Seriously, is no one else out there getting bored beyond belief with the endless procession of high-budget-low-risk rehashed dross that we're being forced to accept? Are Canis Canem Edit and really the best we can look forward to when in search of gaming originality?

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And let's not forget that Nintendo, Sony, and have all prattled on with pride about 'extensive' and 'diverse' launch line-ups prior to the arrival of their offerings. Taking into account the recent launches of the and Wii, and the supposed superior power of Sony's console, let's look at exactly how the Japanese electronics giant has spread that self-confessed hardware advantage across its launch titles following this standout quote from SCEA president Kaz Hirai: "Our line-up of PS3 games that will be available through the holidays is unprecedented in terms of volume, variety and innovation, surpassing any previous competitive launch catalogue and even our own original offerings for other PlayStation platforms." 20 launch titles containing one (1) release, in Resistance: Fall of Man, that's not a strategic edition to an already established franchise or a system port from a previously released game (though certainly is a first-person shooter, and the world doesn't have enough of those, right?).

And the Wii's launch line-up doesn't fare much better. Yes, the Wiimote and Nunchuk bring a different form of gameplay to the table, but regardless of "changing how you play" they don't change what you're playing. And, on current evidence, the could well suffer the same fate as the through decidedly kiddie software that blocks the interest of the more mature demographic. 21 North American Wii launch titles sees only Excite Truck, Red Steel, and the bundled Wii Sports showcasing borderline originality, whereas the remaining games are franchise or consumer product-reliant, and include the likes of Super Monkey Ball, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Ball Z, Cars, and Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Nintendo's initial hot burst of success with the Wii, which has seen 600,000 units sold in the first eight days since launch, may well begin to run cold if ensuing titles don't lean more pointedly towards gamers of a more advanced age. To illustrate this, and other facts, the US-based 2006 (Entertainment Software Association) Computer and Videogame survey states that the average age of gamers today is 33 and that 69% of American heads of households actively play videogames. With the swift overshadowing of the GameCube by the superior and PlayStation 2, Nintendo's Wii may well be the company's last chance to shift its software focus away from teeny tiny knee-high players. And while the Wii is meant to attract gamers of all ages, its evolving games portfolio really needs to reflect the highest demographic margins - in terms of applicable age, not banal series repetition. The survey also points out that 49% of all gamers play the 'E for Everyone' classification, whereas 32% play 'T for Teen', and a further 15% play 'M for Mature'. If Nintendo should dare to strike a healthy software balance across those classifications then the Wii may yet be the console that upsets the dominance of and Microsoft.

The ESA's survey also points out that adult gamers have been playing videogames for approximately twelve years, which compounds the earlier notion of growing bored with the industry's continual reliance on the same series and genre formulas. As a 33-year-old who's been playing videogames for longer than twelve years, this writer certainly wants to see more genuine innovation from the games available in today's market. Sadly, that hope may never become a reality unless we curb our worrying buying habits, especially as the survey's Best-Selling Videogame Super Genres category illustrates little more than rife consumer apathy with Action, Sports, and Shooters making up around 60% of last year's total sales. Speaking of buying habits, the top-twenty best-selling videogames listing contains only one game (God of War) that isn't a direct sequel or doesn't build or expand on a known franchise or commercial product.

Frankly, it's not good enough. Regardless of how far forward hardware technology reaches, it's the software that should decide greatness, yet it seems that a videogame market worth more than $7 billion per year is no longer the place for risk taking and boundary pushing, but rather just a guaranteed slice of the cross-platform franchise pie. Incremental expansions like PGA Tour and Pro Evolution continue to prosper year after year, and utter garbage like the WWE Smackdown! VS. Raw series remains a money-spinning blight on existence. But beautifully crafted and genuinely innovative games such as Okami, LocoRoco, and (though all critically applauded) are largely ignored by the buying public - Okami's creators now being out of business. Ultimately, we only have ourselves to blame for the lack of creative growth currently throttling our videogame choices, we only have ourselves to blame for the resultant absorption of small inventive studios by the formulaically dull publishing behemoths, we only have ourselves to blame for the relentless onslaught of profit-margin safety through rehashed content, and we only have ourselves to blame if we continue to support its damaging proliferation by buying it.

By Stevie Mostyn