I have been thinking about the subject of innovation recently, and I realized something. It's not particularly profound, and it may seem obvious, but it seems like very few in the game development industry, both pro and indie, realize it: innovation doesn't just come. It has to be consciously worked towards.

When was the last time a really new genre came out? Not a technology, a genre. The first person shooter, the role playing game, the platformer, the sim, the sports game, the puzzle game, the adventure game, the space combat game, the real time strategy game, the turn based strategy game: all these originated before 2000, some LONG before. The newest genre is probably the "time-management game", games such as Diner Dash and other casual games based around doing a specific set of actions faster and faster. This is not so much a major genre as a gimmick, albeit one large enough to base a small arcade game around. The casual game market is especially prone to "me-too!" attitudes: one can see this simply by looking at the number of carbon copy match-3 and I-Spy style games on the market.

Even new sub-genres are rare. How many truly original role playing games have come out recently? We can probably name a few: Red Dead Redemption, Fable, and Fallout 3 were all fairly original (so I have read - if I'm wrong, please tell me). But the vast majority of role playing games are fairly non-original. Many of them add one or two new facets onto the model they are following, but by and large they stay very close to the pattern they are following. Other major genres, the FPS for instance, are even worse (I guess Fallout 3 was an FPS too, though…).

Following a pattern isn't bad. Don't get me wrong on that. But where is the next Shigeru Miyamoto, the man directly responsible at the very least in part for the platformer (Donkey Kong), the RPG/adventure game (Zelda), and the 3d scrolling shooter (Star Fox)? We haven't seen a truly new major genre in over a decade.

The reason for this is clear: too little major game publishers are willing to take risks on new games. They should look at the examples of Google or Microsoft, both of which regularly take employee suggestions and go through them, looking for viable ideas. I argue that we should take this even further: we should encourage people like squidi. He should have a think tank, and be paid to just think of stuff that is original.

So, why isn't there more innovation in the indie games scene? Answer: there is, but not enough. Many of the games on Kongregate or Armor, even some of the ones on Yoyo, are highly original. But very very few actually experiment with something radically new. I challenge this community to do that. The next Shigeru Miyamoto is out there somewhere. This is addressed to him:

Do it. Don't be afraid to step out of line and make something that's unlike anything that's been done before. Those who do eventually will become the top people in their arenas, as long as they do it well.

We need a revolution in game design.

You may comment on the blog post, but I would like to especially encourage discussion of the topic, and new ideas for radically new games.

Thank you for reading.

-AKSuperNewb