He said the appeal is niche, not the sales. Quite a few of my friends bought MGS2/3, mainly due to hype or because of the graphics but have never finished the game.
[PS3] Metal Gear Solid 4 *spoilers*
- Thread starter warcrow
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He said the appeal is niche, not the sales. Quite a few of my friends bought MGS2/3, mainly due to hype or because of the graphics but have never finished the game.
How can you determine that? Is HALO niche, or what about Half Life? Your argument makes no sense imo, because if that was the case every game has a niche audience because there is always a few people who don't like it.
I'm just interpeting what BadTB25 said, It's niche because it has a bunch of very vocal fans due to its vintage, and many of them are in the gaming press and add to the hype.
I think what BadTB25 was trying to say is that the game polarises opinions, unlike other games such as Halo or Half Life which are broadly liked. From personal experience and what i've read not everyone who buys a MGS game finishes or like it, perhaps buying it because of the glowing press reviews (written by nostalgiac fans), the graphics or the hype.
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djskribbles
Legend
I agree with 2real4tv. If MGS is niche, then 90%+ of the games out there are as well. No MGS is not for everyone, but what games are?
The stealth/action genre obviously has a fairly large market. No it's not as big as the FPS market or the other popular genres, but the sales of the many MG games proves that it's not a niche title/genre.
The stealth/action genre obviously has a fairly large market. No it's not as big as the FPS market or the other popular genres, but the sales of the many MG games proves that it's not a niche title/genre.
Um i dunno about that. The stealth genre is a very limited marked, i would definately call it a niche title, even thought MGS and Splinter Cell sells quite a lot of games. Neither MGS or SC are action games imo, they are completely different from those considering that the basic gameplay is NOT to run into enemies in MGS and SC, in essence trying to avoid the "action"..
Think about it, how many stealth games are there? MGS and SC are the only two established franchises that i know of, outside of those titles i cannot really remember any decent stealth games coming out after thief, which was quite a long time ago. I can definately see people calling it niche even thought both MGS and SC sell very well.
Think about it, how many stealth games are there? MGS and SC are the only two established franchises that i know of, outside of those titles i cannot really remember any decent stealth games coming out after thief, which was quite a long time ago. I can definately see people calling it niche even thought both MGS and SC sell very well.
I have Halo 3 and never finished it(XBL Bigmanny287 check my gamerstag) so what is your point. Maybe Metal Gear is new to you guys but it is a franchise that started on the NES....I guess Iam not understanding your point about it being for a niche audience, you did not offer a clear distinction between MG and Halo except your personal opinion.
djskribbles
Legend
Maybe it's just because there is little interest in developing such a game. AFAIK, there were relatively very few stealth games ever made. In that sense, I could see how some would consider it a niche genre. But IMHO, that doesn't make it a niche genre.
Is Assassin's Creed considered a stealth game? If so, add that to the list of successful stealth games.
Is Assassin's Creed considered a stealth game? If so, add that to the list of successful stealth games.
Its quite simple really.
There are tons of action games that come out every year, tons of high budget titles to choose from.
There are tons and tons of high budget shooter games that come out every year
There are 2 high budget Stealth game franchises, SC and MGS, they do not come out every year, and outside of these two titles, there is no other significant titles. (maybe you can count Assassins Creed)
Action titles, shooters, racing games etc are mainstream genres. There are tons of varius games that all sell a helluva lot of copies within each genre.
Stealth games? Not so much, outside of SC and MGS there are no significant sales (i dont even know if there are any other titles). Overall, the stealth genre sells very very little software compared to the popular main stream genres.
Stealth genre is niche market, and thus MGS is a niche title.
The genre is definately very small, shooter games probably sell 10x more titles per year than stealth games, if not 20 times more.
The reason why say Halo 3 is not a niche title is because its a game in a popular genre that caters to much more people than stealth games does. How well MGS or Halo sells really doesn't change that.
There are tons of action games that come out every year, tons of high budget titles to choose from.
There are tons and tons of high budget shooter games that come out every year
There are 2 high budget Stealth game franchises, SC and MGS, they do not come out every year, and outside of these two titles, there is no other significant titles. (maybe you can count Assassins Creed)
Action titles, shooters, racing games etc are mainstream genres. There are tons of varius games that all sell a helluva lot of copies within each genre.
Stealth games? Not so much, outside of SC and MGS there are no significant sales (i dont even know if there are any other titles). Overall, the stealth genre sells very very little software compared to the popular main stream genres.
Stealth genre is niche market, and thus MGS is a niche title.
The genre is definately very small, shooter games probably sell 10x more titles per year than stealth games, if not 20 times more.
The reason why say Halo 3 is not a niche title is because its a game in a popular genre that caters to much more people than stealth games does. How well MGS or Halo sells really doesn't change that.
First of all is there even a stealth category(checks his local best buy/Walmart)...because I can't find it. MG along with SC are both Action games that involve stealth what is the point of having guns if the developer wants it to be all stealth. To be honest I play it as a action game first and a stealth second.
There is no "stealth category" in your local best buy walmart, because there are so few stealth titles....
SC is definitely not an action game, though the designers forgot that with Double Agent. MGS up to 3 were also definitely not action. 4's improved combat at least means that the game doesn't totally suck if you play it like an action game.
Edit: Well, actually, this is if you exclude the boss battles and chases. Those are definitely action.
Edit: Well, actually, this is if you exclude the boss battles and chases. Those are definitely action.
MGS is not an action game?
And who said that your genre definition is correct?
Oh, it goes like that: let's divide action games into two genres in such a way that MGS will be in a very small group, so it can prove your point.
OMG, and Halo is also not an action game, it's an energy shield game!!
Seriously? The designers have hobbled you in SC so that you specifically don't play it as an action game, unless you're going to say that stealth games are subgenre of action games, in which case I suppose anything real-time is too.
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How about instead of replying with one liners, make a proper argument? For example, if you disagree with my definition of a genre, suggest another definition?
'Action' covers virtually every game out there, where most involve some form of action. I agree with Ostepop's observation that MGS can be considered niche because it represents a 'genre' (or sub-genre, or sub-category, or class) of computer games that have very little representation. Similar to the action fantasy RPG like Sacred or Diablo. If Diablo 3 sells 5 million copies, it'll still be a 'niche' title as it is a title that fits a very marginalized segment of the overall gaming market.
However, this discussion is really about definitions of English words, niche and such, and I'm not entirely sure how it's appropriate to the MGS4 discussion. Can we not settle on the notion that MGS4 polarizes opinion more like Marmite than jam, without having to worry about exact definitions?
However, this discussion is really about definitions of English words, niche and such, and I'm not entirely sure how it's appropriate to the MGS4 discussion. Can we not settle on the notion that MGS4 polarizes opinion more like Marmite than jam, without having to worry about exact definitions?
I'd say it's pretty hard to define MGS. Let alone define genres at all. I'd call it stealth-action personally.
Jack_Tripper
Newcomer
Well...regardless of definitions and pigeonholing - the latest Metal Gear stands to win SEVERAL game of the year awards, going to pretty hard to conceed that it's audience-limited if true - can't we just agree that it's sort of undefineable?
Jack
Jack
