The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
Second, maybe "Jon's" age would help us better understand his assumptions of the market trends back then. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was in my mid-teens in the height of the 16-bit era, and while I would have been fairly impressed with the graphics we are discussing, it certainly wouldn't have been nearly exciting enough to draw my attention away from the developing world or 3d graphics, which, rudimentary as they were by today's standards, added a whole different dimension to the games that couldn't come from anything 2d, no matter how good it looked. You have to remember, looking back on early 3d games can be almost painful now, but looking FORWARD to them back then was incredibly exciting, partially because we didn't have PS4 games to compare them to.
That all being said, even as a self proclaimed conspiracy theorist (as much as I hate the term), I think it's hilarious that "Jon" is trying to inject this "they were hiding the good from us so they could inflict the bad on us" scenario. These are video games, not nuclear weapons.
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
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- Posts: 378
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
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- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
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- Posts: 261
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
I am really not interested in this discussion as I think its time has passed and we obviously have some amazing looking 2D games out there in the last couple generations that make it seem like a weird proposal to try to resurrect the technology you speak of. I guess I just don't understand what all your fuss is about, and I can't fathom an answer that would make me care any more than I already do, and I think a lot of people would agree with me.
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
-Rayman Origins=2D and tanked
-Rayman Legends=2D and tanked.
-New Super Mario Bros U=did nothing to make the Wii U a runaway success.
-Sonic 4: sales apparently weren't great enough to warrant a physical release. Also, Sonic's 3D outings eclipsed them, if I recall correctly.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: like NSMU, it did little to reverse the fortunes of the Wii U.
Now, the flip side:
-GTA 5: across all platforms, the best selling game in the history of the franchise.
-Destiny: the hype surrounding this game was INSANE!
-every yearly Call of Duty sells over 10 million copies.
3D gaming, in this day and age, is the rule and 2D gaming is the exception. As much as I hate it, being a diehard fan of 2D, that's the nature of things. Of course New Super Mario DS was made! It was the right game on the right system at the right time! Had that game come out on, say, the GameCube, I doubt that it would have reversed the sales trend. The DS was the right system for NSMB just like the Wii was the perfect system for NSMBWii. If you look at overall sales figures, over the past twenty years, you'll see why developers mainly stick to 3D. Here's an example for you: Majora's Mask 3D. That game, in it's first week, sold almost 900k worldwide! That's insane, especially considering that it sort of stiffed when it came out on the 64! My point? Compare it to the sales of the amazing Link Between Worlds.
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
I've said for a couple years that Yoshi's Island is my favorite 2D platformer of all time. (A 2D Mario game in 1996?!?! NO WAY. Oh wait, it stars Yoshi so it doesn't count). But I've found my new #2-- Rayman Legends. Played it for the first time on PS4 a month ago and it's insanely challenging and fun. Finished all the levels and got 90 percent of the trophies. That games an instant classic, IMO.
As Banjo said, it didn't do all that well sales-wise. I believe it did turn a profit after being on almost every platform, but Ubisoft may think twice about green lighting another one. Shame if this series dies.
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
[QUOTE=Jon]Let me correct you guys' mistakes as always. First off, Native wasn't a 4 second demo, it was a playable level. Second, you all claim that all these companies cared about was money and that's why they didn't put out 2d games. Well, if they cared about money, why didn't they come out with a 2d Super Mario game starring Mario from 1991-2006? Every single one has been a top 5 seller for its respective systems. Again, I said I wouldn't bold, but you guys can't seem to answer my questions. And you guys' assertions that no one wanted 2d in 1995 but everyone wanted it in 2006 and that's why it came back (with New Super Mario Bros.) is bogus. If anything, with 3d technology getting better and better over the years, the demand for 2d should be less and less. Again, someone answer the question in bold please.[/QUOTE]
You're great at answering questions and terrible at listening to answers. Worse yet, you seem unable to answer a single question yourself. Let me ask you this: So in your version of reality, Nintendo looked at the gaming landscape in the mid-90's, knew that they would make boatloads of money if they just continued pumping out 2D Mario sequels on the N64, but they walked away from that success and money because they hated 2D that much?? Think about it before you answer. In your reality, Nintendo hates (or hated) 2D gaming-- the very thing that had put them at the top of the industry for 2 consecutive generations-- so much that they would willingly cut into their own profits and guaranteed success to SUPPRESS 2D gaming technology. That sounds rational to you? And it's not you who's ridiculous, it's everyone else?
And why stop at Nintendo and Mario? Aren't there other developers who created 2D games during this time. I mean, Sega created the Saturn to be a pretty advanced 2D gaming system. Because they stayed 2D when everyone else was going 3D that it was a massive success and everyone bought one and the Saturn was a massive financial success, right? In fact, the Saturn was SO successful that Sega doubled down and the Dreamcast was focused on 2D gaming again, right? And the Dreamcast was SO successful that Sega is still making consoles today. Other companies took Sega's lead and the 6th generation was dominated by 2D gaming, yes? Do you know why people keep taking cheap shots at you and assuming you're a teenager? Because of your attitude and complete ignorance of gaming culture and history. I was blown away when you said you grew up during the NES era. It seems if that were true, you wouldn't be approaching these 20 year old topics with such little logic and basing your entire argument on hearsay and conjecture.
Everyone's answered your question about the decline in 2D gaming: people wanted 3D. Critics wanted 3D and criticized 2D games that came out during the late 90s as being stuck in the past. Sales numbers don't lie. They still don't-- yes, there's a welcome resurgence in 2D gaming, but it's mostly due to the retro-vibe. They're downloadable titles for under $20. No one is willing to pay full retail price for a 2D game if "Mario" isn't in the title. Create an alternate reality all you want, but this is the real world.
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
Basically, imagine a world where publishers got scared of producing 2D or one where the siren song of 3D technology in a technology industry was too hard to ignore. You would have a world where not a lot of 2D games were made. Now, fast forward to a generation raised on 3D. Then, give them an insanely popular couple of systems (the DS and Wii, and the GBA before that) and give them 2D games on those. Suddenly, they kind of like it, and it shows. However, give them a few more years and they get 2D games FOR FREE. Now try selling them 2D games again. Only a select few franchises will sell good at full price in 2D. However, for free or cheaper, guess what, they sell again.
It really isn't that hard to believe publishers would talk themselves into being afraid of a trend that wasn't real. Jim Sterling did a really great video on that, which I will link below.
Now, would that mean there was a suppression of 2D. Not really. More of a slight misallocation of development resources.
But whatever the case, despite the 2D failures many of you have brought up, it is pretty likely that today far more people spent far more hours playing 2D games on Facebook, through Steam and gog.com, from Big Fish Games, and on their phone than will play 3D games this year (minus, maybe, flat, grainy Minecraft). It really is likely that 2D is, right now, more popular than it has ever been, and will only continue to increase in popularity.
Developers are reacting to the trend again. And again, judging from how many of them were talking about the death of consoles before this generation (I even believed them) they were close to misallocating resources all over again, and in the opposite direction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOi5aDQKrYc
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The Twisted Farce that is the Evolution of 2d
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