Why I'm boycotting first-person shooters

Call it rash, call it dumb, call it outlandish, call it crazy, but I'm officially boycotting first-person shooters. Why? Because I've finally had enough of the video game industry and its laser focus on profit to the detriment of innovation and fun.

Understand something: I grew up in a world where video games were not only innovative and fun, but they weren't derivative, they weren't over-blown movie wannabes, and they absolutely were not multi-million dollar projects that required more business acumen than innovation.

So for the past few years, I've quietly sat back and witnessed the video game industry sink into a rut that it's unwilling to dig itself out of. Why have we been forced to sit through sequel after sequel of the same rehashed game with only a few improvements here and there? Why have we been forced to sit through countless sports, first-person shooter, and dumb adventure games? Why have we been forced to basically play the same old game when all we really want is to play something new, exciting, and unique?

And although I can boycott any derivative genre I want, first-person shooters have become the worst culprit of them all, and if I want to take my own personal stand in the little way I can, that's the best place to do it.

Now I know that you're probably thinking that there are a number of innovative titles coming down the pike in the near future and I absolutely agree. I'm looking forward to Spore, Little Big Planet, Rock Band 2, and a handful of other titles that promise something fresh. But for all the fresh and unique titles, they don't represent the majority of games that are coming out and if E3 is any indication of the future, they'll be few and far between.

Let's face it -- this year's E3 was a waste of time. But for those little moments where big news was announced, it was dominated by Netflix streaming movies and TV shows to the Xbox 360, Final Fantasy XIII coming to Microsoft's platform, and Resident Evil 5 hitting store shelves eventually. And although some of us are excited to see those two games coming to the Xbox 360, doesn't it prove what I've been saying all along: there's little innovation to speak of?

A quick glance at the upcoming release calendar from The Gamer's Temple tells you everything you need to know about the future of video games. It's inundated with sequels and follow-ups to titles we've played more times than we can count. And to make matters worse, there's just a handful of titles that break the mold of derivative gameplay.

Now, the obvious reason for this is money. When video games first became popular, they weren't nearly the money-making medium they are today and although millions of dollars were flying around, it pales in comparison to today's multi-billion dollar enterprises. And I also realize that people have chosen to buy first-person shooters and sports games, which is why the developers keep sending them out, but it's getting ridiculous.

As it stands, few first-person shooters are that great anymore and even Halo -- once the de facto leader in the space -- was ruined by two follow-ups that failed to capture the greatness of the first title.

So what can be done? I think video game developers need to start following Nintendo's lead and make titles that break the mold of gaming and return us back to a point where it's not about the chances of getting a game to sell like gangbusters, but it's about giving gamers unique titles that show them something new, which then sell like gangbusters.

If nothing else, Nintendo should have shown us by now that innovation is OK and believe it or not, most gamers really want to play games in a unique way.

As Ars Technica is reporting, the Wii and DS easily bested the Playstation 3, PSP, and Xbox 360 for units sold in June, which suggests consumers are starting to make their decisions on the kind of games they want to play with their wallets.

But will developers wake up and realize it? I doubt it. More often than not, these development studios are now being dominated by suits who couldn't care less about the value of a game, but care too much about the revenue it'll incur for the company with nary a worry that eventually that well will run dry and consumers will be asking for unique titles.

The day when consumers ask for more unique titles may still be some time off, but rest assured that it's coming. But until that happens, I refuse to be a party to the degradation of the video game industry by playing games that use the same crappy story in a different location using the same mechanics and the same weapons.

I want the video game industry back and I'm willing to guess that millions out there want it back too. I don't mind first-person shooters and sports games are great. But for every 10 titles in those genres, we only get one unique game. That needs to stop. Now.

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[mikerentas]

Saying that Nintendo's winning because of innovation is leaving out a lot. Price is a huge factor there, too.

[moopenguin32]

It has to be more than price. If price is the reason Nintendo is winning, then the Gamecube and Nintendo 64 would have won during their generation.

A lot of people are tired of the same old games (I'm one of them). Having played video games for over 20 years, it's nice to see something different out there like the Wii and the games it offers.

[Ugotownedo]

The reason price matters now is because back then, nobody would have gotten into gaming because it was still widely viewed as being "uncool/nerdy." Now, with games like Guitar Hero, Rockband, Wii Sports, etc, it's "cool" to play those games. All the chicks love em', that's for sure.

[brianowright]

Unfortunately the Wii with its wii-mote seems to be more of a fad than a gaming revolution right now. I don't own a wii but when I see my roommate playing games it seems that most of them have you waving your wii-mote wildly about. Plus, many people own Wii's since they are cheap but lose interest in playing quickly after purchasing a new game.

FPS's are still very fun and enjoyable on the PC. FPS's really lose that edge on a console. Maybe you should say that FPS's on consoles are sagnant?

[aztec92154]

Show me more games like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" that people can feature at parties to enhance the night (Wii, PS3, XBOX360). Show me more games like Wii sports, or Wii fit. I love games that are simple to play and tough to master! There are examples of games are the true innovation of our times.

I hope Nintendo (and innovative third party publishers) move the gaming industry away from what has become a sequel based orthodox (Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, The Sims, Sim City, Pokemon, Need for Speed, Grand Turismo). Don't get me wrong, some of the game sequels are great, but I just want something NEW.

[Ugotownedo]

While I admit that there are a lot of movie-wannabe games out there, and that a lot of games are unoriginal, you'll be missing out on some great games if you boycott FPSs.

[Dragon_Myr]

While I agree with most of the points in this article, I have to disagree on the way sequel is used. Yes, the majority of games have derivative products which are sequels. However, some treat their name as a brand instead. It would be nice if more franchises became brands instead of endless derivative sequels. However, the suits know what has sold in the past and want to go with the same sort of stuff endlessly. Changing their behavior is not going to work, which is why barriers to entry into the market need to be lowered. The console market, in particular, has relatively high barriers to entry. There are always the exceptions to poor sequels as well.

FPS games are a dime a dozen these days. I don't see why anyone would even fathom playing them all.

[avermeer]

I played guitar hero decades ago. It was called "Simon" then, but it's pretty much the same.

[MarkButler1000]

I love fps games but I never understood why they always sacrifice gameplay for cutting edge graphics. I would be happy with Half-Life 1 graphics if the game were good. Stop worrying about bizarre new weapons and useless weird powers and just make a good game!

p.s. don't give up on them, just pick and choose and wait for good ones, they will arrive albeit slowly.

[Acjaz]

I wish you would have pushed this viewpoint in the twit podcast a bit more. The entire panel seemed to poopoo the Nintendo products as if they were insignificant. The panel seemed to get a lot of facts wrong such as the Wii not selling much software. However if you look at the actual statistics, software for Nintendo platforms is selling quite well.

I don't really blame you, the panel was a bit biased towards hardcore gaming and there should have been someone to represent the casual gaming movement.

[hexjones]

About First-Person Shooters being derivative: I used to think the same thing, then Unreal came out. Then Half-Life came out. Then Deus Ex. Then Halo. Half-Life 2, Portal, Fallout 3 all hit the scene. I won't be boycotting FPS because then I'd be turning my back on some great games.

Boycotting FPS is like boycotting a film genre like comedy and then missing Borat or 40 Year Old Virgin.

* Please excuse me if the release sequence is out of order, this is the order that I played those games in.

[hexjones]

P.S. I thought you gave up the Wii, Reisinger? I guess a blogger doesn't really have to be internally consistant.