Inspiration or Rip Off

I have just picked up Dead Space and a lot of people commented on my first impressions hating on the game because of its similarities to Resident Evil 4. I was wondering do you think gamers often struggle to see influence from other games and label them as rip offs. Also Resident Evil 4 reinvented the 3rd person shooter genre whats bad with using some of its strengths. All first person shooters have the same controls now so whats wrong with a 3rd person game doing the same. So what do you think is inspiration and evolution too often pointed at for being a rip off.

I have just picked up Dead Space and a lot of people commented on my first impressions hating on the game because of its similarities to Resident Evil 4. I was wondering do you think gamers often struggle to see influence from other games and label them as rip offs. Also Resident Evil 4 reinvented the 3rd person shooter genre whats bad with using some of its strengths. All first person shooters have the same controls now so whats wrong with a 3rd person game doing the same. So what do you think is inspiration and evolution too often pointed at for being a rip off.

I think that theirs too many smart ass people who like to think their clever by pointing out similarities between games and labeling them as rip offs

There are some games that take the good elements from other games and use them to their own advantage. But, there are other games, like Korean MMORPG World of Warcraft clones, that are terrible rip-offs.

Almost this exact discussion was had about a week ago, it did not end well. Essentially, dumbasses can't tell the difference between capitalizing on a good thing and improving it, and "ZOMGZ can't think up j00e own stuff LOLOLOLOLOL"

The closer a genres set of controls get to perfection, the better for everybody, and the only way to do that is to take the previous best and improve upon on. Besides, technicly a ripoff is a shoddy imitation product, if someone holds the opinion that Dead Space is shoddy, or an imitation product, those people are wrong in the head.

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Almost this exact discussion was had about a week ago, it did not end well. Essentially, dumbasses can't tell the difference between capitalizing on a good thing and improving it, and "ZOMGZ can't think up j00e own stuff LOLOLOLOLOL"

The closer a genres set of controls get to perfection, the better for everybody, and the only way to do that is to take the previous best and improve upon on. Besides, technicly a ripoff is a shoddy imitation product, if someone holds the opinion that Dead Space is shoddy, or an imitation product, those people are wrong in the head.

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The closer a genres set of controls get to perfection, the better for everybody, and the only way to do that is to take the previous best and improve upon on. Besides, technicly a ripoff is a shoddy imitation product, if someone holds the opinion that Dead Space is shoddy, or an imitation product, those people are wrong in the head.

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Wrong in the head, They should be shot survivors shot again, They contribute to the global downsize in IQ.

Dead Space is without a doubt one of the best Sci-Fi Experiences that I have had, (Bar event Horizon and The Fountain)


Well that and maybe this.

Ultimately, it all depends on how far the game goes to change or innovate on the game it's borrowing from. Dead Space certainly owes it's existence to  Resident Evil 4, there's no denying that (especially the focus on dealing limb damage to enemies). But the way that Dead Space keeps you in the atmosphere of the game with it's wonderful UI, it's greater focus on environmental navigation(with it's Z-Axis Zero G rooms and Oxygen-free space sections)....it's ultimately a very different game. It expands on RE4 and then goes in it's own direction. 
The difference between a ripoff and starting point for inspiration is how far the game does indeed move from that starting point. God of War uses the same Hack-and-Slash starting point as Devil May Cry, but infuses the game with a greater focus on puzzle solving and environmental navigation, with a diminished emphasis on combo juggling....more Zelda-like than it's inspiration. Brutal Legend also seems to be moving away from it's God of War roots by (allegedly) infusing it's gameplay with unit command a-la Overlord, as well as more environmental traveling(that's become a weird theme in this post, huh). Obviously, Brutal Legemd still remains to be seen; if it's just  a funny God of War game, then it's much less impressive. If Brutal Legend can actually go farther than it's inspirations-become a transformative expierience that makes you look at it's influences differently- than it will be a much more succesful game.

Gears of War used Resi 4's camera and no one brands that a rip-off. Yes, Gears added cover, but Dead Space made a lot of additions / improvement too, like the brilliant UI and the dismembering mechanics...and more...just been a while since i've played Dead Space xD