TCT:Others said it already, that Braid was not the first game to have a time travel feature.
If anyone's getting the idea that I'm somehow criticising this game for having time travel, that's not it at all. Time travel is one of those mechanics that's been floating around for years, but since Braid came out it's been higher-profile and more common. It's only been a short time, though, so most of the games implementing time-based features had to be planning them before Braid came out.
Back in the 1980s, we had - in rapid succession - a half-dozen movies about adults and children switching bodies. We had 18 Again, Vice-Versa, a remake of Freaky Friday, the list went on. It was an idea that simultaneously occurred to many people who thought "that would make a good movie". I think the whole time travel thing is similar. It's what the Germans call... oh, come on, you must know the word zeitgeist. Human action but not human intent.
TCT:More important is how brilliant Braid is
Okay, we're never going to agree on that subject, so we should probably avoid it before I get another thread locked. ;)