The name of the game in 2008: Innovation

Well, 2008 is over now, and we can officially make judgments from our 20/20 hindsight.

One of the biggest (baddest?) buzzwords of the year was innovation. Game critics debated the merits of innovation – specifically, whether developers deserve credit for delivering truly new experiences, even if they contain flaws. Developers and publishers touted innovation and new IPs as the greatest new thing, and the best thing for the industry (especially if their game happened to fit into that category). And perhaps most important of all, gamers themselves discussed innovative game design, trying to decide if we’d rather have new (and maybe rough around the edges) or the familiar (and maybe polished and near-perfected).