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QJ asks: does creativity matter to you? |
Listed in: PS3, Wii, PSP, Xbox 360, MMORPG, Nintendo DS, PC Gaming Tags: Epic Games
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Is it a matter of opinion or should games actually sport some sort of creativity, no matter what the excuse? In this blogger's book, game concepts and design should always entail something out of the ordinary - something new, something fresh and not just a visual upgrade that requires more muscle to achieve.
Let's take this into another perspective: if games continue on improving in the path of realism, once they have achieved absolute realism, what else is there to improve on? It doesn't take a double-digit IQ to tell that the path to realism already has one big dead end. Why pursue a race that's bound to end when creativity, thanks to the human mind, is boundless and never really meets a creativity road block?
Although it may be arguable that the game industry already hit rock bottom in their barrel of creativity apples and just can't think of anything new anymore, one could also attribute the direction of the game development aimed at a new type of gamer.
If you haven't noticed already, you might be able to identify a growing core of hardcore gamers who no longer cares about what games were like before and just want the best visuals to blow them away. And it might just be that you have become one of them, yourself!
Take for instance, Epic Games' Gears of War. It has defied any and all odds against creativity, and serves as a testament to all that there are a core of gamers out there that could care less about a story if the gameplay sets the game right. It was often the target of scrutiny with most game developers, one iconic moment entailed it being slapped with a "zero-innovation" concept label.
Many other games fit in this same category and there's hardly an innovative game that has rocked the industry like those in the old days. How many game designers do you know? How many of them have managed to develop a style and place it out there for people to relate with? For many gamers who have evolved to retro-gamers, we think you know what we're trying to point out here.
So we'd just like to ask, "Does creativity matter to you?" No, we mean, really...does it?
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Hopefully the trend can be reversed.
It sucks but thats the way the market is right now.
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We're losing genres by the day in favor of making mass appeal games.
Once the gaming industry collapses under the weight of it's graphic production costs, we might see real games return. Until that day, the publishers rule and gamers are screwed (and if it doesn't happen expect to be playing a whole lot of games in the '3d action' genre (unless Spore does become the new quick buck vehicle... procedural coding is cheap after all).
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And to think that it was conceptualized just in the era of the 3Dfx Voodoo 2.
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...and that's real.
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But it started getting stupid at the Wii.
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*originality is only original the first time you see it, then it becomes common place.
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Of course creativity is what started gaming. it means more than anything that has to do with gaming combined.
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Course creativity matters, but it's also harder to achieve. The truly creative games usually have an impact on the gaming society, redefining gaming in a way, but trying to be creative can also come at a risk, like Omikron (which did pretty crap didn't it?). I don't think it matters now as much as it did before.
Adventure games are dying I think, always thought they required more innovation. Gaming is becoming more social, and online now is such a huge thing now, so from the standpoint of making money, I guess that's the main target.
Redefining games are rare, and not needed to make a big hit game. Most games now are just built on earlier games it seems, but I'm happy with that. Like Zelda TP was just an upgrade of Zelda 64, but I still loved it.
Of course, I'd prefer if some developers took some risks and tried to be really creative in making a new game, but I'm not expecting them too. I'm sure there are some that I'm not aware of (well..I don't really know many of the next-gen titles besides the really famous ones).
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But there is a need for both prongs of development.
That's one thing I'm glad for the online marketplaces on
all the next gen consoles now, it lets smaller developers take bigger chances without as many risks.
It will be a sad day indeed if all creativity falls by the wayside.
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BUT in certain genres such as racing, FPS, and sports I think very minimal creativity is needed. There needs to be enough creativity to make the product diverse but if it gets a little too creative, it may take a hit on performance. I think as long as a franchise like Madden NFL has some distinct changes that help improve the game, then that is perfectly acceptable.
It's a very tough subject to understand, so I think I'll stop there...I'm getting a headache...
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*First Person Shooter.
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Take for instance Halo. In no way was that original or creative. A thousand PC games and console games had the exact same run and gun gameplay with a shoot button, a jump button, and a grenade button. Nothing original about the gameplay.
But Halo had a great story set in a ring! The charictor was original. The enemies were memorable!
It had creative ideas but not creative gameplay and everyone loved it.
So to say that a game needs to be creative is not always true. What matters is that it is fun to play. Even if it does nothing creative (gears) it still can be fun as hell (gears).
Creativity does not always guarentee a fun game. Many creative games fail at being fun just as many non-creative games do. Stretch Panic comes to mind.
So as longs as its fun, who cares if its "creative".
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been creative is not easy,only Gifted people can offer it,its genetic related,not to mention that creativity is not only hard,but actualy doesnt pay at all
the average human who constitutes 90% of the globe will never understand what traveling alone with your horse partner in this empty world of shadow of the collusus means.....its beyond their comprehension
that is why Madden,gears of war,Halo and soccer games sell massively.....because they require no deep thinking
same is why the Gimmick that is the Wii is selling massively.....it simply suits that majority of peoples taste
Creativity is Dead.....been creative requires gifted people and is Expensive econimicly,and doesnt pay-off
in the end,why bother been creative when you can gain tons of income through endless rehashes of Madden,Halo...Mario and soccer games
i,l stop with that....
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Wow. My eyes have been opened. So all this time at UCLA, is a waste because I like Gears of War.
Thank you
But wait! I have had a vision! What if you liked both Gears of War and Shadow of the Colossus!?(and yes, that is how you spell it smart guy) Isn't that like a paradox according to your revolutionary reasoning?
Or maybe!....wait.....just maybe, people prefer something different than you! no wait that cant possibly be. People don't have different tastes in cars or sports. How can they possibly have different tastes in games.
Thats just stupid
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For example look at Bioschock if the developers didn't had fresh ideas, the game just would be see as another FPS like many others.
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(All these games listed are also pretty much all one of a kind games with great gameplay and creativity)
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yes they are nice to but most I dont see anyway while playing it is somthing for the watchers to see
In any case most game I have played the 2d that have been turned into 3d sequals I rather have the 2d
I love to see games that come out that are apart from the rest A GOOD GAME BEATS GOOD GRAPHICS ANY TIME!
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You see, you have to have a balance of everything to create a good quality game.
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We all have different tastes. Having FUN whilst playing is what it is all about.
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Agree with all of the Saturn games. Did Langrisser come before Fire Emblem or vice versa?
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From a business standpoint, in a few words, it is vital to produce income, and you really have a 50/50 shot at profit, or a complete bust. The conservative option? Graphically enhance it and add a couple of new features to get more cash. Example: Madden.
In nature, the idea of creative games contradicts the way the video game market works. What comes with a new, creative, and successful games? About a dozen ripoffs. Example: Brain Age for the DS. After that, the game is not new, and advancing it is not that either. It is regurgitating the same thing back. The mass market wants that game- the game that everybody seems to want-- Mario, Halo, God of War, etc. Well, to get that, it either has to be a truly spectacular game or more of the same that the market is known to want. Most 'creative' games are usually shot down, suck as Pikmin for the bust of a Gamecube. Nice try, but just missed mass appeal. It's all rational thought to why they do or don't succeed.
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I applaud the Wii for being incredibly innovative. I'm disgusted at how Sony and Microsoft are imitating each other to win this so called "Console war". And so just people know I'd lean more into the Sony fanboy camp, but Gear of War is an incredibly fresh and new way to play a game. I don't believe a sequel is necessary, although inevitable. We'll have to see what other company is going to rip off GoW's cover idea. Tenchu had the stealth thing started, although MGS perfected it, and along came Splinter Cell to imitate -- I swear nothing is sacred.
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y are there hardly any "next generation" GAMES !
lol
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By the time this road block, as you call it, comes around. the human that you see before you will have long changed. Therefore you're reference has no meaning.
The Human Mind is Limitless when it comes to creativity. It made all this up right now. It will continue unabated as long as we think! The humans that will be, will be far too removed from the humans we are today. I have hope for the future of all. The future will hopefully be of greater immersion of both reality and 'virsual'.(virtual+visual )Entertainment will take on forms of unheard of expectations that we see 10 years down the road.You will see, this "road block" will cease to exist.
It seems to take a Three digit IQ to explain it to you.
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the Wii is just plain stupid. who other than little children really want to move around alot to play just about EVERY game on the system.
i mean its cool if there is like a game here and there with a sword or gun attachment that sense motion and makes the game fun, but the entire system is like that! the only interesting thing on the Wii is Wii sports. i love the ps3 because its has the motion sensing just for certain tasks and not for everythng. like when you get set on fire in R:FoM and you shake the controller, or how you fly the dragon in LAIR with the motion sensing or make your nempo attacks stronger in ninja gaiden by shaking the controller, and if anyone here has played FlOw...its pretty badass.
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it shows off ceativity like noone thought a FPS could.
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But after two millennia of human history, nothing has changed in the need for something new, something creative.
We're way beyond the Renaissance Era. Yet even the modern average human, such as yourself, strives for art - for something out of this world.
That, my dear reader, is something that requires no IQ to tell.
Virtual (or visual) reality may look like a spur from the path of realism, but it isn't. It's a spur of the creativity of the mind.
The Wii, as aforementioned in the comments above, was mentioned to take "creativity" too far with its own tool for "immersion" - the Wiimote.
Visual reality may yet be a path to creativity, but if and only if it's created with "brains, not muscle."
So I ask again: as a human and a gamer, does creativity matter to you?
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i've never played half life before... heard it was good but never was interested in it...
reason why i'm getting it this time around is cause its got portal in it lol
think about that lol
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