Reasonable on 27 July 2009
Gears, etc. get the credit because they happened to be successful at the right time and got associated with the mechanic.
Also, most people simply aren't interested in whether someone else thought of something first, they just go with the flow of common opinion. Sad, but that's the masses for you.
I suspect that in most cases you could take any game mechanic and find an earlier, little known use of the same mechanic.
It's just the - unfair - way it goes.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
