Week 20! Manny, don't squash their creativity.

Creativity is really a difficult word to define. It can manifest itself as a novel solution to a problem, or it could be an ingenious and groundbreaking development, but for a word that covers such a vast array of meaning, it ain't half hard to describe!!!

I suppose creativity is all around us really. Every thing we see and use on a daily basis is a result of one, or several persons "creativeness", some more striking and apparent than others. I suppose the most obvious forms of creativity are things such as music, art etc. but it can also appear in the form of problem solving.

With this in mind it is possible that in the realm of game design creativity may not be hindered by technical restraints but may in fact be the result. Particularly in the earlier days of gaming when the consoles were not quite capable of delivering the grandiose vision that the designers had hoped.

I believe creativity is abundant in games. Its always going to be required and while it may not always be strikingly obvious, creating a game is too much of a creative process for it not be in there somewhere, in some shape or form from the graphics style, a use of sound or a innovative control method

Leading on to a company who at the moment are demonstrating a creative approach to gaming, I'm talking of course of Nintendo and the Wii along with its long list of games which utilise the innovative control method and implement it in new and creative ways. Though some view it as a gimmick it is undeniably the product of creative thinking and as a result a whole host of games developers have got the ol' creative juices flowing trying to cash in... i mean, come up with new ways of using the unique capabilities and opportunities the Wii offers.

As a budding designer myself I'm still trying to get back that creative spark that after several years working for an insurance company was rapidly drained from within me, along with this there is another common problem with creativity that you inadvertently end up with a rehash of already existing ideas. I hope that once I do retrieve said spark I will be able to produce some fresh and exiting work that will hopefully become lodged in future game art students minds and in turn will be rehashed by them in a substandard manner.