Is creativity overrated?

[CM30]

Something that's come up a lot with recent games is the idea of them being a rehash of older games or not very creative and a lot of rants about how some indie games are more original than what the 'industry' puts out. But is creativity an overrated concept in general?

Because I'm starting to think so, and I think the whole 'artist'/'auteur' belief that video games should be about art is honestly one of the worst things that's happened to video games in general. In fact, I'd say a good game which does little new is better than a game which does a lot new but gets most of it wrong and isn't that fun to play.

I'm not the only one either, I've been talking to a game designer who says pretty much the same thing here, that people put too much stock in gimmicks and 'innovation' and too little in the core game design. That they think everything should be rebuilt from the ground up at every opportunity despite the fact that's a terrible idea in general.

What do you think?

 

[xSilentOmenx]

I think a good game is something that pulls all the elements off a good game together. Creativity isn't overrated so long as it's done right and blends well with the other mechanics. The best thing a game can do sometimes is stir up controversy. The problem is that people rush creativity and that's where it hits a road block. We fail to realize the greatest things often need time extensions. By my standard, it's often a rushed deadline that makes the "dead" more true for the game than anything.

 

[Moclon]

Just like Silent Omen said before me, a good game to me is a correct mix of elements.
I still think creativity is important, because if not, we would never get games like Eterian Odyssey or Zelda: OOT, and creativity is what makes the game industry advance (The DS touchscreen+dualscreen, the Wii's motion controls, the WiiU's ability to be dependant of the TV.)

 

[Claraviolet]

I do think sometimes it's a little overrated.

No matter what we do, for some people it's never enough and needless to say their way of thinking can be pretty weird.