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The State Of The Platform Game

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-skool-like-the-old-skool dept.

simoniker writes "Gamasutra has a rather huge article up explaining the state of the platform gaming genre, with an interesting introduction: 'Platform games used to enjoy a 15% share of the market in 1998 - and considerably more in the 16-bit era - but [has now dropped significantly]. As a consequence, marketing circles are reportedly deliberating that platform games - as a genre - are not as attractive to consumers as they once were. We believe it's not an issue of genre, but an issue of effective design principles of past being forgotten.' There follows plenty of comparisons between Sonic, Mario, Rayman, Crash, Jak, and friends! Is it time for the platformer to make a bigger comeback?"

3 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Gameboy advance by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 4, Informative

    I believe two Nintendo handhelds would like a word with you. Last time they checked 2D gaming was very much alive and quite popular.

    --
    I like muppets.
  2. Wow by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 3, Informative

    I know we get some poorly displayed articles on Slashdot but this takes the cake.

    (Page 1/31)

    Why the hell do I have to go through 31 pages when each page doesn't even display a full browser windows worth of context? We have mouse wheels in 2006, lets use them for more than skipping banner adds and FPS weapon changes.

    --
    I like muppets.
  3. Re:mmm 2d by Leiterfluid · · Score: 2, Informative

    So... Super Mario Sunshine? Sly Cooper?

    Those are all 3-D platformers that were loads of fun. The number of dimensions are irrelevant, it's how the game holds your interest. My complaint about the Xbox 360 is that there aren't enough platformers. With one or two exceptions, it's all about sports titles and first-person shooters.