Topic
"Are games spiraling into an unending pit of recycled cliches or is there enough innovation to support this growing market? If there is, what companies do you think are making the most innovative games (examples of games)? If there is not, what needs to be done to add more innovation?"

Doug Flowe

It's simple. As any industry grows its most creative minds begin to lose control of its direction and corporate reasoning begins to take over. Corporations have no concern for creativity but for raising profits. What was once profitable, will soon be repackaged and served up again and again and again until we stop buying it. Period. With that said, Nintendo has always been an innovative company. Luckily, once they became complacent (around the early 90's) Sega came in and threatened their supremacy shaking things up and keeping them fresh. The fact that they haven't been on top since the days of Super NES is a blessing in disguise. It's kept them working hard for the past 10 years and keeping fans satisfied. Zelda is one of the freshest remakes of any game ever - especially with such a long running series. I think Ubi Soft is one of the most innovative companies right now with it's new series' (like Splintercell) and reproductions of its old ones (Rainbow Six: Raven Shield, Rayman: Hoodlum Havoc). Developers like Rockstar, Codemasters' racing titles, Namco with Soul Calibur and cool titles like Amplitude from Sony are good to see in a time like this.

Thomas Pimental

The gaming industry is growing at an alarming rate. Three consoles as well as the PC are clamoring for new titles and they are being fulfilled. However, a good majority of the games being published today are often just regurgitated versions of older games. Few "new ideas" ever hit the market and unfortunately, when they do, they are often overlooked. However, innovations like these are what stimulates markets and can take gaming to a whole new level.

One person in particular comes to mind when I think about innovations in the gaming industry. Peter Molyneux, the game design guru behind titles like Populous, Dungeon Keeper and Black and White, has been trying to create new avenues in gaming since he first burst onto the scene. His latest project, amply titled Fable (XBOX), promises to break the mold of the typical role-playing game. Fable, though still relatively early in development, will allow a player to control a person's life from the age of 15 until death. Everything you do, from staying out in the sun to reading books develops your character into what he or she will become. Although the game promises a lot, Molyneux's previous endeavors nearly guarantee Fable will be something truly remarkable.

Even with trailblazers like Peter Molyneux developing games there still is not enough innovation in this industry. If new ideas and genres do not continue to be developed the video game industry will end up like the drab main-stream movie industry -- with only five accepted genres and pretty boring.

Robert Stockamp

I think many games out there are definitely getting more and more humdrum and redundant. One genre is the platformer; every month at least 1 new platformer is released and more often than not it's an average game with little or nothing new to offer. There are exceptions however like Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank. Both were original and rekindled many people's interest in the genre. Sly Cooper had two good strategies. First, make the graphics sleek and stylish with cel-shading. Second, mix up the gameplay a bit. It's not all measuring jumps and dodging enemies. You can hide in barrels and sneak around like Solid Snake in the MGS series. One of the boss battles was great, it was almost like PaRappa The Rapper.

Tha brings me to another point, mixing genres. This, in my opinion, is a great idea and if done right, it usually leads to good things. One recent example is the Dark Cloud series. It has its RPG and action elements, but then it throws in a Sim City-like town building section. That alone made the game stand out and makes it a more interesting gameplay experience.

While I stated my opinion in my first paragraph, I also need to say 2003 is looking like an amazing year for gaming. No matter how many crappy games come out there will always be the amazing ones. This year's E3 will be interesting. Us gamers are the future of gaming, we need to not accept crap! Go to gaming college and pursue a career you know you'll love! We can make the games we dream. If not, we can always keep relying on Japan...

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