The Decline of 3D Platformers

Question

What contributed to the decline of sales of 3D platformers over the past decade? (Other than Microsoft's acquisition of Rareware.) Would it be a mistake for a developer other than Nintendo (or indie developer) to start working on one in 2011?

Answer 1

I think there's a few reasons behind 3d platformers declining in popularity, and thus, declining in sales (and since sales is the defining metric for what types of games are made, you can draw your conclusions from that).

First, Jeff's comment about people simply not comprehending 3d too well on a 2d screen. Now, you could argue that FPS games are 3d on 2d screens, and they've been around for ages. But the key factor there is the camera position. People can translate a first person view better than over the shoulder camera. Now, there's open world games (GTA/Just Cause, etc) that use an over the shoulder camera, and they're still around. But how many times do you need to do precision platforming in those games? Rarely, if ever.

So, the camera is a problem, especially combined with precision platforming that is the stable of most platformer games in general. Which brings up the question of controls. You need good, solid controls, otherwise your game will be considered hard, or frustrating, or just plain bad. This is a problem with any game, but it's definitely true of platformers.

Finally, all those games mentioned in your original question likely were too much. Specifically, I'm talking about Donkey Kong 64. It's a game with too many bad worlds and too many characters who have little to no variety in control or theme. Overall, it's a chore to get through and there's very few 'good' parts. For the same reason adventure games died because of terrible puzzle design, 3d platformers died because they were all collectathons.

Now, all of that said, they're not completely dead (Mario Galaxy has sections of 'true 3d'). But creating a good 3d platformer is hard, and the asset creation time would be better spent on creating a more popular game type (like an FPS, at the moment). 2d platformers (even 2.5d like Shadow Complex) are still cheaper to make, and it's too much of a risk to make a full sized 3d platformer at the moment.

Answer 2

Profit. It always comes back to the money.

You make a game sell it for the asking price and start again. this cycle has been broken in the last decade. as consoled have moved online it has offered the opportunity to sell expansions to games in the same way pc games have done for years.

think how long a 3d platformer takes to make and then think how long it takes to make an update for it and how limited the update will be. now consider an fps like cod, they can knock out a half dozen maps in a few weeks and sell them for a few quid to millions all over the world. I don't have numerical proof but I would be willing to bet they have made almost as much on the map packs as they have the game itself if you account for production time.

3D platformers do not lend themselves well to this production model, yes it is possible but not nearly as profitable.

Edit: to your other question there is no reason an indie developer should not make a 3d platformer it just is not the most profitable way of working. having said that as there are so few 3d platformers if you make a good one it may succeed through lack of competition.

Answer 3

I guess not, there are some 3d platformers being developed right now, eg. bionic commando rearmed 2, is going to be released feb2011 exclusive on ps3/xbox360. or there was another 3D platformer named shadow complex released at 2009 for xbox.

Answer 4

A few things come to mind for me:

1. Recent global economic problems -- people buy less when they don't have money, and in recent years this factor seems to have especially effected many industries that provide "want" products rather than "need" products (it's important to note, however, that a few vendors have been very successful at creating a perceived "need" factor for their products such as Apple with their iPhone, which serves to skew this even further).

2. Lack of variation -- to many people, 3D games are all essentially the same, just with different wepaons/tools and scenery, with the occasional different rule. So you buy a new 3D game, is it really as exciting as it used to be after playing dozens of other 3D games over the past few years?

3. MMORPG addiction -- a lot of people got addicted to some very popular games like World of Warcraft, and spent most of their time on these games instead of purchasing and exploring new titles. When users find a game they really like, they tend to dedicate a lot more time to it, and as long as they continue to be entertained there is far less motive to look elsewhere for new gaming experiences.