[quote name='ijustw1n']Could care less about gta. The demo didn't make the shifting seem plausible even in a video game. I'm watching this killer intro where a guy breaks out of prison and the graphics are great and I'm impressed. I start up the first episode and suddenly my character is trying out how to explain to his partner that he can jump into people's bodies. Completely lost me, completely dumb. Struck me as, hey we don't want to code the guy getting out of a car and into another or simply appear in new cars so let's do something even more moronic.
Bullet time was an innovation, cover mechanics the same. Creating a plot fail point to cut corners is dumb. In my Opinion.[/QUOTE]
I understand where you're coming from as the plot seems very hokey to me. Maybe it doesn't bother me so much since I really like Shift from a pure gameplay standpoint, and these days I don't expect much out of most game's single player stories.
I certainly don't think Shifting will influence a whole genre like cover mechanics did, but it takes a new and fresh look at what already exists, which defines innovation. The SF devs didn't cut corners with Shift because they aren't trying to make another "roam around the city on foot jacking cars" kind of game.
In the end, I respect creativity and the audacity to do something different with games. Even if the concept fails, it makes me happy to see game devs progressing beyond what's deemed successful and profitable, or at least injecting some new ideas into their work.