The Video Game Industry: Creativity & Originality

Creativity, it can be found everywhere. Movies, music, novels and my favorite; video games. To be creative is to have an imagination and that's where ideas originate. They usually stem from what you think of based off of what you've experienced. For instance, the upcoming movie 300 is Frank Miller's novel in movie form based on the ancient Battle of Themopylae of 480 BC. 300 is Miller's vision of a slick and more bad-ass version of the historical battle. All forms of entertainment are hardly original these days but that doesn't always mean the property of something else was stolen, or that whatever manifested from the original idea is not enjoyable anymore. Most of the time, ideas are reused because the predecessors had set the bar, or that they became an inspiration for even big and better ideas. Oh, and if you were wondering, yes, I'm listening to Come Original by 311 right now.

Nowadays, when I look at the many video games that pass and go in the video game industry it is difficult to spot out something that hasn't been done before, so pure and untouched in its infant form, an original idea. I have been observing the Game Developer's Conference held in San Francisco during March of every year and I noticed that Sony's Home (the answer to Xbox Live and Wii Connect) is basically a Sim's/Second Life/Virtual Console/Xbox Live all in one. Cool? Visually it looks pleasing but it's too early to tell, just a fine example of how creativity wasn't exactly found there. Previous ideas were used to develop what is the end product, a combination of everything else. On the other hand, Sony had something else to show off entitled Little Big Planet which is a side-scrolling game where you manipulate the level constructs and objects however you please. You solve the puzzles and challenges that other players or yourself create with your friends, the game was truly impressive. You can see it for yourself here.

So how exactly are new ideas formed? Coincidence, plagiarism, research? The best ideas are those that are coincidental more than anything. They are the thoughts that hit you like a speeding train, without the pain than so much the realization you have when it comes to you I hope. Take for instance, the lovable yellow, circle-shaped, 80's character known as Pac-man. How his existence came to be was a whole pizza with a slice removed at Pizza Hut, surprised? Pretty simple yet amazing. I'm not saying that Namco's character was innovating, but I do believe that what they did with him was; Pac-Man games were all the rage during the arcade era and everyone easily identify him today.

The point I wanted to get across with this article is that I feel creativity is something special, but not unattainable, the concepts are simple, but coming up with them aren't easy and the best ones are those that stick with us. You know you've got the right formula when you can picture the idea in front of you over and over again, like an endless dream that you want to make tangible. Einstein may have been right when he said that the secret to creativity was to hide your sources, but when your ideas are employed to create something great you've got nothing to hide. The stage is your imagination, your idea is the act, and the world is your audience; listening, watching, playing and admiring.