Tunnel Vision

Perhaps it’s just me, but I seem to be noticing of late a lot of people bemoaning the fact that modern game design - particularly in the great American tradition - is lacking in innovation. A little while ago Micheal Barnes caused something of a stir when he proclaimed design had hit a ceiling. More recently I’ve seen several different comments about upcoming ‘dudes on a map’ games bemoan that the genre is stale and uninteresting. For my own part I’ve devoted column inches on the lamentable state of fantasy adventure games. So what’s with all this negativity from the fan community? Have the games I love really hit the end of the road?