Here's my list. Warning: it's long, so grab a sandwich.
1. FPS makers: use an original setting for once. I've noticed three settings that have come to represent about 95% of all modern shooters: the Western Front of World War II, a generic "modern war," and a future war between space marines and ugly-ass aliens. Perfect examples of truly original worlds included Bioshock's retro-future underwater city (something totally imaginative) and the vast world of Half-Life 2, which combined familiar elements with unique ideas (Ravenholm, the gravity gun). BlackSite: Area 51 also had a good idea by setting itself in small-town America (it's too bad they fucked up the actual game).
If you must do World War II, either focus on the Eastern or Pacific fronts (both woefully underused), or do something outlandish with it (like Resistance did). For the future war, you could depict it through the eyes of a civilian or an alien soldier, or have the humans invading a defenseless alien planet (a target that's ripe for satire, like Destroy All Humans! in reverse). As for modern war, it's tough to beat Call of Duty 4, unless you either (a) play as the "bad" side (terrorists, Russians, North Koreans, etc.) or (b) go the Resistance route and throw some really freaky shit in there. Three major religions have their roots in the Middle East, and some nutjobs have been claiming that the Iraq War is a sign of the End Times.....fertile ground for game ideas, people!
2. FPS makers: Stop giving average Joe soldiers the ability to heal like Wolverine. If you must do it, then you should either give a good explanation for it (Master Chief's shields, for example), or do it only when you're at the brink of death, then require the use of medkits to get back to full health (see Mercenaries or Resistance).
3. Racing game makers: Learn that the import tuner scene is no longer cool. The two biggest racing franchises are Burnout and Gran Turismo, neither of which bears any resemblance to The Fast and the Furious. The Need For Speed developers realized this, which is why ProStreet took place on closed tracks again - perhaps this is their first step in bringing the series back to its roots and former glory? (NFS still has a long way to go before it's fun again, though.)
4. Stop making sequels that do nothing to seriously upgrade the franchise's outdated gameplay mechanics. The worst offender is Madden, as EA's exclusivity deal leaves them with no competition, thus no incentive to make a better game. This means that, when the PS4 comes out, we'll still be playing the same Madden that we did on the PS2, only with prettier graphics. Tony Hawk is also guilty of this - the basic gameplay hasn't seriously changed since Pro Skater 3 in 2001. Maybe their last outing getting creamed by EA's skate (an innovative title from the last company you'd expect it to come from) will get Neversoft to finally do some real work on the tired franchise.
5. Revolutionize the survival horror genre. I say this as a die-hard horror fan: survival horror is perhaps the greatest road block toward the acceptance of video games as art. Most of these games have poor plots, bad dialogue, and clunky controls. They are the equivalents of the grindhouse movies and slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s. Isn't it about time that an ambitious dev team with money to burn decided to craft the video game equivalent of The Exorcist - a game that will bring survival horror into mainstream, critical and, most importantly, artistic acceptance? So far, the closest a game has come to achieving this goal was Silent Hill 2. It's time for a true survival horror revolution!
6. Stop making open worlds just for the sake of it. Too many games that have featured sandbox gameplay felt dull and lifeless - True Crime, Just Cause, The Godfather, the most recent Need For Speed games, etc. If you're going to do it, do it right. Study the GTA series intensively, and learn that, to make an open world interesting, you have to populate it with little details.
