Crime-based action, however, is a different story altogether. Even though several titles hit retail in 2005, such as 50 Cent: Bulletproof, True Crime: New York City, The Punisher, NARC, and 187: Ride or Die, the Grand Theft Auto series still accounted for nearly 37 percent of all crime-based action games sold.
"These comparable declines occurred even though the console installed base grew and the number of competitive titles grew,” the report said, predicting that the upcoming Godfather game and Saint’s Row face intense pressure from the crime-based action genre.
Seems like if you're not a fan of these genres, you're not going to see them go to the wayside anytime soon.