[QUOTE="sandbox3d"]
Yes, I understand that 2d platformers are generally much easier to make. Not so much from design perspective, but on the production end they are a breeze.
However, when I purchase a game I'm not factoring in the hurdles that developers went through to get it up and running. I'm the end user and therefore I only care for the experience that is delivered.
If you want to start pricing games by genre based on associated issues that developers must overcome then that argument extends far beyond 2d platformers. In that case we should be paying hundreds of dollars for rpgs and 10 or 20 bucks for a shooter. Going by that kind of logic, games like FFXIII and GT5 should cost a fortune. Even if they were received as underwhelming experiences, they were truly beasts to develop.
Its a slippery slope and just does not work.
I can somewhat agree with the 2nd part of your argument, though it actually contradicts your original point.
In my opinion, Super Meat Boy is a far greater game than any of the NSMB games. I would gladly pay 50 or 60 bucks for another game like it. With Super Meat Boy and Splosion Man, they simply can not charge full price. The brands aren't strong enough. They don't have that kind of backing, nor do they have the marketing to sell at a full on price point. They have no choice.
The contradiction in you using those examples is that while they are locked to a 2d plane, they do not carry the same weight in asset development that a game like NSMB, or DKCR present. They use charming yet EXTREMELY simple art styIes that hold up well with their purely 2d graphics. All the work in those games rests in the LD and the code. Games like NSMB and DKCR employ a large team of both 2d and 3d artists and styIe aside, the assets are of a higher fidelity that extends throughout the entire game(s).
The costs of developing a game like NSMBU, on the art side alone, are exponentially more than a game like Super Meat Boy.
Of course this is not my argument, but its your own. Just showing you that it doesnt work.
locopatho
Well it's the difference between "How much should this cost" vs "How much can they get away with charging". As a business Nintendo are kings, they can do what they like and make ALL the money but as a gamer I'm more coming at it from the side of how much seems reasonable. Difference for other genres is that there aren't really any 5 or 10 euro games comparable to Skyrim or Halo 4 out, while 2D platformers are fairly split between the 50 euro Nintendo ones and the 10 euro XBLA ones that are in all honestly quite comparable.
2D vs 3D thing, I was talking in terms of gameplay mainly that it's much easier and cheaper to code it. But the graphics side as well, those Nintendo ones have a few characters and such in 3D but the actual levels are mostly flat textured boxes. Nothing too challenging to make. Games like Braid and Limbo look way better so I can't believe Ninty would pay much more for a worse graphical result.
Well you're speaking from a programmer standpoint. I only have very little experience with high level scripting, so I have nothing to say on that front. I dont feel like putting my foot in my mouth.
However, I am a full time digital artist for film and games. I understand this side of the business all too well. Limbo really cant even begin to compare to NSMB or DKCR in asset workload. Great styIe, but not even close when it comes to actual work. Braid is a better argument. Still not quite there, but close enough to give you a case. The amount of visual content in Braid is tiny though. NSMBU may repeat assets like crazy, but I'm willing to bet the total library is at least 10x bigger than Braids.
Either way, thats not really my argument.
Is the game worth it to the end user? Does it provide the experience you're looking for with a pleasing amount of content? That's all that really matters.
And in the case of the NSMB series the answer is a yes for many people. If not, the games wouldnt sell the ridiculous #s they do.
I fully understand where you're coming from. I guess our opinions of a games worth just differ. If some super developer created a game that only cost him a couple of hundred bucks to develop over the course of a week, but that game turned out to be very enjoyable I would have no issues plopping down the full ticket price. I dont care what goes into it. Just the final product.
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