10 Greatest Innovations of 2007

[GameBanshee News]

Next Generation has written a list of the great design innovations of 2007. Most of them don't see that innovative, the list includes line rider (even though that was released in 2006) and Portal (justly) tops it.

Reinventing the Wheel – Mass Effect

I can’t remember the last time I saw a dialogue tree in a major release game...but you know what I can remember? I can remember having a conversation with a group of game designers who said that dialogue trees were dead, that a modern audience wouldn’t sit through that amount of reading. Bioware blew this line of reasoning out of the water with the dialogue wheel in Mass Effect.

Moreover they did it on a console...

The dialogue wheel not only allows players to quickly assimilate their choices but also adds an intriguing uncertainty to the game play. The wheel allows the player to choose the tenor of their responses but not the responses themselves. Surprisingly this leads to a feeling of greater choice rather than a restrictive gimmick thus earning Mass Effect its place at number three.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

I don't know if all those games on the list can be called innovations.

[Brother None]

Most of 'em can't. Portal is dead on for #1, but let's be honest, there's just not much mechanical innovation going on. Just graphics pumping

[DesR85]

6. Better than Duck Hunt – Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

“How can we make a good shooter on the console?”

This question has been asked a thousand times and been answered in a thousand ways but, until now, the answer has never seemed to satisfy. This is largely due to the fact that when people ask “How do we make a good shooter on a console” what they really mean is “how do we make a shooter that feels as quick and responsive as a PC shooter on the console.”

Apparently the answer is the Wii mote. I was blown away by this fact. Nintendo had always been the “family friendly” console to me so I didn’t consider the FPS ramifications of the Wiimote but clearly it’s the best tool for the job. With some tweaking and some refinement down the line I could see the Wii (or a console with Wii like controls) becoming the platform of choice for hardcore FPSers, even over the PC. If this does become the case it will owe it all to Metroid Prime 3.

I have to admit that this is innovation for the Nintendo Wii, just like how HALO was an innovation to the XBox (both in terms of shooters). I've heard of many complaints of shooters on the consoles such as slow aiming and a tendency to be inaccurate to name a few. Most of them have to rely on auto-aim to make life easier.

As for the other titles, with the exception of Portal, I can't say that they're innovative at all.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Originally Posted by Brother None

Most of 'em can't. Portal is dead on for #1, but let's be honest, there's just not much mechanical innovation going on. Just graphics pumping

I have to agree with you. Portal is certainly one of the most unique games I've seen in recent times. The inclusion of GLaDOS was just brilliant.