Kotaku on creativity

Kotaku has a nice feature up on creativity (or the lack thereof) in video games.

kotaku.com/5349308/bang-bang-is-creativity-dead

It's a pretty good read and makes a lot of points we criticize about board games as well: Nothing but WWII, Tolkein fantasy, etc games.

AT themes go well with a dynamic PC or console game. What are the alternatives? First-person Euros? I GO THREE!

Personally, I lament the loss of a decent Military Aviation Game and a decent Ship game. Last military aviation game I got was Combat Flight Sim 3 and that sucked balls (but it had lots of potential). I wish there actually more games along the lines of Crimson Skies. I like my PS3 but I kind of wish there were more games along the lines of GTA3 where there's an open endedness......

There is the new IL-2 Sturmovik coming out this month. I've been looking into getting the Battlestations games too. I remember when flight simulation was one of the biggest genres on PC like RTS and FPS now. It is amazing how much things change.

Every game they mention in that article is pretty much proof that creativity isn't dead. Yes, Gears of War has a pretty standard setting but they do creative things with the setting: the cover system, chainsaw bayonets, the Hammer of God, the way the various bosses fight. Braid, Ico, GTA are all very creative. Then they fail to mention the Wii control system. You can make the same arguement about movies or novels or music. I've even heard it said about art, as in the whole painting, sculpting business. The indie and flash games community are producing loads of innovative, creative games.