Oooh oooh. I can''t resist to post my opinion here.

Games look like eachother. Developers focus on technology and not concepts, originality, and fun:

Well, in a way it''s true, but hey, it''s a tried and tested formula. The fact of the matter is that game companies DON''T dictacte what we play as much as you''d think they do. Yeah, Wolfenstine was cool, and Doom, yeah, better graphics, and then Quake, kinda getting old. But I''ll tell ya what, if people didn''t buy the sequels and clones of all of these games, they wouldn''t be made anymore.
So game developers are just following the voice ( dollars ) of the gamers.

As for technology, yeah, game companies follow that closely. This is for a few reasons. One of the biggest is that most modern day gamers don''t want to sit down and give a game a chance. I know cuz I program games, nd a lot fewer people play my games that I thought they would. And almost no one wants to spend their money on things they''ve never seen. So the only way to get people to buy the games for game companies is to either copy something that was done once before, so the customer knows what he or she is getting, or make is super flashy and filled with the latest graphics. To get good graphics you need good coders and good technology. So, yeah, you''re right again, that game developers will focus on the technology.

There are many original/enjoyable games out there. Well, not too many original ones, but sometimes the entertainment from a game comes from actually playing it, rather than evaluating the idea behind it. One game I really liked was Gran Tourismo 3. Very fun game to play, but original? hehe, they copied reality as best they could. So in fact it is one of the most UN-original games ever. But it is still a fun game to play.

In conclusion, I would say don''t criticize what games others are making. If you feel like criticizing, criticize what people want. But insulting people''s opinions gets you nowhere, so I''d say it''s mostly a waste of time.

If you see there is a true void of originality in game design, and that is what the gamers truly want but they don''t know it, if anything, that should make you happy, assuming you are a free thinker. Just makes it that much easier for you to make games to satisfy everyone and you can make a billion dollars while you''re at it.



--Vic--
PS. Wanna see a somewhat original game? Check out:
http://gamedev.net/community/gds/projects/default.asp?projectID=819

Hey everyone,

Please excuse the cliches used in the following, and the somewhat anti-RPG slant. I am simply trying to make a point.

I am often amazed at what lengths people go in games. In RPGs, for instance, battling countless monotonous enemies to gain experience points to fight a boss. In adventure games, searching for hours to find one artifact. In platform games, dying countless times to get to the next level. I would like to see more games that deal with the essential issue at hand: Having fun. I understand that this is achieved in a variety of ways. It is fun for a player to reach a goal, to feel a sense of accomplishment. It is also fun to have your adreniline pumping, reflexes twitching, and being controlled in the midst of chaos. This is why games like Final Fantasy and Doom appeal to so many people, I think. But there are other ways to have fun, ways that games haven''t even touched on. No, I''m not talking about porn, I''m not even sure what ways I''m talking about. It''d be interesting to see a scientific report on what creates fun for people. I don''t think that making a game more real would necissarily make it more fun; it might add a bit to the sense of accomplishment and authenticity, but not much else. I think people should venture farther than just "what if we had this cool feature", and rethink the principles of gaming.

Some people spend hours upon hours staring at a small monitor in a badly-lit room. If you ask them about the game they''re playing, they''ll usually say something about just reaching level 23, and having defeated a dungeon full of monsters, and just spotting the boss. Often, they refer to the game world as reality, and speak as if they are simply doing a job. This, in my opinion, is the main flaw of gaming: the game world becomes a reality, and everything in it is no longer fantasy, but instead a job. The question arises: Why play? Because it''s fun? I think we need to rethink what video game "fun" should be, and venture into areas more satisfying. Games like Super Mario Bros have always been extremely fun, in my opinion, becuase the sucessfully blend fast paced action, immersion in the game world (in moderation, a good thing), and an great sense of accomplishment. But we shouldn''t limit ourselves to just these areas of enjoyment. There are sure to be others out there, we just need to find them, and harvest them into great games.

~~Mark~~