Have you ever had a great idea to put into a game, or to base a game around, and then a while later a game hits the shelves with something incredibly similiar to that idea? I have. When I was about 10, I had an idea to make a fighting game that included Mario, Princess, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, Link, and Samas Aran, and all the characters would fight the same way they played in the game.. That was about 13 years ago. I thought about it and thought it would be cool, but unlikely. I even drew pictures (OH GOD WHAT I WOULD DO TO FIND THEM). Well, it wasnt too long before I thought about how lame it could be. That was the time of NES and SNES was just on the horizon. Super Smash Bros wouldnt have been as fun on those types of systems. Also, I thought it would be dumb cuz mario couldnt kill bowser using those mechanics. I scrapped the idea as just 'one of those things' kids come up with. When the game did come out for N64, I was flabbergasted. I mean, *I* thought of this idea, and that idea was selling ALOT. Another Idea I had just recently was for an MMO(RPG) to have a chat console in it so that you could log onto your AOL instant messenger name. I figure, AOL would pay to be included, and theoretically, that monthly charge could be lowered for the gamers. Also, a main reason people ALT-TAB out of games is to chat on AIM. Since a majority of MMORPG games are disabling ALT-TAB, I thought this idea was genius. Then about 6 months later, I read that the new matrix online game is going to do that. Anyone else have any stories?

Quote:Original post by PaulCesar
On a little more realistic side. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Chances are if you have thought something up, someone else has already thought it up. Its when someone chooses to invest in the idea that the fruit of the idea shows through.

WHAT?! THAT CONCEPT IS COMPLETELY BEYOND ME. I WISH I COULD UNDERSTAND SOMETHING SO COMPLEX AS THAT ON MY OWN WITHOUT SOMEONE HAVING TO TELL ME. WOW.

Thanks for the philisophical contribution, but if you take a minute to stop being a condesending prick, im sure theres some idea you've had that you thought was unique and LATER was implemented in a game that you would like to share.

oh, agian, thanks for stroke of genius it took you to write out the overwhelmingly complex idea of "Sometimes, two people come up with the same idea". WOAH. Im glad you mentioned it, because it wasnt implied that I realised this when I wrote "Have you ever had an idea, and someone else used that idea in a game?"

Playing as a unit in a real-time strategy game -> Savage, Natural Selection, Battlezone

I don't think ideas are what makes a game, though, or at least not general ideas like these (Smash Bros / Natural Selection) because there will always be different implementations.

In the end, games are just like any other kind of program around here: both notepad.exe and the latest microsoft word revolve around the same general idea of allowing the user to enter text, what sets them apart from each other is their audience and the little details (what can one do that the other can't).

You cannot rely on a single idea to create a successful game. Actually, I think that you need above a thousand different ideas during the design of a given (large) game to actually achieve soemthing interesting. I guess that's where the difference lies between those who get "one killer idea" and those who can come up with "the correct idea that fits with the thousand others" after the game is one year into development...

Yes, after watching Star Wars for the 5th time I thought about a tactical space battle game with lots of small fighters. Instead of being played out on a flat plane the squads of fighters would use the whole 360 degree space. They would be above, below and all around, diving in and out to attack - just as you see in SW and just as fighters did in WWII. Basically the game I was thinking of was Homeworld and I rememeber reading an interview where one of the creators mentioned Star Wars as an inspiration.

We were both in the game industry and both exposed to the same creative stimuli and both came up with an idea. They went ahead and did theirs.

I definitely had the notion of a game called, in my head, "The Hit". I think you can guess what that turned into.

I also thought of Smash Brothers, by the way. I think Nintendo made it because so many people wanted to see who would win of their characters.