Originality in video games is certainly not a very original topic. Tons have tackled the subject of originality - from seasoned video game journalists who do this sort of thing for a living, to regular Average Joe gamers like me who enjoy writing about video games as much as we like playing them. It's a topic I've written about a time or two and will almost certainly address again in the future, whenever an event so inspires me to do so. My previous blog on the matter that I recall the most vividly was one that talked about who cares about originality as long as we're getting games we enjoy playing; a point some agreed with and some did not.

Well, with a few of the recent video game announcements, the topic of originality seems to be edging its way back to the forefront of what everybody is talking about. Heck, who knows...maybe you've noticed this...maybe not. Many games that have reached their final episode miraculously have a follow on title in the works now; while others may feature characters that were once thought dead, only to return in prequels, spinoffs or some other form of clever sleight of hand magic trick...anything to keep the series alive and the cash flowing. The examples are there, but to save space I'll just rattle off two fairly recent events that I thought we had seen the last of, but obviously is not the case.

Gears of War: Judgement - Whoa...I thought this series was done and over?

Joker (Mark Hamill Returns To Joker Role After Claiming Retirement) - Something tells me DC Universe Online isn't the only place we'll see him springing up.

Notice I didn't even mention the Call of Duty / Modern Warfare series which despite its impressive ability to break sales records with each new release, is also starting to get more and more negative feedback with its dependence on "more of the same" game play. Oh wait...maybe I did mention it.

Some blame lack of creativity and originality, but is that really the problem?

I'm not so sure.

Clearly I'm not employed by a video game developer/publisher, but from what I've read and been exposed to, most publishers aren't big risk takers. The developer might present a "really cool idea for a video game" but the publishers refuse to pony up the money and sign the check on an unproven idea; there are too many unknowns that result in enough hesitancy they don't want to assume the risk. They would much rather squeeze every last cent out of a proven title and then when the sales numbers start to plummet, they can retire the series with little to no regard for the battered reputation the game has earned.

Video games aren't unoriginal because the developers aren't creative enough to come up with something new, they are unoriginal because that's what the publishers want...in order to compete with the rivals and still turn a profit.

As a fan of the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre, I really enjoy pretty much all of the shooters and don't have an allegiance to Modern Warfare or Battlefield...I like them both. But even I am getting a little bored with the core fundamentals resident in nearly every shooter of late. I think I can summarize most recent shooters in six letters...yes, in only six letters.

WMD NYC

Clearly the trophy for "Most Popular Setting" goes to the Big Apple's cityscape and high rise skyscrapers. Even if the action didn't take place in New York City, the same overall theme of "skyscraper" seemed to resonate through the various level editors creating our games. I don't know how many games incorporated this as a setting, but it seemed like all of them did to some degree.

And right along with that award, the trophy for the "Most Commonly Used Plot Line" was a close battle with "Military Coup overthrows the President of Country X" losing out to "Terrorists targeting Country X with a WMD".

Good for a game or two or even three...but when companies start recycling their own ideas more than a few times, the copycat syndrome is all the more obvious. I love Ghost Recon, you know I do...but in Ghost Recon alone I have saved the Mexican President and the Russian President now...not to mention the number of times I've had to go to Russia and prevent all out war. I'm ready for a different theater.

So, what are we to do then?

Gamers want originality (and presumably so do the developers) and publishers want money (that comes along with a tried and true - and tired title).

We do what we always do when two parties both feel strongly about something that doesn't match...

No, we don't hire Agent 47 and take out the competition...

We compromise. At least that's what I think we should do. The solution doesn't seem all that difficult to me, and I'm just some random guy who likes to play video games, and has an Internet connection and MS Word running on my laptop, who chose to write about this issue. Certainly not an expert on the matter.

In terms of originality, I think there are three core areas that are lacking, or at least could use a little diversity. It can be overwhelming to try and think of a completely original entity that fits into these categories - I know, I've tried. But remember, we're not looking for completely original because the publishers aren't going to support it. Unique, but within the confines of an existing label.

Characters

You don't need me to list popular video game characters like Master Chief, Gordon Freeman, Kratos, Marcus Fenix or Nathan Drake and explain the similarities. It's apparent. This is the easiest and most obvious area to fix. Video game developers and publishers need to realize that nearly half of all gamers are female (last statistic I saw said 43%) and start taking advantage of this mostly unused character type. It's ironic, because so many games have a supporting character that is a female, so what I am suggesting is promote them up to the lead role and give us a game starring them. Uncharted has a proven track record - give us a sequel that stars Elena Fisher or Chloe Frazer and how they ended up with Nathan Drake. Make him the supporting non-player character, and you can still market off the success of that game. There were quite a few female Spartans (Halo - Naomi, Daisy, Linda, Maria) and Gears (Gears of War - Anya, Samantha, Bernadette Mataki ) - don't make these "playable characters", let me play a full game as one of them. I thought it would be neat to play as Alyx Vance since she and Gordon Freeman get separated on a number of occasions. Here's a crazy idea for you...how about playing as Nicole stranded on the USG Ishimura in the next Dead Space title, prior to Isaac's arrival. I'm new to the God of War series, so maybe this has been done...but what about a God of War where you play as Athena? I suppose it wouldn't be called God of War then...but hopefully you get the point.

All of these titles are proven and popular. They've all spawned multiple spinoffs and sequels, yet in nearly every instance you play the same character doing the same thing. Breathe some life into the series by changing up the lead character, and everybody wins.

Story

This component is a bit more challenging to create something original but still not impossible to accomplish. Besides, it benefits from having a pre-defined set of characters and a universe to reside in; all you have to do is come up with an original story. As a fan of the shooters, I'm tired of the missions to save the world from atomic war. The sensationalism isn't so sensational anymore. How about a group of domestic terrorists operating within our borders targeting malls or schools? I've also said before I think missions focusing on counter drug ops have a lot of potential and align with real world operations. We've seen the story - "the world is going to end unless you succeed" story so often that now if we're not faced with a mission of that magnitude, it seems insignificant. How about instead of a post apocalyptic story, a game that focuses more on the events that leads up the actual event. I doubt everybody was sitting around and a cataclysmic event just occurred...I'm sure there was warning which led to mass chaos and rioting. Instead of an alien game where we know they are friend or foe, give me a game like District 9 where we have no idea how to handle them. I'm not huge on the world of fantasy, but I know a little bit about it. Seems like there are always orcs, dragons or wizards trying to rule the world, but seldom do we see the different families of dwarves or elves warring with one another. I've read plenty of books from the past that includes this theme, and I suppose some games like Skyrim might include this story line, but it's not one I've heard done a lot. Or hey...what about the slightly overdone zombie games that always has you fighting off hordes of the undead - how about take a cue from The Walking Dead and make the human survivors just as big of a threat. Kind of a bold idea that no one would like to see in real life, but certainly an event from our past - modern day Civil War?

There are too many games where the story is so convoluted, I get to the end and have no clue what the game was about, nor do I care. Crysis 2, I'm looking at you. I don't have to save the world for it to mean something, but I do have to understand what I'm supposed to be doing for it to mean something.

Setting

Hmm. No doubt the hardest element of a video game to evoke some degree of originality is setting. Why? We've travelled the world over, real and make believe. Coming up with an idea that hasn't saturated the market is difficult. From an environmental perspective, we've seen arctic to desert and everything in between. We've seen caves and water as much as we've seen space and other planets. We've seen the Wild West to city streets filled with illicit gang activity. Urban, Industrial, Residential...been there, done that. We've boarded ships, robbed trains, stormed planes, cleared bank vaults, plundered and pillaged in Azeroth and trekked across the starry night where no man has gone before. We've done it all, or so it would seem. We've toured Heaven and Hell and soldiered on through a tour or two in 'Nam. I'll concede we might not have visited rural America and towns like Lost Springs, Wyoming; Hibberts Gore, Maine; Erving's Location, New Hampshire and New Amsterdam, Indiana...all population 1 (yes one, or so that's what Yahoo says). But we've been a lot of places.

How do we fix originality in video game setting?

I have no idea.

But I will say games that exist in the science fiction and/or fantasy realm - it's a lot more forgiving because you can create your own worlds and no one can really tell you what's right or wrong. Its games that exist in the real world that suffers from unoriginality. And one thing that could fix that...

Base it on real world locations. No, I don't mean more White House or NYC levels. I mean, pick places where lots of people live and are familiar with, and recreate places people have been...so when they see it in game, they're like..."OMG! The St. Louis Arch...I've been there." With the functionality of tools like Google Earth and Google maps, it's fairly easy to model a location based on the real world inspiration. Places like Grand Central Station, the Hoover Damn (ah, just like the old Rainbow Six did) or even the Game Informer building. Whenever I see a place in a game that I've visited before, it's kind of cool and I'm not thinking about whether it's original or not. Yes, there are games that have done this. Two that come to mind are the Microsoft Flight Simulator games and Test Drive Unlimited. I was stationed in Hawaii for a number of years and in case you didn't know...it's an island...so there are a number of landmarks and roads that are fairly easy to remember because you're isolated to a rather small geographical area...like Diamond Head (an easily recognizable mountain/volcano) and Kamehameha highway. Flying around Diamond Head in a little Cessna or cruising down Kam highway in a Ferrari are memorable experiences, largely due to the fact I've been there in real life. Developers might not be able to do original in video games anymore, but they can still make it interesting enough people forget about it not being original.

Well, I better button this up. What started out as a quick little blog has quickly escalated to much more. These were just a few random thoughts on the subject of originality. In the end, I don't really care how original the characters, story and setting are as long as I'm having fun, but I find the more we are inundated with more and more unoriginal games, that's getting harder to achieve.