Not really no, but for a year or two. Problem is companies stop making them when they see people buying all the clones and "sequels." So it's as if you were stuck in a world compromised entirely of Twlight clones and sequels, to extend the metaphor.

Clones

that sounds like a good game,anyone making it,

it's hard to argue with his money point,but people keep buying them,i'm guilty i buy pro evo every year,sometimes they don't change,infact they get worse,but then you get one like this years,i guess i paid for the developement,not sure if its a new thing though surely its always been like this,on the whole

i don't care about reviews,

super mario galaxy
wii sports
halo 3
the legend of zelda twilight princess
new super mario bros wii
flower
ff13
ssbb
...going by your definition... these 3/4 years of this generation those are the only games (maybe a few more)that will be in stores and thats what you would perfer... against the 100 million other people who wants at least to see 15 games on the shelves...

I would bet that EA makes more money off of yearly Madden/FIFA games then most companies do making AAA games that take multiple years to make. That's why

"Look at Uncharted 2 (yes, I went there), same engine, same gameplay, a handful of additions and tweaks"

Last time I checked, adding multiplayer was hardly a small addition

@ coolestguyever, I know EA does invest very heavily in FIFA which is why they are getting great results, FIFA 10 is an AAA game

Excuse me a moment here.  Uncharted 2 is an entirely new story, with a bunch of new dialog, and they also threw in a multiplayer mode.  Left 4 Dead 2 is in the same boat, and also upgraded, and has new weapons and added a melee attack.  I won't comment on MW2, but it is similar.  Hiring voice actors and doing a new storyline isn't free.

The issue now is that the costs aren't in the engine, and the hardware, but in the paying the talent to utilize the engine, and craft a new storyline. 

command & conquer red alert 3 runs on the same engine as cnc64.
Just because it's the same engine, doesn't mean it's the same game.

Being rated above 90 was not part of the criterea you laid down. Let me quote you:

Do you remember any game lebeled as a clone would automatically be labeled as such and the grading would automatically start off at 6 points, and THEN the reviewers and people would start marking down for problems in the game?

Nowhere in that was 90+ a point you were trying to make. It seems the threshold was 60% and anything above that proves you wrong.

Also Donkey Kong 64 is sitting at 87% on Gamerankings and 90% on Metacritic just to let you know. I don't know where you got your percentage from.

I kind of agree here with you and with the OP, I mean, I think is unecessary to reuse and recycle the same game over and over, the point is with the Call of Duty series from Cod 4, World at War and now MW2 and maybe the next COD they all the same game with different skin using the same engine thats little over 4 years old and surely the next COD in 2010 will be looking and using the same engine like the first one did 4 years ago.

I'm a COD whore and the best of the bunch is still COD4 for me and to a point MW2 but it disapoints me because I would've like for IW to keep supporting COD4 by releasing new maps, weapons and maybe skins thru DLC instead of making another sequal of the same game.

Why make a new Cod game when the current one is still being played by many gamers, COD4 was still in 2nd place behind HALO 3 of most played in XBOX live after 3 years, so why not still support a good game and make it better by adding more maps, new weapons, new perks thru DLC?

At the pace that COD4 was being played after 3 years straight, I think it would've last another 3 or more years if IW would've supported the game without having to make a new game from the same thing.

Its official: COD is the new Madden.  But I'm sucker thats keeps on playing it.

I don't things are quite dire for games yet, but the slippery slope is definately there.

On the plus side you have titles like Uncharted 2 and Assassins Creed 2, which clearly feature both a lot of new content and a lot of engine improvements (Uncharted 2 in particular you can see the engine has received a lot of upgrading plus of course an expansive MP and Coop mode).

On the negative, despite the fact it's clearly great, L4D2 from my PC perspective really is a retread with tweaks and new monsters vs a evolution of the title (although it is larger than L4D itself, which I found great but overly light for maps and content), and to be honest I found MW2 the same.  The SP felt like a rehash with a few new bits and the MP was the same MP tweaked and further improved.  Both titles are a lot of fun, but they are hardly big leaps from the previous title.

Going forward, with time at a premium, I'm going to be avoiding overly similar instalments, and in particular unless MW3 is a big jump I'll be giving it a miss.