Line #13 GenreKiller/VideoGames


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5	* MediaNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 was caused chiefly by an overabundance of competitors in a fledgling market and competition from superior micro-computers. The straw that broke the camel's back was a pair of releases for the Platform/Atari2600: an [[PortingDisaster awful port]] of ''VideoGame/PacMan'' and an ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' game that was [[ObviousBeta quite obviously]] rushed out the door [[ChristmasRushed for the holidays]], despite having more copies of the game made than there were Atari 2600 consoles that could play it. These twin disasters killed the home console market in the United States for about two years. Perhaps more importantly, it effectively wiped out North American game/console development, to the point where it took over two decades to fully regain the ground that had been lost to Japanese competitors. There wasn't a successful game console from an American company between the Atari 2600, which died around 1983, and the Microsoft Platform/{{Xbox}}, released in November of 2001, ''eighteen years'' later.
6	** When Creator/{{Nintendo}} debuted the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem in 1985, they redesigned the console to work more like a VCR and bundled it with a light gun and [[VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy battery-operated robot peripheral that only worked with two games]], primarily to disguise the fact that it actually was a ''video game'' console. [[CrazyEnoughToWork It worked]], and the rest is history.
7	** It's important to note that the impact was far more limited in Europe, especially the UK. Brits were using 8-bit microcomputers as the main way of playing home videogames by 1982, which would last until the late '80s/early '90s when consoles started taking off (with the [[Platform/SegaGenesis Mega Drive]] and Platform/{{S\|uperNintendoEntertainmentSystem}}NES). This may also be related to why Nintendo consoles such as the NES, Platform/{{Wii}}, and [[Platform/NintendoSwitch Switch]] tend [[AmericansHateTingle not to sell especially well in the UK]] even if it's one of the "Big Three" console manufacturers elsewhere, as there wasn't the same market vacuum for them to fill as there was in the United States.
8	** The crash killed off a ''flood'' of maze games that weren't ''VideoGame/PacMan''[[note]]''Amidar'', ''Lock 'n Chase'', ''Chase the Chuck Wagon'', ''Ladybug'', and even Namco's own ''Rally-X'', just to name a few[[/note]] as they were found to be too derivative (running around collecting items while avoiding various monsters and hazards), and that technology improved to the point that one can make so much more. Today only the ''Pac-Man'' franchise is known to the general audience, and due to its immense popularity and being so well-done, it is ''impossible'' to create a maze game anymore without being part of or inspired by the series.
9	* The Anthropomorphic MascotWithAttitude platformers that sprang up in the wake of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' started petering out after ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}}'' and the ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' dipped their toes into [[AnimatedAdaptation the world of multimedia franchising]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Bubsy}} saw incredibly]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Battletoads}} disastrous results]]. When Bubsy subsequently underwent a catastrophic VideoGame3DLeap with the infamous ''VideoGame/Bubsy3D'', the resulting backlash more or less exterminated every radical mascot that was not the {{Trope Maker\|s}} himself[[note]]And even then, as many could tell you, he's not exactly had a good time of it either, at least since 2002[[/note]]. Thankfully, the general acclaim and quality of throwback platformers such as ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' and ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'' could hopefully spark the return of such "Sonic-lite" games. And by some miracle, even Bubsy's been getting more games as of late.
10	* ''VideoGame/FreeSpace 2'' destroyed the space shooter genre born of ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'' and popularized by ''VideoGame/WingCommander''. It was not the fault of the game itself, which most critics consider the height of the genre and for which fans are ''still'' putting out new content both graphical and gameplay,[[note]]A common joke among fans of the game is that the reason it killed the genre was because it was so good that there was no point in making any further games: perfection had been achieved.[[/note]] but rather, how poorly it performed ''commercially'': its initial sales were so bad that the genre was assumed dead and further development was halted, which most attributed to Interplay's ([[InvisibleAdvertising lack of]]) marketing. Attempts were still made to revive the genre, such as 2000's ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'' having Creator/BruceCampbell for its main character and gameplay additions like lateral thrusters, which was also featured in 2001's ''VideoGame/IndependenceWar2'', as well as games considered staples of the genre like ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'', the ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Series]]'', or ''VideoGame/{{Oolite}}'' (in and of itself a FanRemake of ''Elite''), but for a long while the genre was never able to reach the levels of popularity it had seen while ''Elite'' or ''Wing Commander'' were still going strong.
11	** Thankfully, the advent of Kickstarter and other crowdfunding websites has seemingly restarted the genre, with games like Chris Roberts' ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'', ''VideoGame/EliteDangerous'', and other games like ''VideoGame/StrikeSuitZero'' leading the charge. ''VideoGame/NoMansSky NEXT'', launched in 2018 and being increasingly recognized as an actually good redemption from the terrible flop that was the initial release of ''No Man's Sky'', could slowly but surely spell the return of the space shooter genre, even if space shooting is only half of the game's overall experience.
12	* Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/{{ECW}} folding within a couple months of each other in early 2001 pretty much killed the UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestling game genre outside of the games bearing the Wrestling/{{WWE}} license, which despite [[GameBreakingBug having their problems]] still sell well to the hardcore WWE fans. In the early 2000s a few developers tried putting out games without a tie to a promotion (but often featuring real wrestlers not employed by WWE) like ''Legends of Wrestling'', ''Backyard Wrestling'', and ''Rumble Roses'', which sold well enough to get sequels but not well enough to get extended to the [[MediaNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames next generation of consoles]], and little else since. The only other licensed games since WCW and ECW imploded were a [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] game in 2008 and a Wrestling/{{AAA}} game in 2010, both of which were panned by critics (of both video games and wrestling) and had pretty weak sales. Wrestling/{{AEW}}'s potential offering being stuck in DevelopmentHell isn't helping[[note]]''AEW Fight Forever'' was finally released in June 2023 and while the hardcore AEW fans are into it the reaction from everyone else has been somewhere between "Meh" ([[Main/SoOkayItsAverage averaging around 65% on Metacritic depending on the console]]) and "This took '''four years'''?"[[/note]], nor is a general decline in the popularity of wrestling as a whole. ''VideoGame/FireProWrestling'' is still chugging along (though it usually [[NoExportForYou doesn't leave Japan]]) mainly thanks to name recognition and being cheap to produce[[note]]''Fire Pro'' is completely 2D and uses old-school sprite graphics and while the more recent games boast a roster of over 300 real wrestlers [[Main/NoCelebritiesWereHarmed they use fake names so they don't have to pay said wrestlers]][[/note]], but the slow pacing and steep learning curve has mostly relegated ''Fire Pro'' to being a niche product for uber-[[SmartMark smark]] fans.
13	* The unfortunate retail failure of ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'', backed up by the rise of freeware first-person shooters, led to the end of commercially released {{Arena Shooter}}s, with team-based and/or "tactical" shooters like ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''/''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' series, and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' taking their place. ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is one of the few "Quake-like" games released since, and while it is still being supported and heavily-played, it was actually first released in 2007; most everything else in its vein that has come out since ''[=UT3=]'' has been free-to-play (''[=TF2=]'' three years after its initial release, ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament4'', ''VideoGame/QuakeChampions'') or an update on a classic game (''Quake Live''). Not too surprisingly, publisher Creator/MidwayGames, who had been marred with financial trouble for years and had hoped ''Unreal Tournament III'' would revitalize their fortunes, [[CreatorKiller declared bankruptcy just a year-and-a-half later]]. The aforementioned ''[=UT4=]'' could have restarted the genre, but it didn't attract a whole lot of attention even before Epic Games made a little game called ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' and pulled all their resources away from it. Even when [[GenreThrowback nostalgic throwbacks to classic shooters]] came into vogue in the mid- to late-2010s, whether new games with old gameplay like ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' or the 2016 ''VideoGame/{{Doom\|2016}}'', or games that [[{{Retraux}} emulate the old look on top of it]] like ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}'' or ''VideoGame/IonFury'', they hewed more towards the earlier period of singleplayer-focused shooters back when they were still called "''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' clones", like ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' or the first ''VideoGame/{{Quake\|I}}''.
14	** It could also be said for true tactical shooters in the vein of the older ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' and ''VideoGame/GhostRecon'' games, the ones with planning and stealth as major elements where the slightest muckup led to the death of your squad, due to the line being blurred between the aforementioned team-based shooters and the "true" tactical ones taking on more actionized elements. Attempts to bring the genre back have had limited success at best, with only an actual ''Rainbow Six'' game in the vein of its predecessors, ''[[VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege Siege]]'', being particularly well-received (and even then it plays more like ''Videogame/CounterStrike'' as a HeroShooter); many other attempts marketed as being in the spirit of those games, like ''VideoGame/TakedownRedSabre'', have met with near-universal negative reactions, mostly due to bad gameplay and [[ObviousBeta little polish]], though with the occasional successful release like ''VideoGame/ReadyOrNot''. ''Videogame/{{ARMA}}'' is an exception, with its third game seeing more than six years of support before there were even hints of a sequel, although the playerbase is comparatively niche and its focus is on realism so extreme, even compared to other tactical shooters, that its engine has been used as a training simulator for actual armies.
15	** The only high-profile exception is the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' franchise which, while taking a few elements from ''Call of Duty'', remains faithful to its roots. [[http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88715714&postcount=1 And even then, it's not completely immune when putting its online statistics next to those of its immediate predecessors.]]
16	** The failure of ''[=UT3=]'', along with that of ''VideoGame/EnemyTerritoryQuakeWars'' and, to a lesser extent, ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'', would also serve to kill off the "big-budget, PC-exclusive TechDemoGame" genre. Consoles had for the most part closed the power gulf with [=PCs=], while the latter was increasingly hamstrung as a gaming platform by various factors including PC manufacturers increasingly eschewing dedicated graphics cards (leaving [=PCs=] with only motherboard-integrated graphics that usually ran games extremely poorly -- and that was when they could ''run the games at all''), many gamers getting sick of dealing with all the configuration issues that can go with PC gaming, and the poor reception of Windows Vista, which had launched earlier that year. As a result, it became largely accepted as standard among developers that all big-budget games from that point had to have some form of console release and, ideally, had to be designed for consoles first and foremost.
17	* The insane amount of CapcomSequelStagnation for the ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' franchise did this to the RhythmGame genre in North America and Europe. ''Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' and ''Rock Band 3'', released in late 2010, sold less than 1.5 million units combined, and the competition (''VideoGame/{{Power Gig\|Rise of the Six String}}'', et al.) outright bombed. While these are respectable figures given that both games come with expensive peripherals, compare this to ''Guitar Hero III'' (15 million units sold) and the original ''Rock Band'' (6 million), both released in 2007, and you can start to see how oversaturation of the market (a possible reason why Harmonix decided to focus more on DLC for the existing games rather than putting out a new title once a year, unlike Creator/{{Activision}}) has destroyed the genre's profitability. Following the commercial disappointments of the latest installments, Creator/{{MTV}} sold ''Rock Band'' developer Harmonix for '''[[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/01/viacom-sold-harmonix-for-50-saved-50-million-on-taxes.html 50 dollars]]''' and Activision briefly pulled the plug on the ''Guitar Hero'' series, and other developers, having bled money from their endeavors, have gotten out of the market. Due to its different audience and "real guitar" street cred, ''VideoGame/{{Rocksmith}}'' is the last man standing. It took five years after their "final" release (or two, considering that ''Rock Band'' DLC had still gone on until 2013) for the two main competitors to come back to the market for the eighth generation, via ''Rock Band 4'' & ''VideoGame/GuitarHeroLive'', the latter of which completely overhauled its guitar controller and outright abandoned the bass guitar & drums. Lukewarm sales, however, suggest that even for the creative strides these games took to distance themselves from their predecessors, it's still for nothing. Activision disliked how the new ''Hero'' game did on the market to the point that they sold the studio that developed the game to Ubisoft, the publisher of the aforementioned ''Rocksmith''. Talk about ironic.
18	** Dance-based Rhythm Games still hold popularity however. The ''VideoGame/JustDance'' series may have been instrumental in killing off the once mighty ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'' games. They were a less-expensive alternative, since they didn't require extra peripherals to play (unless you count the non-Nintendo versions which require a motion control sensor or a companion smartphone app, but it's still cheaper). Also, its casual appeal due to its use of both modern and classic pop songs, not just strictly rock, was part of the why it largely supplanted ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'' as the go-to game for parties. (Not entirely unlike pop supplanting rock music outside the gaming sphere.)
19	* The FourX RealTimeStrategy subgenre was killed off when ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' screwed up with its third installment and ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' went bust with Ensemble closing down. Note that Ensemble going bust was ExecutiveMeddling by Microsoft, who shut them down after they cranked out nothing but successful games.
20	** ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' revived the genre a bit, but it's one of the few notable releases and it came out in 2008.
21	* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII FPS games once reigned supreme, being bolstered by the successes of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'', ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty1''. Because of the successes of those three games, [[FollowTheLeader a plethora of imitators]] soon followed. While ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'' stood out for its greater focus on squad gameplay and being more akin to tactical shooters like ''Rainbow Six'' and ''Ghost Recon'' than arcadey shooters like those three, the vast majority of said imitators [[StrictlyFormula copied what those three titles did wholesale]] until they eventually drowned in their own excess and gamers, having grown tired of the repetitive nature of these games, began gravitating to alternatives. The final deathblow was the major failure of ''Hour of Victory'', with ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'' writing its obituary soon after, heralding the shift from ''World War II'' shooters to modern-day shooters as the norm. ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' would be the final World War II FPS to be released before the whole subgenre went into dormancy. The only games that would come out since would do so years later, such as ''VideoGame/DayOfInfamy'', ''VideoGame/HellLetLoose'', and the free-to-play ''VideoGame/HeroesAndGenerals''. However, it should be noted that this only applies to purely historic type shooters (''World at War'' was itself the final WWII-based ''Call of Duty'' game at the time, made mostly as a fall-back because Activision [[ItWillNeverCatchOn was convinced the modern-day jump wouldn't stick]], and ending up only really noticed because of [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies the Zombies mode that would become iconic to the franchise]]). AlternateHistory-type games with plots that haven't been seen (or, for that matter, read about in your history class) a million times before, like ''VideoGame/SniperElite'' and ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'', have still been going strong, the former helping itself by [[VideoGame/ZombieArmyTrilogy jumping on the zombies bandwagon]] while the latter has [[VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder pushed itself]] [[VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus beyond the]] [[VideoGame/WolfensteinYoungblood historical war]].
22	* In a rather similar vein to the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' and ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' examples, the "pulp-cinematic modern military shooter" subgenre of first-person shooters was popularized by ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', which was liked for its storytelling, comtemporary setting and dramatic scripted setpieces giving the games a SummerBlockbuster movie-like feel. A [[FollowTheLeader glut of imitators followed]], many of which had little to offer and [[StrictlyFormula were derivative to a tee]], culminating in the high-profile failure of ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'', which ended up [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks souring mainstream gamers' tastes towards these games]]. Rising backlash against the US military's involvement in the Middle East and criticism towards the UnfortunateImplications often present in these kinds of games also played a role in the subgenre's decline. This backlash would become unified with ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' in 2012, which was acclaimed precisely for its merciless {{deconstruction}} of the subgenre that ''Modern Warfare'' popularized. While it didn't outright kill the subgenre, it effectively wrote its obituary. The only notable attempt to do a pulp-cinematic take akin to the ''Modern Warfare'' games since 2012 and still succeed is the ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' series, and even then it still has a number of features distinct enough to prevent it from being given the now-derisive label of "''Call of Duty'' clone". ''Call of Duty'' still thrives to this day but this is because of GrandfatherClause courtesy of it being the TropeMaker and TropeCodifier of the subgenre, with most attempts outside of the series since 2012 being doomed to failure. Outside of ''Call of Duty'' the subgenre is effectively dead in the water, with little hope of recovery.
23	* [[ImmersiveSim Immersive Sims]] never had it easy from a commercial standpoint in spite of the games being overall well-received, very often being overshadowed by their more straighforward counterparts[[note]]''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' when ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld'' came out, ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' when ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' came out, and ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' when ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' came out[[/note]], but they still cultivated enough of a dedicated playerbase. However, the overall failure of ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' (not helping was that it was released right after ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty1''), soured what remaining goodwill there was towards the genre. Ion Storm Austin closed soon after, and the genre became dormant. It wouldn't be until the success of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' that the genre would start its road to recovery, culminating in the successes of ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' and ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}''. However, the commercial failures of those two titles' [[VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided respective]] [[VideoGame/Dishonored2 sequels]] and ''VideoGame/Prey2017'' (not helping was them [[ExecutiveMeddling being shafted around]] and their [[InvisibleAdvertising nonexistent advertising]]) effectively ended their GenreRelaunch in the mainstream. Immersive sims are still being made to this day but are very often done so by indie developers and for a relatively niche audience.
24	* The PointAndClick genre in its inventory management form was practically killed off by the success of ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'', and was only revived decades later via digital distribution as well as the serial format. The failure of the [[AcclaimedFlop critically praised]] ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' in 1998 was seen as the final nail on the coffin for the genre, even though ''VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'' was released two years later – albeit with considerably less acclaim than prior ''Monkey Island'' games.
25	** An alternative theory as to what killed point-and-click adventure games is presented by [[http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html this article]] on Website/OldManMurray, in response to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20010417091751/http://gamecenter.com:80/Features/Exclusives/Deadburied/ss01.html another article]] which blamed ''Myst''[='=]s success for it - they filled themselves with so many [[MoonLogicPuzzle contrived and illogical puzzles]] which [[GuideDangIt no rational human being could conceive the answer to on their own]] (specifically citing the infamous "cat hair mustache" puzzle from ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight 3'') that they effectively committed suicide by driving away their own playerbase. The fact that many of these obtuse puzzles appeared to be [[RevenueEnhancingDevices pretexts to market strategy guides, "game help phone hotlines", and clue books to the same customers]] didn't help. It's telling that while adventure games have survived among indie studios, they've moved away from these kinds of puzzles, drawing inspiration from VisualNovels and are much more story-driven.
26	** Creator/BenCroshaw (who has created a number of adventure games himself, most notably the ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'') postulated that the adventure game genre was killed by advancements in technology. The inventory-management puzzle was a simple vehicle to drive gameplay and lengthen content that didn't consume much in the way of processing power, which made it easy for games like ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' or ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' to squeeze in high-quality visuals and storytelling for their time. This was especially notable when many adventure games were computer-based, which gave them a niche over consoles. When technology evolved to the point that games could fit both decent faster-paced gameplay ''and'' decent visuals and story, and developers created or codified other dedicated genres like RealTimeStrategy (''VideoGame/DuneII'') and FirstPersonShooter (''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' and especially ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', which still has a fair number of classic adventure game fans who dislike it on this principle), adventure games suffered badly by comparison by suddenly appearing much less advanced.
27	** Creator/TelltaleGames reinvigorated the genre with episodic decision-and-story-focused adventure games like ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' and ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs'', though at the cost of decreased production on traditional moon-logic style adventure games like ''Sam and Max''. Which was fine, until they went ''so far'' with it that they oversaturated the genre with StrictlyFormula releases [[MissionPackSequel differing only in the license involved]] and ultimately torpedoed themselves in 2018. The genre they revived remains relatively strong, with entries like ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'', ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence'', and the ''Franchise/LifeIsStrange'' franchise continuing to carry the torch.
28	* The InteractiveMovie genre, which emerged in the 80s and saw a ton of notable releases in the 90s, died out due largely to the advancing technology of consoles like the Platform/PlayStation and the CD format becoming nigh-universal outside of the Platform/Nintendo64. Much of what made those early games notable was that little could match them graphically, but when you could fit lavish prerendered or pre-filmed cutscenes into a game and still have the space for more substantive game design, they quickly became rather obsolete. It certainly didn't help that, unless you were ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' or ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'', the common judgment of interactive movies was that the "movie" part was SoBadItsGood at best. InteractiveFiction has seen a rise since then, but the classical "watching a live-action sequence while you occasionally press buttons" format is extremely rare outside of indie titles. An attempt to revive the genre with Enix's game ''Love Story'' for the then-brand new Platform/PlayStation2 flopped hard and the genre stayed buried ever since. FMV games ''would'' make a surprising resurgence in the New 10's, but operate more as "choose your own adventure" stories, without trying to bring back the PressXToNotDie aspects of their predecessors.
29	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', while highly successful and acclaimed both in its time and now, has been [[http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-4-hd/videos/great-games-terrible-legacy-resident-evil-4-6402604/ blamed]] for killing, or at least hastening the demise of, the SurvivalHorror genre in the '00s. This is largely due to its status as the FranchiseOriginalSin for the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series, introducing many shooter-esque gameplay elements that would take over later games in the series, which other survival horror series would copy until, by TheNewTens, most "horror" games were basically action shooters with creepy-crawlies and gothic atmospheres. However, [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard the seventh]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage eighth]] games, as well as ''VideoGame/{{PT}}'' (albeit [[VideoGame/SilentHills its full game]] being canned) and several indie productions (notably ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' and ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'') have formed a movement of harkening back to the genre's roots, and even ''Resident Evil 4''[='s=] [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake own remake]] heavily plays up the horror aspects of the original while deemphasizing the campy "action movie" elements.
30	* As mentioned in the trope description, ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' [[TropeCodifier codified so many tropes]] that most people don't even realize how utterly it killed off any FightingGame, especially 2D ones, that didn't largely adhere to them.[[note]]It got to the point that Capcom famously sued Data East over their ''VideoGame/FightersHistory'' game, which they saw as plagiarism of ''SFII'', but Capcom lost simply because the ripped-off elements were considered ''scenes a faire'' (i.e. '''commonplace''' to the genre - emphasis ours) by the time it came out.[[/note]] Game mechanics we take for granted nowadays such as being able to attack before completing a walk cycle, having all of your basic moves available from the outset, lack of stage obstacles or crowd interference, or even just being able to jump high into the air, weren't always standard features of fighting games. Today, it's considered noteworthy if a fighting game breaks just two or three of the rules that ''SFII'' placed down, such as ''VideoGame/{{Bloodstorm}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Divekick}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}''.
31	* Traditional base-building RealTimeStrategy games were killed by a pair of independent factors:
32	** The more immediate hit was the success of Relic's ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'', which popularized RTS games with less focus on strategy, base-building, and long-term resource management and more on micro-management and unit survival (typically referred to as a "Real Time Tactics" game), and then ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: VideoGame/DawnOfWarII'', which shifted even further away from the traditional RTS formula by, for instance, removing base-building entirely. This directly led to EA [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling in]] the development of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer''. Namely, they first mandated the creation of a GaidenGame aimed at Asian markets and internet cafes in particular, in the RTT mold, then partway through said game's development, decided to make it the GrandFinale for the [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberium first and most iconic universe]] of ''Command & Conquer'', one of the progenitors of the classic base-building RTS, rebranding the game ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight''. When this inevitably flopped, EA [[FranchiseKiller pulled the rug out from under the entire franchise's feet]], blaming a "lack of interest in RTS games" (despite that what they released was not one), thus removing one of the two main series from the competition. Meanwhile, Blizzard had left their own followup RTS after the well-received ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos]]'' sit on the backburner for over a decade, instead chasing [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft its own much more successful MMO spinoff]], with the only acknowledgement of the RTS series in fifteen years being an HD remake of ''Warcraft III'' that, to put it lightly, wasn't well-received either. With effectively no big-name triple-A titles and publicity, the entire genre sunk into relative obscurity, shrinking its market.
33	** The other hit took longer for its effects to be noticeable, but did more permanent damage - and, ironically, it was the release of one of the most preeminent games in the genre, the aforementioned ''Warcraft III'', which came with a robust map editor that lead to the invention of the MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena. While early MOBA-like concepts appeared in the ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' custom map "Aeon of Strife," ''Warcraft''[='=]s addition of RPGElements like hero XP and items codified the fledgling genre. ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'' became so popular that it spawned an entire new genre emphasizing micromanaging and tactics. As a result, the traditional RTS largely evaporated; in TheNewTens, with the end of both of the traditional RTS genre's progenitors (''Command & Conquer'' only seeing one failed attempt at a new game after the aforementioned ''[=C&C4=]'', ''Warcraft'' having long since shifted focus to [[MorePopularSpinoff the more popular and lucrative]] ''World of Warcraft'') and the rise of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/Dota2'' (which was the most popular game on Platform/{{Steam}} for close to five years), outside of the three parts of ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' the only traditional RTS releases of note have been [[UpdatedRerelease HD remakes]] of the genre's progenitors and the very rare {{retraux}} game in their style.
34	* The day that ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheRobots'' was released is often cited as the moment when British gaming journalism died out. It was difficult before due to the massive oversaturation of video game magazines, which meant that they were all about hyping up the public for whatever game that would hit the store shelves, even if it was pretty bad, so that they could get review copies before anyone else. When a game that was outright horrible, led by the major gaming studio Time Warner Interactive, hit the store shelves, all British magazines that could make a review the day it came out were giving it high scores (''Computer and Video Games'' rated it even as high as 92%) to be able to review the game before any other magazine across the country could get their hands on it, resulting in the game selling massive amounts of copies due to critics being unable to say anything even remotely negative about the game as that would mean that they would receive their review copies at a later date (Amiga Power, who gave the game a 5%, only got the game days after its release, and didn't get a review out until two months later in the January '95 issue). After most readers realized that most magazines they were reading were saying that they should buy horrible products, you can expect that most readers stopped caring about what they had to say, resulting in the demise of many of them.
35	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', for various reasons, has dominated the {{Mon}} genre so strongly it has made it very difficult for any other works in the genre to achieve mainstream popularity or sometimes even get made at all. Some are even accused of ''copying Pokémon'', like ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' is from ''[[InsaneTrollLogic the mere name]]'', due to the public's lack of awareness that it's a genre that existed before ''Pokémon'', not something pioneered by it.
36	** Averted with ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'', which has quickly become a massive competitor to the Pokémon games, both of them leading weekly sales charts for months after they come out and has created a comparably large multimedia and merchandising empire -- [[AmericansHateTingle in Japan]]. Outside of Japan, however, this is closer to a straight example where, while managing to avoid accusations and the resulting stigma of being a ''Pokémon'' ripoff, ''Yo-Kai Watch'' has failed to gain any popularity above a CultClassic, especially in North America.
37	** Another gaming aversion is the ''[[Franchise/FateSeries Fate]]'' side of [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} the Nasuverse]]. As the core premise of the setting is seven Masters and Servants -- superpowered mythological and historical heroes at the Master's beck and call -- fighting for a wish from the Holy Grail, part of the reason it even got off the ground was because a.) it started life as an {{Eroge}} VisualNovel, and b.) [[SelfCensoredRelease when allowed to stand on its own non-porny merits]], it quickly broke a lot of perceived stereotypes with the {{Mon}} element being less ''Monsters'' so much as an assortment of waifus and husbandos, allowing it to shake off the "Pokémon clone" stigma... [[RunningGag and even then]], [[NoExportForYou it is STILL largely relegated to Japan]], only coming stateside very rarely and not having the sheer international presence of ''Pokémon'', despite being a cultural phenomenon back in Japan.
38	** Another [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail surprise]] aversion to this would be ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', whose entire existence and success is owed to RefugeInAudacity. It figured out that if you took advantage of the "Pokémon clone" stigma by having a clear copy-cat series of ''Pokémon'' mixed with the ThirdPersonShooter and survival-crafting genre as well as show copious amounts of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential inflicted]] BlackComedy on the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Ridiculously Cute Critters]], it would gain enough attention through sheer shock value to get people to try it out... [[CrazyEnoughToWork and it succeeded as well as it possibly could have]], selling '''''[[https://www.reddit.com/r/Palworld/comments/1ax8gwm/palworld_breaks_25m_players_in_the_1st_month/ 25 Million]]''''' in the ''first month'' (to give you an idea how insane this is, ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' is the third best selling ''Pokémon'' games, and it sold 24 million ''by the end of the'' '''''year'''''). There's a lot of other factors at play, such as the BrokenBase spawned from the perceived {{Sequelitis}} of ''Pokémon'', and it's hard to predict if those numbers will be sustainable, but it's nonetheless an extremely impressive feat regardless and sadly the exception that proves the rule.
39	** The only other gaming aversion would be the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series and most of its spinoffs, which predated ''Pokémon'' and is considered the first successful franchise to use Mons, even if [[UnbuiltTrope it looks like a deconstruction]] compared to ''Pokémon''. Another factor of its success was due to simply not fitting into the "Pokémon clone" stigma by virtue of being less cute, cuddly {{Mon}} creatures with PokemonSpeak that you [[GottaCatchEmAll catch to collect yourself]], so much as [[OurDemonsAreDifferent mythological demons]] from [[AllMythsAreTrue all religions and legends]] that you make pacts with to act as your familiars and regularly [[FusionDance dispose of to fuse into stronger demons]]. Combine that with ''Shin Megami Tensei'' having heaps of ethical analysis of its three alignments with GreyAndGrayMorality and [[ShownTheirWork lavishly-detailed research of its myths]], and the contrast it has to ''Pokémon's'' BlackAndWhiteMorality and emphasis on ThePowerOfFriendship, it's probably the biggest reason why ''Shin Megami Tensei'' is even allowed to exist inside the public international consciousness as a MonsSeries. Outside of ''Pokémon'', ''Yo-kai Watch'', ''Fate'', ''Palworld'', and ''Shin Megami Tensei'', however, successful video game Mons series are few and far between and not known by most.
40	* The arcade racing genre suffered a decline in popularity and variety during the [[MediaNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh generation of consoles]], thanks to the commercial failures of ''VideoGame/{{Blur}}'' and ''VideoGame/SplitSecond2010'' (both of which lead to [[CreatorKiller the dissolution of their studios]]) as the industry shifted towards realism and how many [[ProductPlacement licenses]] they could get, which led to the dominance of ''VideoGame/{{Forza}}'' and ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' as the go-to racing games backed heavily by real life racing teams using the aforementioned games as [[IKnowMortalKombat training simulations]]. In the [[MediaNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames eighth generation]], only the fan favorite ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', the free-to-play ''Asphalt'' series, and the long-running ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' series remain active.
41	* In addition to its effects on any continuance of its RTS predecessors, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' destroyed the modern market for [=MMORPG=]s. The success and long-lasting nature of the game meant that almost every MMO that came out after directly aimed to be a "[=WoW=] Killer" -- many [[FollowTheLeader trying to copy it outright]], at that, and not making enough attempt to differentiate itself from ''[=WoW=]'' (there's only so many times you can do a fantasy setting with a war between humans and orcs before it becomes stale) - and, not understanding the kind of commitment needed to match a game that's lasted that long ([=MMOs=] thrive on community and volume of content, both of which favor the older and more entrenched game) and generated that much money, [[{{Irony}} ended up destroying itself in the process]]. Very few [=MMOs=], especially subscription-based ones, have managed to last in this era, with many either closing down only a few years later, or existing in dumbed-down and/or [[AllegedlyFreeGame free-to-play]] states to attract a small audience and make some of their losses back. The only big subscription-based game to truly last as a rival to ''World of Warcraft'' is ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', which itself had a host of problems at the beginning due to an attempt to compete with ''[=WoW=]'' causing its release to be rushed, and has only stayed as strong as it has due to a combination of its name-brand recognition letting it last long enough to begin extensive work on fixing its problems, rather than immediately cutting its losses and running, and actual effort put into both its content and overall quality.
42	* While motion-controlled minigame collections struggled to win over hardcore gamers from the get-go, they at least generally sold very well for most of the seventh console generation. ''VideoGame/KinectStarWars'', however, is in retrospect widely seen as the game that put the genre beyond the point of no return. Heavily hyped up as the KillerApp for the Platform/Xbox360's Kinect add-on, the game received a ''massive'' backlash when it turned out to be yet another collection of cheesy, poorly-designed minigames, implemented in a way that was seen by many to be outright insulting to the franchise, and was the point where even most casual gamers finally realized the genre was never going to significantly evolve; one of the games in particular, a ''VideoGame/DanceCentral'' clone that had Star Wars characters dancing to terrible covers of popular music rewritten to be about the franchise, became an emblem of how bad an idea the game was. Microsoft tried to persevere with the Kinect 2.0 that was initially included with the Platform/XboxOne, but both the add-on and the motion-controlled game genre in general were widely seen as dead-on-arrival by the time the console launched, contributing to its early struggles. Games with motion controls as optional extras remain a thing to this day, but even Nintendo, who popularized the genre, have to date only bothered releasing a very small number of titles based entirely around motion controls (most prominently ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'', ''VideoGame/OneTwoSwitch'', and ''VideoGame/NintendoSwitchSports'') on the Platform/NintendoSwitch, and even then, all three of the aforementioned games struggled (the first was cannibalized by ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' and thus ended up a StillbornFranchise, the second had its sequel test so poorly Nintendo contemplated cancelling it entirely before [[InvisibleAdvertising unceremoniously releasing it]], and the third was hit with a massive backlash by long-time ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' fans).
43	* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' gives us an InUniverse example. Encyclopedia, the ExpositionFairy skill, will mention in an off-hand comment that Disco in hindsight died as music genre in the year of '38, and what was considered the death-knell was when the single "Et Puis Du Sang" failed to crack the International Top 20. The fact that '38 was the same year where a major scandal surrounding Disco superstar Guillaume le Million and his accidental death from EroticAsphyxiation rocked the music industry probably also played a role.
44	* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' is so bloated that it killed off the CollectAThonPlatformer genre. While this specific game went way overboard with the collecting aspect[[note]]The game's GottaCatchThemAll mechanic is seen as a rather notorious example of {{Padding}}, especially some objects can only be picked up by certain Kongs for seemingly rather arbitrary reasons, which necessitates the player to [[CharacterSelectForcing frequently switch characters]], which again is only something that be done in certain locations, if they want to accomplish it. Making things even worse is how often it happens that collectibles for one character will be hidden behind a door that only ''another character'' can open, so you can't even just scour the whole level one time each per character. Even if you are not going for [[HundredPercentCompletion 101% Completion]], it is still rather time consuming to even get to the point where the FinalBoss is unlocked.[[/note]], the genre became extremely over saturated and cliche, turning people off the already tired trend as a result. It often got overused in lazily designed platformer games, particularly licensed ones, helping send the trend to an early grave. Even the Mario games, which kicked off the trend in the first place with ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', gradually shifted towards more standard platforming experiences with the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', fully abandoning it come ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''. It would take until the late 2010s until the genre found its footing again, between [[GenreThrowback throwback]] entries like ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' and ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'', as well as Mario itself taking another crack at the formula to thunderous success in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey''.
45	* The phenomenal success of ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series that had set high expectations for the genre, alongside the collapse of ''{{VideoGame/HAWX}}'' and ''VideoGame/AirForceDelta'' series and the death of arcade scene resulted in the demise of arcade-style combat flight simulator games that isn’t ''Ace Combat'' with recent combat flight simulator games have pointedly moved back to its roots of being more focused on realism that the combat flight simulators was originally intended. The only games with arcade-style focus of combat flight simulator, but with explicit intention to appreciate the success of ''Ace Combat'' are the failed ''VideoGame/VectorThrust'' and the relatively successful ''VideoGame/ProjectWingman''.

Context GenreKiller / VideoGames