i never said those games were bad! :P

Of course it's creative! It's indie!

This. I can't really blame them, though. Unlike back in the day, most video games take years to develop. And nobody wants to spend 1 to 3 years developing a game without having fun in the process.

AAA games now cost around 50 million to make so the risk is to much to make a game like mirrors edge or brutal legend and those other 2 fail completely, while people go buy CoD: Bo in the millions so is not the developer's fault is the gamers that are only buying the gears/halo/CoD/kz/GoW/FF

Oh, being indie adds 3 points to the overall score . That explains a lot of things.

I agree, more original games please. Atm I have Assasins Creed Brotherhood and Alan Wake to play. I stopped AC brotherhood after a few hours and have since played Alan Wake from start to finish. I can see where ac brotherhood is probably the better game and Alan Wake isn't all that original either, but at least Alan Wake (the world/story) is something I haven't played before already.

I also enjoyed Enslaved, Heavy rain and 3D dot game heroes. Mirror's edge last year was also great.

Too bad none of these sell like all the sequels. Original games never get the same budget/polish and marketing (except heavy rain) as the sequels because of the risks.

There is always the indie PC scene. You could always try that out, if you are looking for originality For the rest of us, just let us play the blockbusters

New Ip's in 2010.

Bayonetta, Vanquish, Enslaved, Majin & the Forsaken Kingdom, Joe Danger, Limbo, Nail'd, Blur, Split/Second, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, Super Meat Boy, the Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, Darksiders, Modnation Racers, Swords & Soldiers, Costume Quest, Stacking, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, MAG, Dance Central and Death Spank are only a few of some of the great New Ip's that have come out in 2010.

Nearly all the games I've listed offer fresh art designs, gameplay mechanics and storytelling mechanics that have rarely or never been seen before in games of the past. Just because you chose to avoid them and not buy them, it doesn't mean they don't exist.

Even all the sequels and 'rehashes' that have come out this year have brought something new to the table. Assassins Creed reformatted it's economy system, added an awesome squad mechanic and created a successful multilayer system that's has never been seen before. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit has changed it's driving system completely, while also adding in an autolog system, amazing visuals and a bunch of new gameplay mechanics that have rarely been seen in car games. 

2010 has been one of the best years in gaming history, but just because your wallet restricts you from trying out new games, it doesn't mean they don't exist. I've played nearly all the games I've mentioned and I can wholeheartedly say that 2010 has been a great year for video games and it only makes the developers of those games seem even more amazing and creative.

I have done off and on game design (board and cardgame arena, not electronic mostly) and have done testing of different game designs, chatted with others who do design, and so on.  I will jump in here with a few thoughts, looking at "originality" and then "raising the bar".

First, on "originality", we have a medium that has matured to a large degree.  Games now get budgets that were reserved for movies, so you have marketing types jumping in to the mix.  The big budget games end up getting input from marketing types who want to make sure they sell, so you see stuff that is like what has been established, so there is a franchise established.  These franchises become cash cows.  They will add new features that differentiate, but the idea isn't to be original, but to have something that will sell.

Ok, on the "originality" front, you face another BIG issue regarding game development (videogames arena) that really limits things.  As of now, a LOT has been thought of.  It is increasingly harder to come up with something totally new and not done before, like you saw in the arcades.  Designers now tend to get ideas for new games from other games they played.  They like a videogame and want it to do something different.  One isn't as likely to see a game that gets its idea outside the realm of videogames.  You don't see as much things like Paperboy or Crazy Taxi, where the innovation is stuff outside of videogames.  Well, I say this saying motion control has seemed to open up some stuff.  Also, play mechanics are becoming harder and harder to find that are new, entertaining and work.  Less likely to see games like Tetris appearing.  Oh, maybe you get hybrid fusion concepts (Harry Hatsworth and Puzzle Quest). but straight up original?  Well, not so... games like Flower aren't that frequent (but note that Flower happens to be inspired NOT by a videogame, but by flowers, and the wind and weather, in short, real life, not a videogame). 

And then you have "raising the bar".  It is hard enough to get a game to work, and be entertaining, to think about such things as becoming a benchmark of excellence.  Sure, a designer would like this, but the focus is just on getting an entertaining product out into the world. You hope people like it, and it gets fans.  You are NOT thinking you want to "raise the bar" for others to emulate.  Ok, maybe ONE place this happens... with companies that design game engines others use.  If your game engine is awesome, you hope others will license it.

Of those 4 "original" games you mentioned, only 2 of them actually are original: The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy.

Mass Effect is not original, and is definitely not a high standard of WRPGs, especially when The Witcher, which came out in the same year, made everything better and showed what it means have ambiguity.

As for Bioshock, ever heard of System Shock II?

If you want originality, then you have to look at PC indie games. Minecraft is so fresh and original.