I think he did too, but it is true that innovation is very important to the indie community.

Most indies don't have teams of engineers, artists, designers, marketers, or musicians to polish their turds into blockbuster gems. Because of this, an indie had better hope that their project begins as shiny as possible, which is why innovation (especially in gameplay) is crucial.

I'd say (by far) most indie games are turds (just look at the amount of crap games on mobile app stores). Games like Fez, Braid and Super Meat Boy are few and far between.