Topic: Every non-Nintendo game isn't a ripoff of a Nintendo game.

Few points.

1) Every game is inspired by many other games. They're like books and movies in that way. It is physically impossible to have a 100% purely original game anymore, because somewhere along the line, something else inspired it to be the way it is. That being said, your use of "ripoff" is incorrect. A better term would be "inspired by."

2) Continuing this talk of "inspired by," many games these days specifically cite games that had an influence on them (indies do this a lot). For example, Yacht Club Games has said how Shovel Knight was inspired by games like Zelda II and Mega Man. So yes, there can be original concepts for games (Shovel Knight is still arguably really original) that draw inspiration from past games.

3) Just going to say it: a lot of games are, in fact, VERY heavily inspired by past games. For example, Sony has flat-out said WipEout was inspired by Mario Kart. You can't just assume all games are 100% original and Nintendo fans are being unreasonable all the time.

@Darknyht:
The thing is as informative as this post listing "what came out first" is that's hardly the point. The fact is there is no single lineage for games. There's a good argument to be made for the idea that no idea is original. Everything is a remix.

So when you say that Halo came out first and therefore couldn't have "copied" Metroid Prime? Well sure. But the first Halo took ideas from the games that came before it. Games from the same genre like Goldeneye, Half-Life, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and so on. Also from other genres with games like Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64. It wasn't created in a vacuum. With the sequels to both no doubt there was again some cross-contamination of ideas. Consciously or not. As I pointed out it's particularly obvious where the Metroid Prime influence is when you get to Halo 4.

I'd also add that even some of the earliest games are copying from something else. The first Metroid we think of as fairly original and it sure as hell was. But it was heavily influenced by the movie Alien. Same with early RPGs and their inspiration from D&D. It happens across the board.

I haven't really heard the assertions you are saying people make. When people say something is a clone (or something like that), they mean there is a VERY strong similarity.

Oh, I guess you cought me. ^^
I became a fangirl about maybe 1,5 years ago and I talk way too much about Nintendo since then (I'm surprised my boyfriend still talks and listens to me at all by now). And I ALWAYS act like its my personal friend that wants only the best for its customers and the other companies are just capitalist beasts. I know it is not like that and I hardly can judget Sony and Microsoft for I don't know much about them (and I respect them and everyone that like them), but I strongly play favorites.
There are just some companies that are that well at marketing that you can hardly avoid to feel sympathy for them (like IKEA or DM (german drugstore) or even H&M to some degree, they just seem so friendly although there has been a lot of bad press).
And Nintendo does this way too good I guess.