Are games getting more uniteresting and cliche?

[Blue Musician]

Yesterday I saw the newBlack Ops trailer, and today I saw the Point Man trailer for FEAR and I got a strong feeling of deja vu, like the feeling of been there, done that. Actually interestingly, in most games that I have played after 2005 I got that feeling...

I mean, most of the games story is predictable and not very surprising, but also it has been recycling itself many times (examples: BioShock-System Shock 2, Call of Duty 4-Call of Duty 1&2, Company of Heroes-Every WWII game, etc, etc, etc.) But also many games have been reusing game mechanics (Gears of War for example and every other cover shooter, Company of Heroes and every RTS after it) that they are no longer original, and I get the feeling that every other game is basically a ripoff of it (not that that's a bad thing, but I expect an evolution of game mechanics every once or twice a year, just to mix things up, but unfortunately not many games have done that).
And most set pieces on game have been done before, leaving most of them not very special.

Maybe it's just me, but overall I do not think gaming is that good anymore. Sure, there are still some genuinely games that have been released over this sea of repetition (Portal, Braid, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, The Path and Penumbra are some examples), but they are mostly indie games, and have not got enough attention than they should in comparison to most high profile games.

Maybe it's just me and my alexithymia, but most games are turning out quite dry for me, with not real value.

So, what do you think about it? Do you still have hope for next games? Do you have any initiatives to make games better?

Also, note I am not trying to do a flame war, but I was wondering if any of you had that feeling before.

 

[Marter]

For the most part, I think that games are still pretty interesting. The main exception to this is the FPS genre, where they are all feeling like the same game nowadays.

 

[azncutthroat]

It's logical, from a business standpoint, for game developers to copy successful games. Just sit back and wait for trends to get old, as game devs scramble for original content in the hopes of creating "The Next Big Thing."

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Only in the genre of the First Person Shooter. It's become either an Space Marine in power armor fighting a giant monster or a regular marine in lots of armor fighting a terrorist bomber.

 

[feather240]

For the most part, I think that games are still pretty interesting. The main exception to this is the FPS genre, where they are all feeling like the same game nowadays.

It's weird that the FPS market is lacking in innovation. There are so many diferent ways to shoot a guy that they could work on... (jking)

 

[Marter]

For the most part, I think that games are still pretty interesting. The main exception to this is the FPS genre, where they are all feeling like the same game nowadays.

It's weird that the FPS market is lacking in innovation. There are so many diferent ways to shoot a guy that they could work on... (jking)

They could have innovation. Not necessarily in the basic mechanics, but the story and graphics could definitely use some spark. Gritty realism is the current flavour right now, so it seems like this isn't going to happen any time soon.

 

[psivamp]

They could have innovation. Not necessarily in the basic mechanics, but the story and graphics could definitely use some spark. Gritty realism is the current flavour right now, so it seems like this isn't going to happen any time soon.

"Gritty realism" psssh. When I shoot someone in the gut and they bleed out in agony instead of switching off, maybe I'll consider them to be edging onto the territory of gritty realism. Or when I get shot in the stomach and have to hold my guts and try to finish the mission one-handed and bleeding. Such a game would take a complete overhaul of the tired AI scripts that FPS games use - where by overhaul I mean actual groundbreaking development. You couldn't very well play a realistic game with the trigger happy, psychic marksman AI that we play against now.

 

[feather240]

For the most part, I think that games are still pretty interesting. The main exception to this is the FPS genre, where they are all feeling like the same game nowadays.

It's weird that the FPS market is lacking in innovation. There are so many diferent ways to shoot a guy that they could work on... (jking)

They could have innovation. Not necessarily in the basic mechanics, but the story and graphics could definitely use some spark. Gritty realism is the current flavour right now, so it seems like this isn't going to happen any time soon.

There are so many ways it could be funny though.
"Soap, No! Someone call an ambulance, I need covering fire!" *Daring Rescue*
Thirty Seconds Later
"Soap- How did you- What the hell!"

 

[ethaninja]

There are some games out there that are pretty original. Some can even pull off unoriginal pretty well. Then again, there are only so many things you can do in a game. Why invent the wheel? Because if you can make it work smoother and look better, then whats not to like? I do agree however, there are a lot of games that just seem to be a spitting image of another one.

Which remindes me, for all of you fooled by the great ads they are dumping all over the internet, try and resist clicking on the Evony banners.

 

[UberNoodle]

Games are mass market now, and more inclusive than they have ever been. As such, they are no different than other media like film, TV and music, etc. The problems the OP describes are rampant in those areas as well. It is just what happens when business and popularity drives any industry. But to get rid of those flaws would be detrimental to wider sales and success.

Poeple don't WANT to play unusual games for the most part. They want what is familiar and a good investment of their time and money. That is why gameplay and genre tropes are reused ad infinitum. It happens for the other media as well - vampires, trolls, robots with souls, hardcase cops, young apprentices thrust out of their league, a beginning middle and end, heroes vs villains, and so on.

Consumers spend the most money on what they understand and KNOW they will enjoy. Anything that challenges their preconceptions or fails to register with their 'standards', will fail, UNLESS enough poeple start talking about it. BUZZ, HYPE, WORD OF MOUTH, NEED - this is what drives entertainment industries, and for the most part, innovation, originality and subversive design MUST be kept within bounds or sales will suffer.

Casual games, formula and genre and gameplay standards allow for much wider, universal penetration into the marketplace. Poeple LOVE what they already know! That isn't a bad thing. Think about what we WOULDN'T have in our lives if poeple felt the opposite - no religions, genres, musical styles, art movements, trends, laws, etc. But it does come at the price of some essential homogenisation.

This however, makes the industry economically and societally healthier, and that helps fund the true gems and diamonds that come out from time. Such games have always been rare in comparison to the dross - don't let nostalgia fool you - but now those gems cost millions of dollars to make, and so are shackled by certain limitations on what they can do. But they DO sometimes come out, and a lot of the time, we have the lesser quality products to thank for it.

We can't eat our cake and have it too.

 

[Estocavio]

No theyre not, its just a matter of observation. If you try to see semblance youll see semblance. If anything its just peoples idealogies changing.

 

[Sev72]

I think it is more that games stopped innovating in terms of stories. The first couple of times you do something it is still pretty interesting however it wears thin after a while and there have been precious few innovations in games stories. This is true with most media though so I am not sure what is to be done about it.

 

[MortalForNow]

I think that big games like those that are sequels and rely on the effectiveness of the original game are what you described, but there are many games that are so interesting and original that they stand out more.

Sequels should be changing what was wrong with the first game and add enough new things to make the gameplay refreshing and interesting in different ways than the first game was. If sequels relied on the same thing over and over, the video game industry would be dead.

I can see the two that you listed as sequels that don't change much, but that's because of the industry's different ways of making these games.

Original games that don't have sequels to rely on for inspiration, unless they are rip-offs of more popular games. Usually, though, it's the ones that try something different that end up being the best of this category.

 

[TheTaco007]

*Raises glass* To Portal 2!

 

[HoverWhale]

For the last few years I've mostly been emulating old games I never got to play at the time. Games like Chrono Trigger, and the old Mega Man ones. Every so often there's a new game I want, but it's usually part of a franchise that I'm already familiar with; new Mario games for instance, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I'll probably also always get a new Sonic game (if it's not just a "pinball! But it's new again!" sort of thing), and I'm probably one of the few people who admits to finding enough things to like about Sonic Unleashed to not hate it.
Generally, all the new games I've been playing have been good (the old ones have too, but that's irrelevant), but as a result of my current focus on older games, and only getting new games if I'm already familiar with the franchise, I've missed out on the Mass Effect games (which I've heard almost unanimous good things about), all the Call of Duty games (although that's mostly by choice), and most of the other games that came out from recently to somewhat recently.

TL;DR/Get to the point:
I haven't played many new games for the last few years, so I can't properly judge, but based on what I've seen-but-not-played; it looks like it's getting harder for big companies to come up with new ideas, especially for gameplay. It looks like, for at least a little while, most of the innovation in game design will be in independent games.
If there is hope, it's in the indie games.