Quoted from Tranquilize:I wish they would design an orginal theme and put all the saved cash into the game. If they did a good job on the theme integration, I swear it would sell as good if not better than some of their licenses. If Keith designed and Lyman did the code, it would do very well.
Some ideas that almost no one hates:
UFOs with humour like attack from mars
Haunted mansions
Medieval anything
Space and technology
Classic public domain stories: mythology etc. Minotaur would be a great title/theme
Generalized vehicles (monster trucks, motocross)
War/tanks/jets/bombs
There are countless untapped original ideas within these general themes that would work great. I'd rather have a better game than a license.
Sorry but theme matters, see JJP Dialed in. Packed game, great shooter but aweful theme. Original themes just dont sell well no matter how good the game is.