Is the mainstream games Industry running out of ideas?

[skoomaeater]

I had a thought this morning as I fired up Audiosurf, and that was how come the games that have original and interesting ideas 'indie' games. Aren't these new and exciting forms of entertainment what we all ought to be playing?

This got me to thinking about games in general and I had a sudden realisation that I hadn't played a game in ages that was truly original. The last time I think it happened was Comdemned: Criminal Origins, and even that borrowed heavily from films and the Silent Hill series.

Thoughts?

 

[Flour]

Why risk making something original when a faceless space marine in a suit of armor(or comparable for other genres) has been selling quite good for the last 6-8~ years?

 

[The_Deleted]

Any medium, be it film, music or books, will find a market that sells and stick with it. Sadly, the more esoteric or, dare I say it, interesting the idea the less chance it has of finding a willing market. On the whole, people have to be sick to death of one thing before really latching onto another. Then the cycle continues.
FPS are easy to market because, lets face it as men, we love anything that explodes and does harm.

 

[Amnestic]

LBP was pretty original I thought. What else? Mirror's Edge, that was pretty original. Left 4 Dead added a new twist on the zombie genre and gave it a more fast paced zest than it's had before. Though I'm willing to be corrected I believe it was the first (popular?) FPS zombie shooter that's been released ever so while it's using an old premise it is doing something new and entertaining with it.

Indie games can be fun, not all are original. Audiosurf isn't technically original as I believe it's based pretty closely on one or two similar games for the PS2 whose names unfortunately escape me. That said, I do love Audiosurf and it was certainly a fresh breeze to me at least. Edit: I believe this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplitude_(video_game)] and this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreQuency] were what I was talking about.

Do I think the games industry is running out of ideas? Not at all, I have little doubt that with all the games developers, writers and whatnot out there that scores of people have fresh new ideas for a new game. More than likely however, game companies may not want to take the risk with such a thing. It's been said before, but you're pretty much guaranteed sales on a sequel to another well-selling game. That's how it works. For a business that's making money and doesn't want to invest millions of moneys into a risky new title with the possibility of losing it, it can somewhat stem the influx of new ideas. A shame, yes, but I think that's why perhaps the "indie" games seem more original, because they have more freedom to do so.

 

[The_Deleted]

That was going to be my other point.
Just because a genre has been done to death doesn't mean it can't be freshened up with some new ideas.

 

[TheBluesader]

I agree. I think we've reached a point where the industry has gotten so big and profit-driven that they don't care at all about games as an art form anymore. It's all about quick money, so they just keep pumping out -

- Oh crap! Gotta get to Best Buy! This guy from work just txt me that Madden '09 is AWESOME!

 

[Nazulu]

Most people will play anything new that comes out as long as it is the popular genres, (and has great graphics) mainly because they don't take it seriously like other people. If most people would complain then they would have no choice but to try something new, same goes for music and movies too, unfortunately there is not really much we could do.

Makes you appreciate the old classics more!

 

[rossatdi]

I'm just going to chime in here with the same stuff everyone else is saying.

Mirror's Edge
Left 4 Dead
Little Big Planet

And that was in the last month!

The games industry has now matured to a a certain extent where the genres are quite defined and refined. Yes there will always be a hefty number of bland entries in a given year but if you think of the similarity with the movie industry; how many truly great and original films are made each year?

 

[rinkuhero]

I agree about indie games. Indie game sites are the only sites I read regularly anymore.

 

[Praelanthor]

its the casual holy grail market thats doing this developer's use the casual market as an excuse to be lazy with production of thier games

 

[Altorin]

you don't need to reinvent the wheel whenever you make a new game.

 

[Graustein]

Why risk making something original when a faceless space marine in a suit of armor(or comparable for other genres) has been selling quite good for the last 6-8~ years?

This. Halo sells well, so let's make a game like Halo! GTA sells well, let's make a game like GTA! Final Fantasy is selling well, let's make another JRPG!
People will buy things that are familiar. Familiar means, of course, something similar to what we know and love. It's for the same reason that games based on movies get sales, or even why they're made at all, not to mention Nintendo's flagship enterprises.

That said, I think the mainstream games industry is running out of ideas, by its very nature. To be mainstream you need to be well-known. Most of the innovation I've seen has come out of left field. Mainstream, for the most part, contents itself with taking the occasional new idea and copying it, copying it and polishing it to a mirror shine.

 

[Mr_Czar]

How does the idea of a game where you play a cross between Zeus and Batman?

Batman that could shoot lightning bolts? Awesome.

 

[Amnestic]

How does the idea of a game where you play a cross between Zeus and Batman?

Batzeus? That could work. You could have a gun which shoots batarangs and lightning.

Wait...

Edit: a "Gone" which shoots batarangs? I need sleep, it seems.

 

[shadow skill]

Left 4 Dead is by no means a new idea people. Now LBP, Mirror's Edge hell even End War those are new ideas. A far as the industry running out of new ideas the answer is no the industry has not quite run out of new or otherwise interesting concepts; what has happened though is that various genres have run out of ideas for the most part.