What if scenario?

[dreama1]

Say in the mid 90s the gaming community rejected 3d games, it just didn't take and 2d games ended up winning the battle somehow. or say it got delayed for another 10+ years for 3d games  to take off. What kind of games would exist in that period? Long and forgotten franchises having 32bit conversions, and even sequals?


What would the gaming landscape be like today, and what kind of twisted games would there be? Would there be ultra polished 2d platformers, and rpgs ruling? It's probably hard to imagine.

[badATchaos]

I'd think you'd start seeing what a lot of independent developers are doing today. Start adding a bit more depth/complexity than just your run-of-the-mill platformer or fighter. I would take a guess in that a lot of devs would have started doing more hand-drawn/painted graphics too; think Child of Light, Rayman Origins. From a marketing stand-point this might make sense with all the success the traditionally animated movies were seeing at the time. -Granted cartoons pretty much switched over to 3D by the early 2000's.

Maybe some more pre-rendered stuff too; like DK Country. We did see alot during the PS1 era where the developers couldn't quite get all the 3D detail they wanted out of limited processing power so they'd cheat. We see this in Resident Evil(s), Grim Fandango, Final Fantasy(s), Myst, StarCraft (units, background objects).  There's still a lot you can do with depth without technically being 3D.

As far as what would be happening today... I have no idea. haha.

[kamikazekeeg]

I feel like the industry wouldn't have grown as much as it have and would've greatly stagnated by being stuck to that of the 2D style without the 3D boom.  I'm sure the scene would much more saturated with what we are seeing in the indie scene and smaller budget projects, like badAtchaos brought up with Ubisoft.  Really polished 2D sprites and hand drawn things.  Alot of the 2D stuff nowadays really hinges on the retro hype, because they aren't experiences that are had anymore, but if those experiences were always there, does it continue to have the same appeal? For some sure, but as a whole, I don't know if it would.  Thinking about it, I'd be bummed if 3D hadn't taken off as tons of my favorite games are 3D games lol

[badATchaos]

lol That got me thinking. In another 5 years (let's say) will there be developers making games look like mid-late 90s 3D games to create "retro" appeal? I just can't see someone saying "Oh yeah, we're going to make a new game that has the graphics level of Super Mario 64." At the same time I'm sure some thought the same thing about 8-bit era games.

[kamikazekeeg]

lol That got me thinking. In another 5 years (let's say) will there be developers making games look like mid-late 90s 3D games to create "retro" appeal? I just can't see someone saying "Oh yeah, we're going to make a new game that has the graphics level of Super Mario 64." At the same time I'm sure some thought the same thing about 8-bit era games.

I want this...I want an influx of 90's 3D retro exploration platformers like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie.  2D is dead, long live 3D! lol

[gartcat]

I sometimes think about what would have happened if FMV games had really caught on.   

[koemo1]

When there were no 3D games:
I think the N64 would have sucked. The Saturn and Playstation would both be verry popular. Perhaps Sega would release a New handheld based on the 32X hardware. Also the mascot craze would lasted a lot longer. Also pollygons wouldn't be used and pixelated stuff would look more awesome then ever! Some developpers would continue producing NES games since there would be still a market for them and the gameboy color would include a back-lit screen.