In my 26 years of life, I've played a lot of games from various different genres. I've liked a ton. I've been surprised by quite a few, and I've given a lot of them a try. But as with all people... I do have my preferences and there are games that just CLICK with me and I'll never put the controller/keyboard down once I really get going.
FIGHTING GAMES! I've always been a fan of fighting games. As long as there's a good control scheme and a diverse roster of characters, I'll find my mains, find my muse, find my arcade stick, and get to fighting. There's something about the high octane, high execution style of the fighting games that keeps me interested. Even if I'm clearly not the best, even if I can barely pass two rounds in tournaments, even if my win-loss record is very spotty at best, even if it takes me a while to get a grip of things, I'm always comin' back for more!
RACING GAMES: Get behind the wheel of a cool car in any setting and lets RACE! I love high speeds, and I am more biased to sci-fi racers, but whether we're in an arcade or at home picking a vehicle on the controller, I'm ready to put the petal to the metal once again!
BEAT-EM-UPS! Arcade beat-em-ups are a niche genre these days. It's easy to make a very shallow one where all you have to do is hit the attack button till the other dude falls over with little other depth to engagement and its easy to get into one that just feels... "Cheap". The good arcade beat-em ups have depth, and a feeling of satisfaction on playing them that just hardly can be matched.
By Extension...
SPECTACLE FIGHTERS! I consider the spectacle fighters to be a spiritual evolution of sorts to the beat-em-up. They tend to have combat systems that lean themselves to exploring what works, what doesn't work, and have gratifying feedback on htting enemies with the right moves. Once you master it, you can feel good... and look good while doing it. OH YEAH!
Oh and side note... I am biased toward SUPER-HEROES!
Ok... genre's I am more picky about...
FIRST/THIRD PERSON SHOOTERS! Yes I know there's this "spunkgargleweewee" ahem.. genre that we got from Yahtzee based on FPSes... which pretty much describes a mainstream "modern" military FPS. Yeah, I'm no stranger to shooting games, having grown up with this genre like I have my favorites... but I like FPS games that do something different.. unusual. Either they harken back to older days without regenerating health and waypoints or they introduce mechanics toally off-the-beat from your usual shooter game. That... or put me in a MECH. THEN WE CAN TALK
PLATFORMERS! I'm a sucker for a good Metroidvania or Sonic game... or a game that lets you play with some local buddies. Otherwise, just another game to pass the time.
WRPGs/JRPGS They're both Role-Playing Games to me, regardless of their country of origin. I'll like some... and some won't hold my attention for long, depending on... circumstances or aspects within the game. It could be anything, from the settings, to the player character(s) to the story, I'm open to either, but I'm still picky about both.
And now genres I either don't like or don't care for.
Dating Sims. WHY DO PEOPLE PLAY THESE?! Why are they so popular in Japan? What is the appeal behind them? I don't like love stories in general and now we have an entire genre of games dedicated to this?! AND ITS SUPER POPULAR?
Puzzle Games. My brain for some reason doesn't function too well with a lot of puzzle games... but a lot of them like Tetris, Bejweled, and Puyo Puyo are well designed, simple and addictive. I'm just not that good at them. *Grumble Grumble*
Raising Sims. Just... boring to me. Then again, people play these games when they want to relax... so I see the appeal.
Realistic Sports Sims. I'll just play sports in real life.