I think this trend has always been with us... i just also think recently we have had some actually good games in that vein and that is kind of why it is being noticed.

I also completely don't get the hate for Dante's Inferno. Perhaps it is because i haven't played God of War - but even if it copied the exact mechanics it is still a good game. I could see complaining about the copying of the mechanic being a lack of creativity but if the mechanic is good enough for the first, shouldn't it still be decent in the second?

I thought Dante's was fun, had decent puzzles, great graphics, and while it abused the source material to some extent it still had an excellent vision of Hell.

I heard the big downside for Dante was that it just got old/repetitive before it was over and brought nothing new to the table to begin with.

I got bored of both God of War games pretty quick (start off great, then it gets tediously monotonous), and considering they're more or less considered the pinnacle of modern hack n slash, I took a pass on Dante.

I say give Dante's Inferno a rental. I didn't care much for God of War, but I absolutely love Dante's Inferno. The setting is awesome.

I'll get both GoW and Dante down the road...probably at $30 and $20 respectively.

But make a game with similar mechanics and add some Zelda dungeons, and I'll buy that right now for $40 (especially if you throw in Red Faction).

Street Fighter ripped off Yie Ar Kung Fu

Yie Ar Kung Fu, meet Karate Champ.

I consider a game a rip off if it's basically just done to cash in due to similarities to a popular game. While I can't vouch for the intentions of the developers behind Dante's Inferno, it just feels like they rushed it out right before GOW3 because it wouldn't stand up against it. Also, SNK's Art of Fighting and World Heroes were blatant rip offs of Street Fighter 2. Try calling that an homage.