Why Do Shooters Sell So Much?

[Lucas]

I am aware that nowadays shooters are probably the most popular genre and sell millions and millions and sell even more than Zelda, but I would just like to know why? I don't understand what makes them so good. Granted their tons of fun, but I don't see how they can sell 20 million copies. Your opinion?

 

[RubenCrapton]

Because lots of people want action packed entertainment and shooters provide that. Shooters are easy too, they don't have to have much depth for the casual audience to enjoy them

 

[RedDekuScrub]

I have never quite enjoyed shooter games. Some of my friends enjoy them and they seem to have a lot of fun with them. I have nothing against shooters, I'm just mre into platformer, RPG, Action Adventure, and puzzle games. The only shooters have have liked are the Metroid games, but they are not really my favorites.

I guess you can say that my favorite shoorter is Suoer Mario Sunshine! XD

 

[DiashyGuy]

Because kids this days think that killing nazis zombies is more awesome than travelling through space and time.

 

[A Link In Time]

As much as people hate on shooters, the genre has evolved more than others in recent years. Halo: Combat Evolved marked the successful transition of the genre from the PC front to consoles. Halo 2 brought a successful online shooter experience to consoles. What the first two Halo games were to alien warfare, Call of Duty 4 was to realistic man to man shooters. Following a generation where World War II shooters were all the craze, the effective transition CoD 4 provided to modern combat should also be highlighted. Quirks like kill streaks and perks served to freshen up the experience even more.

For all it's done as the most recent franchise to elevate the standing of FPS games, CoD has also contributed to the genre's recent stagnation where quick cash-grab sequels are encouraged. It certainly doesn't help that the franchise has been running on essentially the same engine since 2007. Other than that, I agree with RubenCrapton. Shooters provide quick, easy, and shallow entertainment for the masses. Although this negative stereotype can't be applied to all shooter franchises, more and more are taking the easy way out as defined by Activision and its yearly Call of Duty sequels.

 

[kafigalo]

Well I guess since it's not everybody that gets to touch/shoot a real gun, they turn to a virtual simulation for entertainment. It doesn't require much thinking either. You usually press one button to aim down the sights and another to fire. It's that simple. A monkey with Down Syndrome could probably play a shooter. But that's just me

 

[Leo Crimson]

As the T-101 said about humans in Judgment Day, 'It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.'

 

[Norm]

I think that, at least in the US, It's a product of post-911 patriotisim. How is this patriotic, you ask? Simple. The two playable teams are usually the U.S.A. and some other group that they want you to belive are the bad guys.

 

[Dan]

Too be honest i'm not sure, I think shooters have came a long way. They used to be rather fast-paced see unreal and quake, I preferred those type of shooters I think it's just a great lot of fun. It's more than just point and click it does take some brains to be pretty good. It's also packs a lot of adrenaline you must always be on the look out, any enemy can come at any time. There will always be a dominant genre. Plus games aren't just for geeks now. More people play them and those "casuals" tend to prefer shooters.

 

[IamDazed]

People love to pit themselves against others. Shooters are the ultimate pvp games, which is why you see so many taking an interest in them. They're also not as gear oriented, it's skill based. Anybody can pick up a shooter game and be on an equal footing as everyone else when it comes to gear. Games like WoW are way too gear oriented and time intensive, which can turn a lot of people off.

 

[erceos33]

Because people are dumb, same reason why so many sports game sell, hate EA SO MUCH C

 

[KirbyBBQ]

'Cause kids love shooting stuff,
rather than catching Pokemon, or saving Zelda.

 

[SNOlink]

I think it's mostly the multiplayer aspect of it. Think about it. Some of us still play games like Super Smash Bros, Marvel v. Capcom, etc. not because they bring something new, but because we can do it with multiple people and we do little banter and conversations during it.

 

[Koosholts]

You unkowningly answered the question yourself, Lucas.

"Granted their tons of fun."

That is why they sell so much. Another main factor is the online-competitive play it provides.

 

[Pie Master]

This may be a bit biased because I never really saw the fun on them, is
You don't have to think (or at least think hard) to play them, just shoot and move. Granted some have some plot and even a bit more than just shooting, the basics I mentioned still apply, plus boys(which are the majority of the gamer community) always had a little something for violence, which shooter games exploit