"The GTAIVs, the Zelda's, the Halos, The Killzones, they are the pinnacle of our medium. The top talent makes them technical marvels using the latest technology, program tools, and methods. They finely craft remarkable cities, dungeons, enemies, water effects, and environments. They put the best voice acting, musical composers, directors and polish them to a high gloss. And they are completely trite, formulaic, unsurprising, and yes, fun."
I don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I hardly consider Zelda to be in that standing that you just named. Do you honestly consider the original Zelda, LA, MM, and WW (just off the top of my head) to be trite, formulatic, and unsurprising?
Anyways besides that, I don't think you can compare the movie industry to the videogame industry so directly. There are plenty of blockbuster games like Super Mario Galaxy that I hardly consider to be trite, formulaic, etc. Sure there are big budget games that play it safely, but that doesn't mean every single one does.
There are big budget games that are truly unique and amazing, as well as formulaic ones. The same applies to low budget games.... Petz anyone?
