Innovation is BS

After being on this rock for a while, you start to notice some patterns, especially if you tend to do the same thing for a spell and actually open your eyes and pay attention. Some of the cyclical things I've noticed are; clothes, music, gameplay, developers sprouting up, developers shutting down, publishers gobbling up every developer, publishers laying off/shutting down developers, housing market, gas crisis, etc.

One of the big things I notice always comes around is the almighty BUZZWORD(tm). The Buzzword(tm) is the thing that the consciousness latches onto as the most important thing at the time. It may have always been there or was never there at all, but as soon as someone identifies it and it gains momentum, the Buzzword(tm) is all anyone wants to hear or talk about.

Innovation is the bullshit Buzzword(tm) of the moment that everyone wants to hang their hat on. Like 7-10 years ago, it was "gameplay", and before that it was "immersion". My prediction is the next one is "work-play-balance" or some other touchy-feely bullshit like that. Here's the thing about "innovation". In reality, most things that are truely "new" and "innovative" are shunned, because they're generally unfamiliar and broken in some way that alienates people. It's not about INNOVATION, it's about POLISHED ITERATION. If you look at most successful and popular games, they're all iterations and variations on themes. They're generally well-executed in more than one respect and they may push boundaries, but they don't break them. I mean, seriously... I'm looking at all this fawning over some games recently and are they completely "new"??? Are they challenging me in ways I've *never seen before*??? Not really, they're just well executed iterations and hybrids. Fez, Synthesia (or whatever), Flow, Portal, Everyday Shooter, Schizoid, Mario Galaxy, Puzzle Quest, the list goes on and on and they're all hybrids or iterations.


Now, don't get me wrong, I'm okay with iteration. I'd much rather have a polished / well-balanced game than some sloppy scatterbrain thing that's trying too hard to do too much. Plus, half of these people who are "innovating" don't even look at other games, so they have no idea that they're regurgitating something that's already existed. It's like all these kids bobbing their head to pop music grooves (BTW, pop-music encompasses emo rock and other shit, 'cause it's POPular). It's all recycled and iterated upon. If someone would actually look at something "old" they'd realize where a lot of things come from.

Anyway, good game's a good game. All these labels are just for PR and elitists that want to separate themselves or splinter things, like all of the myriad of sub-genres in "electronica". People need to stop making sure they have their Buzzwords(tm) covered and their Metascore checklist marked off and work on making solid and fun interactive experiences.