The hardest part of debating intellectual property is the widespread misconceptions people have.  Many people I talk to who don’t even realize they are copyright holders (of their doodles and term papers) fall into thinking people should own ideas so they can make money without considering why.  Ideas don’t happen in a vacuum. They build on many ideas before.

I became more frustrated by Forbes’ magazine’s praising of Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, exacerbating the misconceptions .  Kotick has become a business press darling overseeing the merger of the largest video game company with an obvious eye on profits (to the chagrin of video game fans). Forbes writer Peter Beller explains “EA also teamed with MTV to sell Rock Band, a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero that added drums, bass and a microphone to the world of make-believe rock stars.”

First, Guitar Hero wasn’t an original idea unto itself. It built on many, many ideas before it from people who enjoy air guitaring to the many previous versions of plastic musical instruments. I had a toy piano when I was a baby only a short, few years ago.  Did Activision shamelessly knock-off all these ideas too?

Second, why not look at what Rock Band did differently. The interface is very similar and even the controller instruments look alike, but Rock Band added many features, namely singing and drums. That’s building on someone else’s idea, just like Guitar Hero did.  Rock Band improved the idea so much, Guitar Hero shamelessly knocked them off with its new edition, featuring singing and drums.

Everyone copies everyone. It’s natural and a major part of how innovation happens – people see what works and make it better. This is why copying is good thing. Everyone does it and it makes everyone else better. The sincerest form of flattery is imitation. Don’t be scared of stealing ideas. Just be scared of not making them better.

Ralph Koster outlines the tangled web of patents covering the popular world of music-based video games.  A patent thicket describes when several patents cover a single product, owned by several different groups.  Music based video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are finding themselves mixed up in a web of lawsuits.  First Konami is suing Harmonix for patents on music games, even though Harmonix has its own assortment of music game patents (including a patent on a “game controller simulating a musical instrument”).  Konami previous made GuitarFreaks and is looking to get back into the music game genre since Harmonix help make it such a success (more than Konami ever did).

Let’s not forget Red Octane and Activision, the team still responsible for Guitar Hero (which Harmonix headlined before getting bought by MTV). They’ve been licensing patents from Konami while getting sued by Gibson who also has patents on music games even though they sold likeness rights to the game for toy Gibson guitars. And let’s not forget Harmonix had sued Activision over unpaid royalties (now bargaining instead).

All the lawsuits shows none of this is about innovation, but is about greed and strong arming bargaining positions for more licensing fees.  That’s not what the patent system is supposed to be for.  The more these companies fight over music game patents, the worse consumers will be as the games will be more expensive, if they can even afford to be made.

Video games have made mundane jobs like mayor and farmer fun, so just think how good good jobs can be. These are the jobs we’ve gotten to taste in video games and realized we really like them and wouldn’t mind getting paid for our labors. Hell, for 20-40 hours, getting paid to play video games is the real number 1

7. Treasure hunter

The swamps might be gross and the monsters might be terrifying, but just think of the excitement. Now the best you can hope for is to vicariously live through your slutty friend’s dating drama. I’ll take Indiana Jones style tomb raiding over slutty friend’s any day.

6. Rock star

Color matching like a 2-year-old was never so fun. And add the cheering crowds, wild parties, and maybe even a psycho circus you’ve got a recipe for awesome fun and inappropriateness, which is by default fun. So let’s get ready to rock.

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Finally a reason to be thankful in November. Forget the coming cold and use these reason to stay inside the entire month. We all know this year has one of the best holiday line-ups ever, but we didn’t know how good. Here is an entire top 7 list of games just coming out in November. And below, I have all the awesome games that didn’t make it on the list. Obviously game release dates are subject to game publishers dart boards, so all games are what I at least think is coming out in November.

7. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
In desperate need of a hit, the PS3 might have move some consoles thanks to the gorgeous Uncharted. This Tomb Raider sans boobs game features dazzling tropical settings with a hearty combat system borrowing heavily from the cover system in Gears of War (that’s a compliment). Oh, and it looks gorgeous. Did I mention that?

6. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Swords
Many games have tried innovation with the Nintendo DS’ handy little stylus, but Ninja Gaiden:Dragon Swords slices innovation a new one. On top of some of the best graphics the handheld has seen, Gaiden uses 100 percent stylus controls for ninja hero Ryu. You hold the DS sideways like an open book, using swipes and slashes to kill demons of all sorts. That, and it’s cool to finally have a AAA mature title on the DS. Mother would be so proud.

5. Mass Effect
Save the universe in this action shooter RPG extravaganza. From the makes of quality RPGs like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, Bioware brings its first next-gen experience. Mass Effect features a wide array of powers and boasts a galaxy of worlds to explore. It’s really selling point is its often talked about conversation engine that hopefully will allow for more fluid conversations. And combat looks really awesome. That’s what really counts, right?

4. Rock Band
Speaking of combat, who’s more violent than rock stars. That’s right, video game rock stars. Following the success of Guitar Hero, Rock Band is like Guitar Hero, only cranked up to 11. In hopefully the best multiplayer experience of the year (yeah, take that Halo and Call of Duty), Rock Band joins you and two or more friends, online and off, playing guitar, drums, and vocals to music from Kiss, Radiohead, Ramones, and dozens of others.

3. Assassin’s Creed
It’s been said time and time again: this is the first real next-gen experience. Well this time it’s for real. As assassin Altaïr, you get to navigate massive, ancient cities, working your way through lively marketplaces filled with interactive characters to kill various historical figures. And to navigate these cities, you can go anywhere at anytime, climbing buildings or running across rafters. Even chases with your targets will follow unspecified paths based on the target’s unique A.I. Maybe this next-gen experience will meet expectations. Finally.

2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Screw Halo. Call of Duty finished the fight and came back for more. In its first adventure outside of World War II, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare takes place in the present day following a complex tale of political intrigue and cutting-edge combat. The realistic battlefield styling from previous Call of Duty’s get a modern overhaul, with a massive multiplayer component. Warfare just the way you like it. From your very own living room.

1. Super Mario Galaxy
As Nintendo itself puts it, Mario Galaxy is the first worthy successor to the classic Mario 64. With new power-ups, Wii-Mote motions, and astonishing graphics, Mario Galaxy is not only the November, but the 2007 game to beat.

And just so you know how challenging this list was, here are the games I considered that are also being released in November. So save your allowance kiddies.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
F.E.A.R. Files
BlackSite: Area 51
Army of Two
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Silent Hill Origins
Haze
Time Crisis 4
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Soul Calibur Legends

What will you be playing over Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas?

Every Monday, I force my opinion on you, my fearless readers, ranking the seven of something geeky.