Editor's note: Chris thinks that the future of the games industry lies in hybrids — games that mash up various genres to create unique products. Do you agree? Do you find yourself enjoying hybrid games over pure genre experiences? -Brett
Can you think of a game that you can't describe in a single sentence? If so, you probably have a hybrid on your hands.
Consider the popular puzzler Puzzle Quest. Is it a Bejeweled clone or a role-playing game? By cleverly combining the two genres, Puzzle Quest became more than the sum of its parts.
In fact, I'd argue that most games these days can be classified as hybrids — and the games industry is healthier for it.
The tried and true method to making a hybrid is to take any genre you can possibly think of and add RPG elements. Puzzle Quest did it for puzzle games, and recently games like Modern Warfare have done it for first-person shooters. Now you're hard-pressed to find a shooter that doesn't have light RPG elements.
Other hybrids are more ambitious, combining genres as if picked at random out of a hat. The Super Nintendo game ActRaiser blended the standard side-scrolling formula with simulation elements, making it one of the most memorable games of that generation.
Classifying games into genres will become harder to do as time passes because the single-genre game is a stagnant field. There's little room for innovation. Smart developers look at what elements work across all genres and pluck out whatever will make their game more unique.
Randy Pitchford and his amazing team at Gearbox nailed this concept with Borderlands. Borderlands took the addictive Diablo formula and tossed it in with the first-person shooter. Gamers went nuts for it — for good reason.
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Why are these hybrids so good for the industry? Other than being a hotbed for innovation, they serve one more critical role: accessibility. As well-rounded as most gamers claim to be, certain genres they'll never touch. People like comfort, and they stick to the genres they've always played, keeping others at a distance. These distanced genres get more and more intimidating as time goes on.
But if developers make a good hybrid, they can gently introduce those stubborn people to new genre experiences. For example, I was never really into strategy RPGs, but after playing Valkyria Chronicles, a strategy RPG crossed with light third-person shooter elements, and Devil Survivor, a strategy RPG crossed with turn-based RPG elements, I put my hesitations aside. The hardcore strategy RPG and I are now happily married, and we have two children — although unfortunately I dropped one of them on the head and he's going to be a licensed game for the rest of his life.
Is it possible for a hybrid to hybridize too much? Of course, but we still love Tim Schafer anyway. (At least his heart was in the right place with Brütal Legend.) And pure genre experiences still have a place within established franchises. But new IPs and IPs needing a serious reboot have very few options on the table. Crossing genres is a good way to establish a name and carve out a niche in this flooded market
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So, developers, get out there and make me a shooter/RPG/platformer/RTS/puzzle/dating sim! I promise to buy it.