Contrary to the name of this article, this isn't about the state of the entire industry, but rather the state of specific parts of the industry, namely the genres.

But, how does one determine such a thing? When is a genre in a healthy, good state...when is a genre near its last dying days?

It's something really hard to determine, surprisingly. When is a genre being pushed to its limit...when has a genre had its "perfect" game? Rather than list every possible genre one by one, I'm just gonna start naming things off the top of my head, and you guys can name things too! We'll make this one more discussion oriented, I guess, and see what you think.

I think even though a lot of people don't really like it or whatever, you can contribute Halo as one of the perfect games for the console FPS genre. It's multiplayer basically reached the limit of perfection, and now it's up to other FPS's to go beyond that limit, and set a new bar. Why do I think it's perfect? Because unlike most console FPS's, it really opened up the ability for user modded ideas. You can change gravity....in Halo 3 you can even make a map similar to tennis! There's so many variables you can change...it's crazy! I guess now with UT3 for the PS3 the limit might of been broken already, since that fully supports mods...but eh. I think the game to watch out for is the SOCOM for the PS3. It really sounds like it's going to take FPS Multiplayer to the next level with insane clan support and character diversity and development.

On the single player FPS front, I still haven't really found a game that's every broken beyond the limit originally set by System Shock 2. Is there no FPS that can tell a compelling story? BioShock came close, but it was lacking in so many ways...am I supposed to believe that no one can go beyond System Shock 2? Is it really such wishful thinking?

With RPG's you have Final Fantasy 12 and Lost Odyssey, being some of the most notable releases...and yet, FF12 did nothing really new, yet it wasn't good enough in my opinion to say this is the best we can do, now let's advance the genre. It was just kinda there...same for Lost Odyssey. I'm wondering when the game that's going to redefine what we think about RPGs is going to come out! White Knight Story looks pretty amazing....but I haven't seen an RPG that's really changed my thoughts about the genre since Shadow Hearts 2 for the PS2....eek.

Fighting Games have been dying ever since arcades in America crumbled. Sure...they come out, but sales are crap. Even the best selling series (Mortal Kombat) has crap sales compared to every other genre. The fighting game genre seems to be kicking back though.....Arcana Heart 2, Street Fighter 4, the new king of fighters, Blazblue, Battle Fantasia...is this the fighting game renaissance? Or is this its final hour?

MMORPG's have their "perfect" game, in the form of World of Warcraft. It took everything that everyone did before it, and made it better. Now, the genre is in a state of "trying to go beyond" that limit, with games like Age of Conan removing the auto attack system! Definitely interesting to see how this one turns out...

What d you think about your favorite genres? Has there been any innovation, any "breaking" games that redefine that genre in them lately? Do they seem healthy and popular, or almost dead, with a lack of originality across the board? Do you think there's just something out of reach that can really improve a genre?

Next week I'll be talking about games with UGC (User-Generated-Content) and microtransactions...future of the industry, or no?