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In this debate, I'll attempt to take up George's points reasonably
systematically and give coherent answers. His first statement is:
'It [the re-invention of the wheel concept] says that proponents of
proliferation may re-create as their own prior-existing forms.'
I find this a somewhat leading statement, but after some consideration, I
will accept it as the most radical expression of my opinion.

I will rely heavily on my own small body of design work, such as it is,
for several reasons. [Ego, for instance.] By referring primarily to my own
work, I'm not dragging anyone else into a discussion they may well not
want to be in. I have a far better grasp of the reasons and thinking
behind my own work than anyone else's, and am far less likely to distort
or in some way misrepresent that background. And I believe I have
[created] some concrete examples of the proliferation George is
referencing.

Part I: Hyperchess/Chesseract/Sphinx Chess
My first design was Hyperchess, a 4D variant. This was not a re-creation,
but a totally independent creation that sprang from an attempt to better
understand the 4th [spatial] dimension while I was a college student. I
hand-drew a simple piece of '4D' graph paper, then, while studying its
properties, thought it would make a great chess board. An initial game
followed, revised off and on over the years. Four decades later, my son
got me online, and I found Jim Aikin's Chesseract, using the same board,
a very similar knight, and the same general principles, but still a
totally different game, and much more complex. I also found the CV site.
I'd been finishing up the game, managing to solve the slippery king
problem after roughly a year of trying, and got it posted. 

The first comment the game got was from LLSmith, who compared it to
VRParton's Sphinx Chess, a game almost identical to mine. To that point,
I'd never heard of VRParton or Sphinx Chess. Had I known of Mssrs Aikin
and Parton's games before I started/finished my version, I may not have
posted it*, and very likely would never have solved the slippery king
problem. I will be most immodest here, and say that my version is better
than the other two. I believe I independently invented a better wheel
here. As it's a 4D game, few will care how good it may be, but I invite
all to compare the games and comment if they so choose.
*That was the first 'lost chance to reduce proliferation'.