[contemporary] game creators [would cite]...as key games that introduced them to new ideas or refined concepts in such a way as to influence their own work.
TeamIco's work gets mentioned all the time by contemporary developers as having influenced their ideas about game creation. Many others have cited Naughty Dog's games as shaping their ideas about contemporary design. "Influence" isn't strictly about generating knock-offs or games that borrow the exact same elements.
That's still broad.
Saying that some developer had and idea was influenced by Ico doesn't make Ico a highly influential game. You'd have to quantify
how much did Ico actually influence that game in particular. For instance, if it influenced a minor mechanic or a minor art design in a game, does that make it highly influential?
As for "innovation" - that term keeps coming up as it is a frequent characteristic of games that are later seen as influential, thought it also isn't a strict condition that must be present for a game to have wide influence (Uncharted 2, for example, gets more praise for things like "refinement" and "being well-thought out" than it does for innovating as such).
I don't understand what this means.
Skyward Sword...Link's Crossbow training...Nintendogs, Super Paper Mario, Wii Fit, Professor Layton, 4 Swords Adven, Waro Ware
I'd be interested to see/read about developers that cite any of the console games you listed (some are handheld titles) as influencing the direction of their work or to find examples of games that clearly draw on some key innovation found in those titles.[/quote]
Skyward Sword and Link's Crossbow Training utilize 1:1 motion controls, and are really the only good games to do so. There are no games worth playing that control like Skyward Sword, so it is innovative and unique, almost unconditionally. As for its influence in the future? It came out at the end of 2011, and we're at the start of 2014, during the switch between generations no less. I'd certainly give it some time to see if other games are made, but peoples eyes were certainly widen that motion controls could create a genuine authentic gaming experience.
As for your comment on motion controls being gimmicks. Doesn't really matter. They were a fad, but that doesn't mean that they will not be around or no major games will be made that utilize them.
Nintendogs and Wii Fit introduced who wouldn't play games to gaming. Even if most of them stopped gaming after the Wii, a % of them likely stayed and explored other games. The expansion of the market is more influential (at the very least no less influential) than an anonymous expendable developer getting an idea from a game that he or she liked.
Warioware did what Nintendogs and Wii Fit did, except did a better job at branching gamers and non-gamers together. It helped expand the market, sold many units. It is also unique or at the very least far above its genre peers in popularity. Microgames are a pretty neat idea. Warioware wasn't the first ones to create mini games, but they did present it in a fashion that made it seem very refreshing.
Super Paper Mario - Can't really think of an RPG-Platform hybrid like that. There are RPGs that have some jumping mechanics, but none to that extent. I'd certainly put it up there with other Action RPGs that have gotten people to realize you can make/mix an RPG with any genre and it will work.
I mentioned Professor Layton because you brought bringing back retro genres as influence. I would say Nintendo has made their fair share of adventure games, and that genre certainly hit mainstream popularity on the DS because of Nintendo (and Capcom).
