Many genres that have graced gaming are over the hill, have had their day, are showing their age and other similar metaphors. People used to like them but then grew tired of the same thing and moved on to the latest fad genre. Of course, some of us are hopeless nostalgics and refuse to believe our darlings have grown wrinkles and are wouching up their wills. No, adventure! You're still young in my eyes! RPGs, you're 45 years young! (I called it on the off chance I'll be proved right.)
What genre do you most grieve for?

I go back and forth regarding the falling-block genre. On the one hand, how many more of those games do we really need? On the other, now that, by and large, companies have eschewed making them for consoles, it's increasingly unlikely that we'll get rare gems like Puzzle Fighter or Dr. Mario. Games like that make the 1,000s of mediocre titles worthwhile.

I miss good old shmups. Ikaruga is an outstanding game, but it seems that the 2D shooter is going the way of the dodo bird. I guess as games are evolving these days, the focus is becoming ever more about story and cinematics. That's great and everything, but there's something to be said for a game you can just turn on and start playing and doesn't require a massive time investment.

I miss the Infinity Engine style of CRPGs, back when alignment systems had lefts and rights and diagonals as opposed to merely up and down! It's a bit ironic though. 2d gaming faded away and 3d gaming took its place, just as 2d morality faded away to be replaced with a 1d variant.

Side-scrollers. Contra and Ninja Gaiden stole my youth.

Space Sims, in which you are the commander of a starship. Star Trek: Bridge Commander owned completely, yet I have not seen any other games like it lately.

I miss the old top-down shooters. I can't think of a name off the top of my head, except for the Aliens games on Gameboy. Oh, and while they still pop up from time to time, especially now on the Wii, I think we could do with more rail-shooters.

Whatever happened to city building games? And i dont mean games like Sim City i mean the ancient city building games like Pharoah, Caesar and Zeus.

I miss side-scrollers. The only ones I see these days are for portables and/or feature some damn Italian plumber in red overalls. Where are the GUN based scrollers like Bio Menace or Robocop vs Terminator?

I really miss beat'em ups. A good multi player beat'em up would still be alot of fun.

Khell_Sennet:
I miss side-scrollers. The only ones I see these days are for portables and/or feature some damn Italian plumber in red overalls. Where are the GUN based scrollers like Bio Menace or Robocop vs Terminator?

There's also a horrible trend in side-scrolling shooters to make them as cartoony as possible. Call it the Metal Slug phenomenon.

MOAR SHOOTERS ON RAILS.

seriously. Ghost Squad. I can't get enough of it. Granted rather shallow in the whole "I want to blast the hell out of everything with my MASSIVE gun". It's fun and cheaper than lots of quarters.

MissDumpling:
"I want to blast the hell out of everything with my MASSIVE gun".

Somewhere, the ghost of Freud is elbowing the ghost of Jung in the ribs and making "See? Told you so" faces.

COOP. I call it a genre because very few games actually did it, and even fewer did it right. Games like Serious Sam, Quake 2, and (hopefully) Left 4 Dead are all of the genre that's actually worth playing.

Sylic:
I really miss beat'em ups. A good multi player beat'em up would still be alot of fun.

The warriors, dude that is the newest of that genre I believe, also my dfavourite, seriously that game rocked, but If I could have one back i'd say, Adventure games Lucasarts style,good ol' point and click. Simple yet so Amazingly funny. If not that then a GOOD Cowboy/western game e.g GUN + 15hours more bloody gameplay.

witty adventure games please.

bring back monkey island.

MichaelH:

MissDumpling:
"I want to blast the hell out of everything with my MASSIVE gun".

Somewhere, the ghost of Freud is elbowing the ghost of Jung in the ribs and making "See? Told you so" faces.

Freud was a no-talent nutter with a fucked up head. He thought every boy wants to sleep with his mother, but that's a load of crap. Freud's mother was OLD, and by no means a MILF.

Khell_Sennet:

MichaelH:

MissDumpling:
"I want to blast the hell out of everything with my MASSIVE gun".

Somewhere, the ghost of Freud is elbowing the ghost of Jung in the ribs and making "See? Told you so" faces.

Freud was a no-talent nutter with a fucked up head. He thought every boy wants to sleep with his mother, but that's a load of crap. Freud's mother was OLD, and by no means a MILF.

Freud was the modern-artist of his day. Questionable talent in his field, but he could make shit up like no-one else, and no-one could really prove him wrong.

Oh, and he also said that every boy wants to sleep with his mother AND murder his father.

FUN games. I know that sounds retarted but I mean pointless funny shit like Neverhood, Ghost Master, Mario for fraks sake.

Also side scrollers. Castlevania: SOTN. One of the best games I have played.
Cmon, who dont lvoe the Metal Slug series?

Point and Click adventures. Its time for a new Kings Quest or Quest for Glory! The Wii would be the perfect platform for it too.

Though I was thinking: Oblivion seems to be the modern version of the point and click adventure. Non-linear gameplay, hundreds of objects you can find, QFG pioneered the idea of guilds that you could join and rise to the top of, I'm sure the list goes on. Maybe they should redo the Quest for Glory series as a first person RPG and let Bethesda handle it.

Dating sims, and games based in the Wild West.

Red Dead, and Gun are not enough.

RAILS! TOP-DOWN! SHOOOTERS!!!

Alexandrous:
I miss the old top-down shooters. I can't think of a name off the top of my head, except for the Aliens games on Gameboy. Oh, and while they still pop up from time to time, especially now on the Wii, I think we could do with more rail-shooters.

Look no further.

SirSinisterMD:
Point and Click adventures. Its time for a new Kings Quest or Quest for Glory! The Wii would be the perfect platform for it too.

Though I was thinking: Oblivion seems to be the modern version of the point and click adventure. Non-linear gameplay, hundreds of objects you can find, QFG pioneered the idea of guilds that you could join and rise to the top of, I'm sure the list goes on. Maybe they should redo the Quest for Glory series as a first person RPG and let Bethesda handle it.

http://www.agdinteractive.com/

more rail shooters in the Lylat Wars vein. Aside from that (social life murdering) game and Space debris I've yet to encounter any others.

well, there was Omega boost, but we don't talk about Omega boost

Space Sims, like someone else mentioned. Maybe not so much the kind that require thick manuals to operate, but something along the lines of the Descent: Freespace series. You know... the kind that were actually top-notch, engrossing, and just darn fun to play.

Everything in this genre up through (and including) StarLancer has been crap. Freelancer had potential, but didn't quite have "it". (by adding stuff like crappy NPCs w/ dialogue)

Heck, I still occasionally fire up Freespace 2 Open Source Project instead of games like Crysis. Quality ages much more gracefully than any shallow graphics engine.

I'd love to see games similar to Another World, Heart of Darkness and Abe's Oddysey/Exoddus make it on the DS. Me being me I'd pay a full £40 just to have them.

Najal:
witty adventure games please.

bring back monkey island.

I'm an adventure game fiend. I love that most of the old ones are abandonware, which means I can finally afford to get my hands on them.

If I had to guess, I'd say you'd like this one:

Out of Order

I want more arcade style flight sims. Crimson Skies is the last title I remember. Granted, that wasn't that long ago, but long enough to say the genre needs a good jolt to the ticker.

Lvl 64 Klutz:
I want more arcade style flight sims. Crimson Skies is the last title I remember. Granted, that wasn't that long ago, but long enough to say the genre needs a good jolt to the ticker.

Yes fighting games are being way too realistic now days we need a new tekken or good MK game.

conqueror Kenny:

Lvl 64 Klutz:
I want more arcade style flight sims. Crimson Skies is the last title I remember. Granted, that wasn't that long ago, but long enough to say the genre needs a good jolt to the ticker.

Yes fighting games are being way too realistic now days we need a new tekken or good MK game.

One little L makes all the difference...

MichaelH:

conqueror Kenny:

Lvl 64 Klutz:
I want more arcade style flight sims. Crimson Skies is the last title I remember. Granted, that wasn't that long ago, but long enough to say the genre needs a good jolt to the ticker.

Yes fighting games are being way too realistic now days we need a new tekken or good MK game.

One little L makes all the difference...

Haha, indeed

What the fuck did Xogoth the Dark Lord of Game Devs do with all the space fighter sims? Not neccesarily space sims in general, just fighter sims in particular. I don't mean boring space-mercantile trader stuff. Oh no. I mean balls-to-the-wall style Han Solo stuff, dogfighters zipping around trading missiles while bombers desperately try to outmaneuver interceptors against a backdrop of burning capital ships firing at each other with terrifyingly large laser beams.
*Breath*
Freespace 2 is, in my opinion, an exemplar of the genre, but I find myself yearning for more stuff to blow up than is located therein. That's why I pray every night that Freespace 3 would be created, remember the chances of that happening are slim to none, then cry myself to sleep.

Mech games! Please!!! I suppose they're a subgenre of the shooter, but not since MechWarrior 3 on the PC have I been satisfied with a mech game, and the visceral thrill of managing a 90-ton lumbering machine bristling with weaponry combined with the strategy of heat/munitions management has yet to be captured in an easily digestable, CD/DVD/Steam download format since MW3 (I didn't like MW4 so much). I'm hoping that Crysis mod works out - http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/, I might buy Crysis for it, and the requisite new PC required to use CryEngine 2.

The return of good 3D platformers would be great, too. I've been relegated to revisiting Mario Galaxy and Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie to get my fix.

Other than that, I can't think of any genres in themselves that haven't already been whored out in to a million, money-making pieces.

Side scrolling beat-em ups ala Streets Of Rage and Final Fight.