Video Game Genre, Evolution and Innovation

Arsenault's analysis challenges the widely held notion that video game genres "evolve" in a linear, progressive fashion, arguing instead that the concept of genre itself is contested, fluid, and under-theorized when applied to games. Drawing on industry taxonomies such as MobyGames, AllGameGuide, Metacritic, and GameSpot, the work shows that classification practices are inconsistent and overlapping, often conflating gameplay, theme, and platform. The author contends that genre imprecision is characteristic of literary, film, and folklore theory as well, and that claims about innovation or improvement cannot be properly assessed until the underlying category is clarified.

The central argument rests on a critique of biological, Darwinian models of genre change. Because works are produced by human agents rather than reproducing organisms, the author argues that nonteleological variation better describes genre history than evolution toward improvement. Nonetheless, the analysis identifies a micro-level "internal logic" of innovation, in which genres advance through problem-solving. The imitation and revision of successful titles, exemplified by the proliferation of "Doom clones," illustrates this process, while the Shooter lineage is shown to be composite rather than unified.

The study distinguishes 2D scrolling shooters from 3D first-person shooters as separate genre strands, noting structural differences in space, enemy behavior, and player activity. It further argues that technologies such as ray casting enabled gameplay ideas that already existed, citing precedents like Maze War (1974) and Rescue: The Embassy Mission (1989). Evolution is depicted as non-linear, with solutions often generating new problems, and genre is positioned as a communicative convention between designers and players rooted in play-experience aesthetics.

The work's scope is primarily conceptual and historical, focusing on Anglophone game criticism and key titles from the early 1970s through the late 2000s, and it presents no quantitative data or formal empirical findings.