An odd thing I've found is pokemon has been criticized for being unoriginal.
The funny thing is though, there are so many other guys that do the same exact thing over and over again.
There's about a billion guitar hero games by now and I never hear about that.
The new Call of Duty game will apparently have nazi zombies in some mode,
despite being set in the cold war. Anyone who's played Final Fantasy will
be familiar with the palette-swap factor. So here's my question.

Why do you see as originality in games?

Where do you draw the line between original and unoriginal?

Sequels are typically excused for me, but if it's something like Star Force, which is basically like playing the previously game with a new plot then.. ugh.

COD... unexcused, yeah. Zombie thing is stupid. COD, in general, is stupid. It's so generic.

Guitar Hero, yeah too many.

For me, i think originality is new gameplay hooks, new characters, innovations, and art styles. Sadly, people aren't being too original today, like FF: 4 heroes of light. Though some are still working their magic, like Epic Yarn.

It's sad, because originallity is the flour in video games. It's almost as bad as failing to program good hit detection.

The reason originality and new franchises don't come along often is because the gaming industry higher ups don't like taking risks on new IPs and game directions. Unique games that have released in the past and failed have made publishers wary of funding new IPs, especially in companies that have long-existing and popular franchises.

From a business standpoint, would funding more likely go to a successful, already established title bearing the Call of Duty name, or a new game where you are a ballerina who roams the land in a zombie apocalypse with a chainsaw? It also depends on how niche of a genre the game is, and who'd it appeal to.

There's a reason that a lot of the most original games lately come from obscure, lesser-heard of developers and producers; it's because the well known people don't want to take the fall if they engage in a risky new IP. A well-established producer could lose credibility and status if a game they made flopped horribly. On the flip side, an unknown company/producer doesn't have anything to lose really, only to gain. Hence why you see a good amount of unique games on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, WiiWare, etc.

Also I am talking out of my @ss a little bit here. Don't kill me please.

If it weren't for those risk takers, we wouldn't have epic games like Henry Hatsworth or Mighty Flip Champs.

Just the smackdown vs. raw games (new characters and same everything else means the same thing), guitar hearo, rock band, and call of duty.
THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO POKEMON. Why? New characters, style of battling, graphics, region, etc.