Has anyone else noticed that EA seem to be cloning a lot of games recentely?

• Dead Space was RE4
• Dante's Inferno is God of War
• Dead Space Extraction is Umbrella Chronicles
• My Sims Racing is Mario Kart
• EA Sports Active is Wii Fit

Is this shameless? Do the copies ever beat the originals? Does it lead to better games? Is it a viable approach for a company? How do you feel about them?

gamingeek said:

Should EA be doing more original Mirror's Edge type games?

 They definitely should... I'm not necessarily defending EA for stealing ideas, I'm just saying that fans of gaming seem to be less tolerant of it, and more quick to label something as a cheap knock-off, when they might miss out on a quality experience like Dead Space.

I'll always take a fresh idea over a stale one, but I still think there are quality games out there that aren't original.  At some point games with guns stopped being Wolfenstein/Doom clones in people's minds and started being FPS games.  I think that sometimes the things that make a game unique are enough to make that game into a whole new genre, and it makes sense when other developers try to make a game in that genre.

To be fair to EA, they finally did try some new stuff, then the new stuff was loved by half the people that got it, and hated by the other half.

gamingeek said:

Archangel3371 said:

I don't really mind at all. It's not like I was sitting there and thinking, "Gee this reminds me of RE4 only in space." while I was playing Dead Space.

Gee that's funny because that's pretty much all I felt whilst playing it. I guess the similarity to me makes me wonder why I don't just play the original and forebearer instead and save cash.

Damn Prince of Persia sequels. Grrrrrrrrrr

Archangel3371 said:

gamingeek said:

Archangel3371 said:

I don't really mind at all. It's not like I was sitting there and thinking, "Gee this reminds me of RE4 only in space." while I was playing Dead Space.

Gee that's funny because that's pretty much all I felt whilst playing it. I guess the similarity to me makes me wonder why I don't just play the original and forebearer instead and save cash.

Damn Prince of Persia sequels. Grrrrrrrrrr

Well as the saying goes, "To each their own.". Me I enjoy owning and playing both of them as I got two very gratifying experiences from them.

Does it make sense though for EA Redwood with Dante's Inferno too? No matter how good their game is they will always (perception wise at least) be living in the shadow of a long established franchise. Is it a good idea to look to the most popular titles and say, let's do that?

TMNT Smash Up is SMash Bros?

Saints Row is GTA?

Does anyone get excited about Turtles when they can get Smash a couple of years earlier to boot? First person games are easier to clone, Goldeneye clones, Halo clones etc.

Where is the line between familiarity and over familiarity? I think they have to be careful. In think in Dead Space when the character started limping exactly like Leon, it was a little too far for me.

bugsonglass said:

gamingeek said:

Archangel3371 said:

I don't really mind at all. It's not like I was sitting there and thinking, "Gee this reminds me of RE4 only in space." while I was playing Dead Space.

Gee that's funny because that's pretty much all I felt whilst playing it. I guess the similarity to me makes me wonder why I don't just play the original and forebearer instead and save cash.

Damn Prince of Persia sequels. Grrrrrrrrrr

well that's it, if you only have time and money for just one game, it makes sense that you play the original.  if you need more then you won't necessarily mind playing some stuff with obvious similarities but which are still quality products.

like if you only have time to watch a couple of mob movies you should probably make it the first two godfathers but if you need more then there's plenty more good ones (and some bad ones you should avoid regardless).

i guess you are the kind of gamer who appreciates originallity more than genre, so you could and should choose to just play original, groundbreaking games without being limited by genre.  that way you should have enough without having to play the clones.  someone else might just enjoy a few specific genres and not want games outside their comfort zone.  for them it's a better choice to go for games within those genres even if they're not all revolutionary, so long as they are good enough.

Interesting points. It's not about time and money though, just not feeling I need to retread ground, especially when you play the original and it's better and usually still great to play. How much can you take I guess, before getting bored.

gamingeek said:

Interesting points. It's not about time and money though, just not feeling I need to retread ground, especially when you play the original and it's better and usually still great to play. How much can you take I guess, before getting bored.

How can you say this with a straight face and have a sig of  Animal Crossing?  

I mean, come on. As long as their offers maintain a decent quality level, I'm all for gaming experiences that ape established franchises. If we are going to go the other route, we might as well keep playing RE4/The sands of time/Super Mario Galaxy until the next truly groundbreaking game emerges. 

I dont know what else I can add that has not been said already. Rag nailed it from the second point. Bugs covered the GG response.

Me as long as its a quality game I dont care if its similar to another game, especially one I love. I love the RE4 style of action, I want MORE games like it, not less. Dead Space came along, it was not a cheap knock off but a game that used that template and made a fantastic new game, one that will be a new franchise, much like how Silent Hill started many years ago.

I rather play a game in the genre or style I love than play a weird quirky game just cause its original. Odds are I am going to enjoy the one in the genre I love more.