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How did FPS games get popular anyway?
Topic Started: Feb 2 2011, 06:42 PM (1,153 Views)
ihave2cows
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Clap, clap.
lol all games we play practice murder derp.

seriously though, its mostly the competetive drive. The fact that all FPSs are very online-competetive based is why most people play em. Its about defeating the opponent as fast as possible with nothing getting in the way. The fact that you know the person on the other side is a human makes you feel all the more confident to boot.
Though personally, I like doing that through strategy games better.
And then the koreans came...
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Zondac
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The one and only
It's based on reflexes and skill instead of memorization. I don't mind it
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Speedy
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Fairly sure I've given up.
Hahahaha, I like how people think Half-Life was the forefront of this all.

While in actuality, there are OLDER GAMES which ensured Half-Life's EXISTANCE.

You see, FPS games were popular for WAY LONGER.

A certain Quake or Unreal franchise come to mind, with Quake 2 releasing in 1997.. Which was my first FPS game. (Note: Half-Life's initial release was in 1998, one year after Quake's SEQUAL.) What really got me into FPS games was also Quake 2, especially considering the multiplayer side of it all. Goldeneye 64 (also a '97 game) KEPT me interesting, and I hail it as one of the best, if not THE best, Console FPS game.

As for going back, before these two was also a Doom, a Duke Nukem 3D, a Quake 1.. or should I go even EARLIER?

Wolfenstein 3D.

Not early enough?

Maze War. I never played it, but having it's release in 1974(!!!) and being the first FPS game EVER, it is decidedly the one game that truly started it all.

Now go back under your silly rock with your 'Half-Life'. Gabe Newell may've gotten rich and popular thanks to HL, but it is BY FAR not the reason it's popular. Just one of many.

In related news, I kind of dont like HL. Quake was more fun.
Edited by Speedy, Feb 3 2011, 03:53 AM.
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Zondac
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The one and only
Speedy
Feb 3 2011, 03:51 AM
Hahahaha, I like how people think Half-Life was the forefront of this all.

While in actuality, there are OLDER GAMES which ensured Half-Life's EXISTANCE.

You see, FPS games were popular for WAY LONGER.

A certain Quake or Unreal franchise come to mind, with Quake 2 releasing in 1997.. Which was my first FPS game. (Note: Half-Life's initial release was in 1998, one year after Quake's SEQUAL.) What really got me into FPS games was also Quake 2, especially considering the multiplayer side of it all. Goldeneye 64 (also a '97 game) KEPT me interesting, and I hail it as one of the best, if not THE best, Console FPS game.

As for going back, before these two was also a Doom, a Duke Nukem 3D, a Quake 1.. or should I go even EARLIER?

Wolfenstein 3D.

Not early enough?

Maze War. I never played it, but having it's release in 1974(!!!) and being the first FPS game EVER, it is decidedly the one game that truly started it all.

Now go back under your silly rock with your 'Half-Life'. Gabe Newell may've gotten rich and popular thanks to HL, but it is BY FAR not the reason it's popular. Just one of many.

In related news, I kind of dont like HL. Quake was more fun.
Half-life casualized it and made in mainstream, no one said it was the first FPS. It was the first one that became mainstream. Quake was popular, but not mainstream
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Nue Houjuu
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VE's resident touhou freak~
Not alot of FPS become mainstream right away, but people still play it. Again, look at Doom or Duke Nukem, While it was the first FPS to give the sense of killing and finding secrets, and it became massively popular enough to get there own sequels and such, even to this day, Doom and Duke getting sequel after sequel just proves how popular they really were. FPS are mostly popular because it gives the sense of "your in the action" and/or your looking through other peoples perspective... please tell me, what would happen if FPS didnt have shooting or action, but was just like an RP...boring right? People need the guns and violence and blood and gore to keep there minds occupied enough to say "this is entertaining" Im getting off track. Simply put, FPS need the sense of action, or else people wont buy it.
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JBRam
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Don't play with fire, kids.
I agree with Nue about Doom... that was the first FPS I ever heard of as being mainstream, long before I ever heard about Half-life or Call of Duty (which hasn't been mentioned, but now it shall).

I've always hated FPS's. I'm horrible at them, and the camera screws me over waaay too often. The first FPS game I even remotely enjoyed was Portal, but I still sucked. Then I met a guy online who convinced me to buy Black Ops. I still sucked, but I was now playing with friends. There really is a ton of strategy to these FPS games... running in and shooting is a great way to die. I'm still not a huge fan of FPS type games, but I can see the appeal. I personally can't stand gore, but for people who are into that, more power to them.

So now the only FPS I've beaten and thoroughly enjoyed every moment was Portal 2. And you only shoot a Portal gun.
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bulgroz
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They are popular for 3 main reasons (in my opinion):

1-They are simple, really when you play an fps you want to desconect your brain, a lot of people use FPS as an stress relief, I don't need to explain why, do I?

2-Belonging, a lot of people want some games because the people around them plays it. Humans, as species that have survived (among other reasons) because of imitation instead of critical thinking, have the imitation very tied with their genetics (you know that 90% of people only do things because of imitating his social environment).
But then, why the belonging is centered in this specifical genre? That takes us to our third point.

3-Prejudices, the society has it's standards of what their population should do or even like regarding their gender, age... In the actual society a kid should like what the society thinks he should like, otherwise the kid will be isolated, rejected and/or bullied. And what is that consideration of the society that a young (male) kid should like? The answer is simple: Sports/fight.
But then again: Why girl gamers also play FPS if they have no prejudices in this area (or even prejudices against)? That takes us back to point 2, the videogame world is mainly male (no sexism intended) so If you want to belong to this world, you should like what the others like or you'll be excluded.

Well that was it what I think, I didn't intended to offend anyone and I want to apologize if I did.
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altoguy16499
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...
To me FPS games are really only fun if you play with friends. That's why i spend most of my time on JRPG's, good story and, at least recently, great battle mechanics that require thought on how to do accomplish many fights... and if this doesn't specify it, i'm an RPG nerd.

But like i said about FPS's, only fun with friends.
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Naku Nyame
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The changed Naku
My version on how FPS games got popular: the original avrage gammer went Physcotic.
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NakaTeleeli
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Naka the Honeywhite
For the most part it comes down to how expensive it is to make current-generation games. This is why we've seen a serious decline in the mid-tier game and an increase in the indie scene. Making triple-A games costs so much that only rather large companies can do it, and even then they can't take risks without putting the entire company in jeopardy. As such, they have to play it safe and make games that may not be unique or special, but that they know will give them a return on the investment. FPSs have been shown to be quite popular and cheap to make, so that's what they've gone with. I imagine this will go on until something changes in gaming to make it not nearly as risky to do something unique, or until the playerbase gets too bored with FPSs for them to be "safe" any more.
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