This is the first time I've ever made a blog, so bear with me.

2006 in the music industry, rap legend Nasir Jones aka Nas, made controversy with Hip Hop is Dead. Although initially, people start pointing fingers at the South, in reality it's the corporation that killed.

What does that have to do with video gaming? Simple, there's a distinct lack of innovation going on outside of graphics, A.I., and Story. The innovations that have been present have been either dismissed as a gimmick or was never taken seriously. So far in the Current Generation of Gaming, the lines have never been so clear. You have one direction that confines to the traditional standards of progress in the Xbox 360 and the PS3, and you have another that tries to break the direction in the Nintendo Wii.

The Nintendo Wii is an interesting case. Although it's supposed to have graphics that can top the Xbox, but a notch below the 360 and the PS3, it makes up for it by changing something that haven't been changed and perfected since the N64/PS1 days, the controls. While the 360 and the PS3 stuck with the tried and true Dual Analog Controller, Nintendo shocked everyone in E3 06 by showcasing the Wii-Remote. Motion controls, for the first time is possible, and the potential is endless. For the first time, shooting controls could possibly surpass the keyboard+mouse, new ways of playing games is possible.

Fastforward to 2008. So far it's bleak, Third party publishers have made it clear that they would rather make multiplats for the PS360 rather than try something new. Those that did try something either put a second rate develepment team on it or if the developement team did strike gold, then they half-heartedly promote it. The result? Poor sales for games that have won critical acclaim, while shovelware makes tonnes of money. In a way, traditional gamers dismissing the Wii as a fad have a point, although it's not the console's fault. It's the fault of the publishers not taking it seriously.

It gets worse though, most of the games that are good are mostly shooters. This couldn't be more true than the 360 library. GTA IV, although it's in the Sandbox genre, there are shooting elements in the game. To me, it just seems that the only games that can sell are ones that are heavily advertised, have blood, a good story, and looks good, along with a couple of unique features just for good measures. Add a incresingly shortened single player mode for the Attention Decifit Generation, and an online mode to add playing hours, and you have a winner. Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 are perfect examples. They both have good story, but a short single player and a good multiplayer mode. There is no new thought, nothing to break an old formula. The creativity is dead, content to be inside the box.

Having games that are becoming increasingly like movies usually mean better quality, but does that necessarily mean that the game would be fun? Games like Medal Gear Solid never really appealed to me, simply for not having the pure joy and fun that other games like Super Mario Galaxy, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. How come games that supposedly having bad graphics by today's standards are now classics? Games like Super Mario World and 2D Sonic games have been hailed as one of the best of all time, and heck, even a game like Pong have that crucial element of being fun. A game can be fun to anyone, and everyone has their different taste. I personally like games that have a good art direction and tight controls. Some like theirs to be gritty and challenging.

Gaming isn't going to die, finacially, no. Creatively, as long as developers with a very creative mind that can rewrite the rules keeps coming in, gaming would never die. However, if the rules stagnant the industry, then gaming might go the way of another Video Gaming Crash, and this time, there might not be another Super Mario Bros. to save it just like he had saved video gaming and the princess.