Do you think there has been a general lack of creativity in the gaming industry?

[Deleted]

I don't think we can necessarily talk about a lack of creativity, but there is certainly a lack of willingness to try something unconventional these days as games today are about as immersive as we can realistically expect them to be, maybe short a feature or two. In principle, there isn't much more to be improved upon. Lets, for instance take FPS. From the horizontally fixed camera of wulfenstein or doom, to the introduction of the free look of quake and the likes. Move over to see the modern shooters that implement the vertial element in terms of aviation, which, while it has been done before, just recently became standard. Most things to be improved upon in this genre is purely cosmetic, and won't make for massive improvements, in terms of gameplay.

While MMO's are a different genre that revolves less about realism, but more fantasy and fancy features, we are also at a point where things are a bit stale. I mean, every mmo has some variation of the healer, the dps and the tank class. While changes here are not only cosmetic, the ground rules for a successful modern mmo have been established long ago with EQ and DAoC. What else is there to add? Prettier dragons? More complex fights? Niether of them will cause any groundbreaking alterations.

I'm actually a bit concerned for gaming as it is.. It's been a while since we saw something new and fantastic, apart from the Wii and Xbox thingy.. but they are mostly for family fun and petting virtual animals/playing tennis.

[jvbastel]

I've been looking mainly at indie games the last few years. There's been some huge indie/small developer hits lately, like amnesia,
terrarria, minecraft, magicka.

I have no interest anymore in milked out franchises like COD,Halo,ME,Fable, etc.

[Skelington]

Same could be said about movies. Once you've seen enough movies to last you 10 lifetimes, it's hard to find things creative because more often than not, you'll compare it to something else you played in the past. Same with games. Just how I see it, also same with WoW, once you play it for 5+ years, it's hard to find a challenge.

And how many new horror movies nowadays arent just recreations of the old? Psycho killer in a mask, zombies/ghosts, haunted house on a spooky old hill the family gets a great deal on, aliens... Its all the same, just told differently. Like Zelda series, although that hasnt been "the same thing" each time by my opinion.

All the ideas came out, and its no longer easy to create something original.

[Lotharfox]

American entertainment culture is like that. There is very small fluctuations, then something new comes and then it gets copied over and over. TV, Movies, Music, and video games. When Guitar Hero hit the scene, i was impressed, I got to pretend to play guitar, and Rock Band took it to a new level. I would even say Portal was an example of innovation, a break from the same old song and dance.

TV as well, Survivor came out and this whole "reality" concept flurished. It seemed new and exciting, now it is the most stale genre out there.

Just wait, every so often something new hits the scene, then it's done to death and the cycle repeats.

[Sunseeker]

If only early 90s Peter Molyneux could return. Save us, 90s Peter Molyneux, save us!!!

Srsly, Modern Molyneux is about the least creative guy I can imagine(short of Star Trek book writers).

[Badpaladin]

Same could be said about movies. Once you've seen enough movies to last you 10 lifetimes, it's hard to find things creative because more often than not, you'll compare it to something else you played in the past. Same with games. Just how I see it, also same with WoW, once you play it for 5+ years, it's hard to find a challenge.

Definitely have to disagree there. It's a rarity to see the spotlight be shown on sequel after sequel, and in general a new/interesting/creative movie is highly encouraged in that realm. Yeah, there's shit spewing out like Transformers 3 and stuff, but you also have to keep in mind that directors like Michael Bay are considered a joke in Hollywood.

[zoloz]

Yes there is an over saturation of FPS games if that's what were talking about here.

[Doirdyn]

I agree, companies are too scared to try new things, they'd rather maximize profits with the least amount of effort (and development spending)

[azemis]

The good news is that even in a bad economy, after too long of the same boring old things that happen to sell, eventually people just give up and those boring old things also stop selling and they are forced to improve or go out of business.
And if they go out of business, it won't be long before someone takes their place anyway.

It's been going on for a while, just looking everywhere you can see the boredom is starting to kick in everywhere. Give it a year or two you'll hear several good things at least for gaming.

Next wow expansion will probably have half the first month sales as cata Id predict.

[jakeic]

i once had a conversation with a friend of mine about the release of the ps2. he claimed that the ps2 had reached the pinnacle, that the graphics produced by future ps2 games would be the most realistic possible by a gaming machine. yet here we are, the ps3 graphics are starting to look rather dated.

gaming has seemed to really wedge itself into an annoying little groove of sequel after sequel, year after year. some gamers, such as myself, are already fed up with this non-sense, in time others will also become fed up with it as well. when that happens, there will be a backlash, some companies will change and thrive, others will stick to the old ways and die. it has happened before and it'll happen again.

innovation isn't dead, but if it is there are bigger problems than our games are getting boring.

[belfpala]

I guess I don't understand what everyone in here means by "innovation" and "creativity"

Are you talking about IP? Unique stories, lore, etc?

Or are you talking about gameplay?

[Zeta333]

What about Final Fantasy and Mario? Bigger culprits than Halo and COD imo.

[Digglett]

What about Final Fantasy and Mario? Bigger culprits than Halo and COD imo.

Only cause they've been around longer. (duh..)

[Doirdyn]

What about Final Fantasy and Mario? Bigger culprits than Halo and COD imo.

At least final fantasy changes the story every game, it's easier to name it FF versus creating a new game-name every time. It allows people to easily recognize what title it is and what to expect from it

[Auralian]

I hadn't really thought about it much until I perused this article:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-mo...n-video-games/

I'm not really too concerned about much of the other points, other than the bit about creativity. I'm not saying the guy who wrote this is the video game gospel or anything, but he's sort of got a point. MW3 = Call of Duty 8. Halo is set to have 7-9 as a new trilogy. Assassin's Creed 4 is coming out soon. Almost everything at E3 was a sequel of some preexisting series. Games are starting to look goddamn identical.

I dunno, my opinions may be different. All I can say is that I was ridiculously excited when I saw the first trailers for Assassin's Creed. That general feeling of, "holy shit this looks so cool I can't wait to see all the new shit this game is going to bring" was immense. I have felt any of that for any new games in a while.

Is this a product of the industry itself suppressing new ideas, or the same trends in what the public wants?

I'm curious to see what more "gamer-y" gamers than myself think of this.

You see this on the big Screen as well, look at the movies coming out int he next three years. Most of them are Sequels or remakes because they are afraid to take a chance with the money. The video game industry isn't any different, they go with what is popular and just stick to the same route until people stop buying the product and then just copy what one of the other companies has and continue on.

[mordale]

the first pic showing gun sights is showing rage 2 and resistance 3 during A TURRET SECTION no shit is down the irons.

[Creatinebrah]

agree.

we need not crap RPG shooters and more Valve games aka Portal/HL.

[mordale]

At least final fantasy changes the story every game, it's easier to name it FF versus creating a new game-name every time. It allows people to easily recognize what title it is and what to expect from it

except they should of changed the title after 10, to something more fitting... like sparkly shitnabox.

ot: overall yes the gaming industry does seem to be heading for a critical mass point here soon with so many bad ideas being put into work.
and sheep will still likely buy the next MW game, frankly im at the point that i hate people who buy shit like that.

[Hraklea]

It's hard to innovate when fanboys rage everytime you don't copy/paste a game series...

[Dembai]

Yes and no.

Yes - in "big business" game companies. They get big enough, and they cloister around "what works". Their investors don't want to hear about "new and innovative" unless it's a new and innovative way to dress up the same crap they released last year.

No - in small and independent businesses, creativity is alive and well. I've seen it in thousands of indie games. Unique, challenging, fun gameplay.

I'd say that it's possible that new ideas are present in big business gaming, but that the bosses are too scared of new things to want to try it. And that's just sad.