From Clones to Genre: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Content added Content deleted
mNo edit summary
(update links)
 
(One intermediate revision by one other user not shown)
Line 12: Line 12:
* The [[Fighting Game]] was popularized by ''[[Street Fighter II]]'', and while some games set themselves apart, like ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'', those were through gimmicks like blood. The fighting was still heavily based on SF. Even later Capcom fighters were just ''SF II'' clones. The turning point was ''[[Virtua Fighter]]'', not just with the [[Polygonal Graphics]], but adding a different style than the acrobatics and special moves of ''SF II''. Later games like ''[[Tekken]]'' and ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' added their own dimensions.
* The [[Fighting Game]] was popularized by ''[[Street Fighter II]]'', and while some games set themselves apart, like ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'', those were through gimmicks like blood. The fighting was still heavily based on SF. Even later Capcom fighters were just ''SF II'' clones. The turning point was ''[[Virtua Fighter]]'', not just with the [[Polygonal Graphics]], but adding a different style than the acrobatics and special moves of ''SF II''. Later games like ''[[Tekken]]'' and ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' added their own dimensions.
** One could argue that the emergence of ''Tekken'' and the Soul series merely split the genre into subsets: 2-D fighters and 3-D fighters.
** One could argue that the emergence of ''Tekken'' and the Soul series merely split the genre into subsets: 2-D fighters and 3-D fighters.
* Now aside from [[Western RPG|Western RPGs]] having an open world for years (such as [[The Elder Scrolls]] series, going all the way back to [[The Elder Scrolls: Arena|Arena]]), [[Wide Open Sandbox]] games were largely clones of ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'', until deliberate twists on the open world (such as ''[[Burnout]] Paradise'', ''[[Crackdown]]'' and ''[[No More Heroes]]'') made it into a full genre.
* Now aside from [[Western RPG]]s having an open world for years (such as [[The Elder Scrolls]] series, going all the way back to [[The Elder Scrolls: Arena|Arena]]), [[Wide Open Sandbox]] games were largely clones of ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'', until deliberate twists on the open world (such as ''[[Burnout]] Paradise'', ''[[Crackdown]]'' and ''[[No More Heroes]]'') made it into a full genre.
* Originally, [[Real Robot]] shows were ''[[Gundam]]'' clones. Then came ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'', which took the genre [[Trope Codifier|into more or less what we know today]], and finally things like ''[[Patlabor]]'' and ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS]]'' that went [[Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness|for the very top of the hardness scale]].
* Originally, [[Real Robot]] shows were ''[[Gundam]]'' clones. Then came ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'', which took the genre [[Trope Codifier|into more or less what we know today]], and finally things like ''[[Patlabor]]'' and ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS]]'' that went [[Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness|for the very top of the hardness scale]].
* The [[Abridged Series]] genre was started by Little Kuriboh's ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series]]'', but the launch was series afterwards, like ''[[Naruto the Abridged Series]]'' and ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]''.
* The [[Abridged Series]] genre was started by Little Kuriboh's ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series]]'', but the launch was series afterwards, like ''[[Naruto the Abridged Series]]'' and ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]''.
* The ''[[Multiplayer Online Battle Arena]]'' genre began as a custom map for ''[[Starcraft]]'' called ''[[Trope Maker|Aeon of Strife]]'', and ''[[Warcraft III]]'' and its map editor came out, several maps were created that were styled after ''AoS''. The genre was popularized by ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'', followed by ''DotA: All-Stars''. The popularity of these games spawned such ''MOBA'' games as ''[[League of Legends]]'', ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'', and ''[[Dota 2]]''. The term ''MOBA'' was coined by ''Riot Games'' for ''[[League of Legends]]'' as a marketing term specifically because everybody referred to the genre as "DotA clones" and they didn't want their game always being compared to ''DotA''.
* The ''[[Multiplayer Online Battle Arena]]'' genre began as a custom map for ''[[StarCraft]]'' called ''[[Trope Maker|Aeon of Strife]]'', and ''[[Warcraft III]]'' and its map editor came out, several maps were created that were styled after ''AoS''. The genre was popularized by ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'', followed by ''DotA: All-Stars''. The popularity of these games spawned such ''MOBA'' games as ''[[League of Legends]]'', ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'', and ''[[Dota 2]]''. The term ''MOBA'' was coined by ''Riot Games'' for ''[[League of Legends]]'' as a marketing term specifically because everybody referred to the genre as "DotA clones" and they didn't want their game always being compared to ''DotA''.
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' franchise spawned craze in Japan for anything with collectable monsters, that would later be immitated by series such as ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' (via the ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' series) and ''[[Telefang]]'' (which overseas was ironically sold as a bootleg ''Pokemon'' game, after being poorly translated). The collectable monster concept proved successful as a card game as well, when the Pokemon card game was released. This success would lead to ''Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters'' becoming extremely successful. The success of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' lead to imitators trying to get on the bandwagon of making a show about a game, so that kids will want to buy the real version. With so many shows like this out there nowadays, such as ''[[Duel Masters]]'', ''[[Beyblade]]'', ''Battle B-Daman'', ''[[Medabots]]'', ''[[Bakugan]]'', and ''[[Chaotic]]'' just to name a few, one could say that "Card Game Animes" have become a genre. They all feature a tournament arc, talking about what the game is "truly about", and posing dramatically while playing the game.
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' franchise spawned craze in Japan for anything with collectable monsters, that would later be immitated by series such as ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' (via the ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' series) and ''[[Telefang]]'' (which overseas was ironically sold as a bootleg ''Pokemon'' game, after being poorly translated). The collectable monster concept proved successful as a card game as well, when the Pokemon card game was released. This success would lead to ''Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters'' becoming extremely successful. The success of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' lead to imitators trying to get on the bandwagon of making a show about a game, so that kids will want to buy the real version. With so many shows like this out there nowadays, such as ''[[Duel Masters]]'', ''[[Beyblade]]'', ''Battle B-Daman'', ''[[Medabots]]'', ''[[Bakugan]]'', and ''[[Chaotic]]'' just to name a few, one could say that "Card Game Animes" have become a genre. They all feature a tournament arc, talking about what the game is "truly about", and posing dramatically while playing the game.


Line 22: Line 22:
[[Category:Follow the Leader]]
[[Category:Follow the Leader]]
[[Category:Genres]]
[[Category:Genres]]
[[Category:From Clones to Genre]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Latest revision as of 08:12, 11 April 2017

"I'm hesitant to use the term Grand Theft Auto clone anymore, because open world games are becoming so ubiquitous that the term feels hopelessly quaint, like how we used to call First Person Shooters Doom clones."

While genres can be known for a variety of works, they don't always start out that way. Usually they start out as loads of obvious Follow the Leader copies of a Genre Busting or making work, or a Genre Popularizer for a genre so small that this is the first time the mainstream has heard of it. Eventually all the followers stop being that, and start having loads of works that stand on their own. This is the point that you don't just have a bunch of clones, you have a full genre.

This doesn't always happen, though. Kart-racing Video Games have yet to go past just being Mario Kart clones in spite of both Mario Kart and the clones having been around since The Nineties. On the other hand, this can happen almost immediately. Tetris was such a simple game, any clone needed to set itself apart to avoid getting sued.

The opposite is Genre Killer.

Examples (in order of genre, popularizer, and turning point to full genre):