Creativity is not dead. It's just hard to sell

Regardless of what anybody says, if you have something good, people will not naturally come to it. You will always get a select educated few that stand behind a product, however sometimes, people don't even understand what is good, and simply think that what they already have is adequate, and anything else couldn't possibly be better or worth thinking of. Look at people who will only buy sports titles and even then their only purchases will be the annual marginal update.

One of the main problems facing the industry is that publishers won't publish that which they don't believe will make money, so developers aren’t encouraged to create titles that may be perceived as risky and niche. Gamers won't be inclined to spend money unless they know they are going to enjoy, or believe they will enjoy their purchase. The problem is in the money.

This idea is supported when you think of some of the many titles released on downloadable services such as Wii Ware and Steam. Often you will see more creativity in these budget price titles from independent or small studio's than many mainstream developers with staff in the hundreds. However when you think of the risk associated with multimillion pound projects, this reluctance to innovate seems rational.

Remember how successful arcades were? People are willing to spend more money in smaller increments. Think about any of your favourite games. What hooked you? I bet it was within the first 5 hours of play. If you find no enjoyment by then chances are you wont continue and regret your purchase. So that's all that needs to be created and sold first and If the consumers don't take an interest, then you move on and cut your loses, which will be much less than that of a blockbuster-sized title.

Another problem is that the same types of games keep getting made largely due to the fact that's all the core audience is interested in. This is a cycle that the medium currently finds itself in and the issue is located in us, the consumers. We as a mass continually buy the same cookie-cutter titles and avoid games with new interesting concepts. What does that tell the studios? That we have little interest in taking risks with our purchases.


So of course they aren't going to deviate far from the norm. Developers have very little say in the shape of the industry. We, on the other hand, shape it every time we buy a new game.
How many times has an innovative title come out, only to be largely ignored until long after it's dropped into the bargain bin? Then, after we realize what we missed out on, we bitch because they never give us a sequel only to complain that we were waiting for the price to drop. However this is not full proof solution.

No matter how much the core wants to believe, it is the expanded audience that will really determine the success of a title. Even if the all of the gamers who comment on a website with news on the release of a new title end up purchasing it, it will still only end up being a relatively small number in comparison to the potential number of casual players who will only become aware of the title through mainstream advertisements and word of mouth.

So at this point, creativity isn't dead and everything is not lost, but it will only come in short bursts. As long as the current style of video games remains as popular as they are we will never see innovations as significant as those seen in the past. But this is true for any art or entertainment medium, as long as the purpose of the medium is to profit, you will never see as much uniqueness and originality in them as you would like.

Or you could just wait quietly in the corner for Scribblenauts.