I should've clarified. I was trying to say the opposite, that there are so many hands and steps in the process nowadays that it's getting easier and easier for a game to get manhandled and made into a flop despite the presence of a big-name creative visionary. Was thinking mostly about Spore and Will Wright.
It's a bit "so what" now that I think about it, but the main point is "The complexity of game production nowadays is becoming a double-edged sword".
I don't know if this discussion is done or what, but Will Wright
isn't interesting or a visionary and always makes the same game, over and over, and therefore it is not surprising that Spore sucked:
it was the Sims. You'd be better off citing the Katamari guy, whose brilliant vision is diluted and made worse game after game.
(And anyway, I am pretty sure that people are so gay for Will Wright that if he says he wants something he has a team who will do it, no questions asked.)