Originality, where art thou?

Originality debates have been thrown around back and fourth for decades. We need to face it: We are in a day and age where being original in games is either unusual, or a hit-or-miss affair. Being original is a very risky task, and anyone that attempts it is usually met with failure, despite praises to the contrary. We enjoy more of the same no matter how many times we demand originality. We always go back to more of the same.

Most game concepts, ideas, and plots, are all used at one point or another. While yes, the game may be different and neat; it is rarely original. Looking at a newer game like Left4dead. Is it a nice change of pace from zombie games? Sure.

Is it original? No.

[meepmoopmeep]

like they say

"it's all been said and done"

what you see now is that developers are taking good ideas from other games
and adding them to theirs.

it's hard to find something original these days. it's out there, but not abundant like the good ol' days.

[Fullish]

yeah hard to come up with original ideas these days.

[iseven]

just like in any art form these days, its hard to be original. Because EVERYTHING has been done before.

"SIMPSONS DID IT!"

[agentxricky]

Great Article!

[kaironn]

Haha Simpsons did it! so classic.

[Asuka]

whenever someone tries to innovate something(Mirror's Edge) it does not really go well with the media. Idk whats up with the media, hyping something up because it does something different, and then giving it lower scores. all in all it was a good game.

being innovative is risky business, but when done right it sure pays off. We just need more studios willing to challenge the media instead of throwing the same kind of games(with little differences here and there) to please the media. games are suppose to be fun, no?

[swiftshot93]

but yeah, developers can try. Im looking forward to Heavy Rain by the way.

[jessehaysfl]

originality went the way of the dodo along time ago...heres why......is it eaiser to make something new that could fail therefore generating little to none as far as revenue OR is it eaiser to make another sequel,remake,redux or reinvention of the same old stuff that already proved to be a viable product.

sux i know but most people would suck satan's d^(k for the right price these days....

Bill Hicks said it best "Go ahead and suck satans pecker its only your dignity........go ahead suck it its only your dignity.....go ahead suck it its only your dignity.."

good thing he died when he did because if he wouldve seen george w. he would have killed himself....we miss you Mr. Hicks oh and manny called......RIP

[FreestyleBarnacle]

Hunter S. Thompson did.

[ActionBastard]

I think some of it stems from what the writer plays. If you like a particular genre, you will play it. You will get burnt out. You will ask "Originality, where art thou?". However, for those of us that mix it up as much as possible, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Braid, Flow, Katamari, Mirror's Edge, Okami, Valkyria Chronicles, N+, PJ Eden and upcoming titles like Heavy Rain and Nobi Nobi Boy and Flower show originality hasn't gone anywhere.

[ThatOneGuyThere]

originality is there, too bad most of it doesn't have 3 gazillion dollars behind it to advertise.

[ThatOneGuyThere]

and i'll show it to you when its done.

[Bathyj]

People dont want originaly, they want familiar. They say they do, but they dony. Look at Mirrors Edge.

Besides, making videogames is a process of refinement, even if its a new IP. You make the engine, then over the next 3 years, you hone it, refine it, get the most you cant out of it, till its ready.

Sequels are just an extension of this idea, And I for one love it anyway. Imagine if Halflife, Killzone, Tekken, GTA, DMC, GT, Any sports franchise, FF and so on and so on, stopped after one game. So many of them weren't truely fleshed out till later offerrings.

We say we hate the sequelitis but we wouldn't have the great games we have if devs gave up on an idea after one shot at it.

Of course, that doesn't mean we dont like to see originality and innovation at all, its just not everything. The best place to get originality now days is on PSN with games like Flow, Flower, Pixel Junk and so on.

[ButterToast]

what about noby noby boy, pixel junk games, flOw/flOwer, echochrome, Mirrors edge, LBP, Valkyria Chronicles, portal, Bioshock, persona.

[Viper7]

Being original has often backlashed with bad sales expecialy in the us. We can only hope ppl will get bored to these generic shooters and start buying more exotic games.

Games like Folklore, valkyria chronicles, Viva pinyata, dozen of wii games Littlebigplanet etc etc dont seem to go even close to what shooters do. This is really a shame, but we gamers can only blame ourselves for that :|

[xabmol]

http://www.penny-arcade.com...

[Dimly]

I agree with this.

Most of the big AAA titles coming out look identical (i.e. Gears of War, Killzone, Resistance, etc)