The Still of the Night Causes a Storm in the Mind

There’s been a lot of talk about innovation vs. the status quo in our industry as of late. Mirror’s Edge in particular has caused quite a stir due to its unique gameplay delivered in the first person perspective. I think it’s funny how this is cause for endless conversation.

Innovation is actually very easy. Making something different is in fact no problem whatsoever. Easy innovation isn’t profitable though. To be profitable you need a special kind of innovation. To be profitable you need something wildly different which simultaneously also appeals to everyone.

Think about that for a second. Something that no one’s ever seen and yet once they get it they can’t go back to living without it. That’s almost a paradox, no wonder it happens so infrequently.

The last great and profitable gaming innovation was the Nintendo Wii. Its design is out of left field and yet everyone was immediately comfortable with it as if they’d never lived without it. That’s the sort of innovation people think of when they think innovation but more often than not innovation is something different that only makes sense to 5% of the population. This is the sort of innovation that causes developers to remake the same games we’ve all been playing for years with slight variations or if we’re lucky micro-innovations.