[General Discussion] Are developers afraid to make 2D games on Consoles now?

The short answer: Sony won't let anyone make 2D games on the PS2.

The long answer: Sony won't allow 2D games because they honestly don't sell, and Sony doesn't want to dilute their console library with "bad" games, which is how the Atari was undone. That attitude used to infuriate me, but now I can't really blame them for that. Bear in mind, we are no longer the mainstream of video gamers. The average consumer sees a game with 2D graphics, says "Those graphics look like shit, they're not in 3D" and bypass the game entirely.

It's a sad state of affairs, but that's reality. 2D games aren't made anymore because people won't buy them. (Most) game companies are interested in making good games, but more importantly they want to make money. So, they make games that make money. If that means frontloading a game with flashy FMVs and special effects for summoning monsters at the expense of coherent storytelling and gameplay, then that's what they'll do - because the consumer base eats it up.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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Posted by evilboris
No no, they don't allow 2d games period. At least SCEU doesn't. Metal Slug 3? The cream a la cream of the series, it was more of a piece of art then a game itself with all the stuff they creamed into it (it featured much, MUCH more ideas and almost perfect implementations of them then many 3d games do today) - and they didn't allow the USA release because it was a 2d game. It was released in Japan, in Europe, on the Xbox, but not on the USA PS2. They don't want "graphically inferior" games or some such bullshit.

Christ boris, get your shit together if you're going to make such sweeping arguments. Metal Slug 4+5 were released in the US. Capcom's Street Fighter Anniversary Collection - marketing focused solely on the inclusion of Street Fighter 2 - was released in the US. The Arc the Lad games were released in the US. The Megaman collection was released in the US. All 2D games.

It's true that Sony does a lot of arm-twisting to companies that want to publish 2D games here. They pretty much have to be published as collections to get sold. Sony disallows any 2D games at all unless they think the games will turn a substantial profit. 2D games appear mainly in collections with the reasoning that consumers will be more willing to plunk down their money if they think they're getting a lot for their money.

Ergo, Street Fighter stands pretty much on its own because it's a classic title, though I suspect Sony might've had a little something to do with Capcom throwing in a port of SF3.3 as a bonus. Metal Slug 4 + 5 have to be sold together because Sony (rightfully) doesn't think they'll sell well individually, and is why Metal Slug 3 alone got passed over. And so on.

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At least in Japan they actually care about the game itself

Hahahahahaha

You want me to dig up the weekly sales records from Japan showing licenced shit like the Full Metal Alchemist games and One Piece fighting games perpetually sitting at the top of the list? Or hell, just look at the wild success of Dragon Quest 7. Japan's mainstream audience is just as asinine as consumers here. The only reason that 2D games are allowed to flourish in Japan - assuming they're even any good, as a lot of games don't get ported because they're crap - is because there's no expensive licensing and localization issues involved.

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