[Why Thorpe shouldn't have left at the Dead End.]

Octopus Gardens would have made quite a nice scare zone area... Just sayin'...

But in all seriousness, the main Lost City path from Colossus' final turn, up over the bridge and down to the entrance is surely the obvious place to put one. More spacious, and totally avoidable if you don't want to go in.

Of course this still leaves the question of theme and execution, but I'd say that if it was kept simple and clear it would be hard to do badly. There are dozens of potential themes to explore which are simple to communicate, require little in the way of props, and could be done straight-up scary without becoming laughable.

I agree with you though, scare zone = good idea.

[The Slow and Painful Death of Creativity]

You make some interesting points there, pluk. I agree to a certain extent - as I said at the end of my original post there is still some good stuff out there if, as you suggested, you know where to look. I also agree that the corporate stranglehold faced by so many doesn't help the situation - this is partly the issue with WDW as I mentioned. I believe Imagineering are still capable of coming up with good ideas - Cars Land was still quite formulaic but at least on a grander scale - but TDO aren't willing to finance that kind of thing for the Florida parks, it would seem in recent years. In games, too, few studios have the luxury that say Bethesda do, to spend 4 years on a single game to make it the best it can be. Most are at the mercy of their finance department to keep churning out mediocrity, as are the many artists who are signed to a record label on a six-album contract.

At the same time though, I don't think the dilution of the market is to blame. If you consider how competitive all job sectors are, but the creative arts even more so, there should be enough talent to go around. For one example, Weta receive 50 portfolios a week from hopefuls. The fact that there is more 'stuff' around shouldn't necessarily mean what is there is of lower quality; I don't think they are linked particularly strongly. I see why you say it, but seeing as consumer tastes and preferences are so diverse in creative products, there should be more than enough demand to deal with a high volume of high quality. Build it and they will come - if the offering is good enough, there will still be plenty of people to take it. They may not be the same people who bought the other game two weeks ago, or saw the other film, but there will be someone there who is looking for something they want or are interested in.

Don't you think after a point, the 'safe' repetition of something to guarantee success has precisely the opposite effect? If it seems too 'safe' people will be bored and won't bother. If I see something new and exciting on a shelf or on a theatre poster I'm more likely to take the plunge and chance not liking it than I am to go for something exactly the same as something I've already experienced just because I liked that. Am I alone?