Tradition vs Innovation

Lets face it, Nintendo has a habit of being very cautious when it comes to making new installments of their classic franchises. They played New Super Mario Bros on the DS as safe as possible, making little change at all to the formula. Twilight Princess was arguably the best Zelda game to date, but it lacked something new. It was great, but it didn't really do anything new. But, on the other hand, Nintendo have done some very innovative things with many of their series as well. New Super Mario Bros Wii brought in some fun and chaotic multiplayer to the mix and the drastic shift for the Metroid series from a 2D side scroller into a First Person Shooter (even if most of the work was done by Retro Studios) And of course, they made some of the most innovative games of all time in the forms of Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. 

Where the real question lies is how games tackle this idea. Do the developers play it safe and stick to tried and true formula or do they do something completely out there and radical? Many people criticize Nintendo for lacking anything new, but I personally think that they are constantly raising the bar and making new masterpieces. Skyward Sword looks to be one of the most innovative games of all time. here's to hoping.