"2D" ZELDA GAMES OBSOLETE?

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I have recently played Link's Awakening and I have noticed that Nintendo doesn't make 2d Zelda games no more. It's like 2d has become obsolete. I think Oracles, Link's Awakening, Minish Cap and even the very first Zelda were great games. These type of Zelda games have seem to be forgotten and I wonder if it's because 2d is obsolete now. It seems like all the new games today are about graphics and 3d worlds. Yes, there are still games made in 2d, cave story and rayman to name a couple, but it seems all the big developers only make 3d games now. I'm starting to get off topic though. My main point is that the 2d Zelda games have become obsoleted by 3d Zelda games, thus losing the original Zelda type games (top down view). What do you guys think?

Yes. Games today are about graphics and 3d worlds. *exits*
Pretty much, yeah. The hardware is capable of so much more than 2-dimensional planes, so it's only natural. So, yeah, they are obsolete.

Not like I wouldn't like to see a new 2D Zelda game, but that probably won't happen.
Nah. 2d isn't obsolete. Neither is probably 2d zelda obsolete. Though I guess it depends on what you mean by 2d. Zelda games with 2d-gameplay aren't obsolete but I guess in a way Zelda games with sprite graphics might be.

Though on the other hand I guess they could make a sprite-based Zelda if they really put their mind to it. Maybe now for the 25th anniversary they'll "upgrade" the graphics on some old zelda game and release it together with something else. (Though again it'd probably be easier and cheaper to use 3d-models...)
Yeah I get the feeling some of you guys think Phantom Hourglass and that train game don't exist?
author=Darken
Yeah I get the feeling some of you guys think Phantom Hourglass and that train game don't exist?


Well, I was talking about 2D sprites. That's where my mind instantly goes when you throw out "2D." I can't help it; I grew up with 2D gameplay and sprites being the same thing.

sprites = yeah probably obsolete--in Zelda's case, at least.
2D gameplay = heavens no!
Nope, they're far from obsolete.
Thiamor
I assure you I'm no where NEAR as STUPID as one might think.
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Obsolete is a strong word to use. Yeah, they aren't used by professional game developers, much, but they aren't obsolete. We, as a gaming community, still are using them for the most part. You hardly see anyone here making 3D games, and to me, that makes all the difference in the world. I want to actually bring back the Sprite style and have it catch back on with the professional, main-stream gaming developers and communities.

I feel there is still so much potential and possibilities left with the 2D, pixel (sprite) graphics. They are much easier to use, and can be used so many different ways, yet you see many people going into 3D programming and such. There are WAY MORE artists than programmers, and many people who can do Art on the computer(s). There is still so much left that is unfinished in terms of 2D gaming.
author=Thiamor
Obsolete is a strong word to use. Yeah, they aren't used by professional game developers, much, but they aren't obsolete.

I guess "professional" isn't quite the right word you were looking for. Plenty of professionals use 2d-graphics. There's a gigantic market out there of professional developers that work in 2d. The most obvious is probably the casual market. Web-based games and mobile games. But also wargames have traditionally been fairly 2d. (though lately many strategy games have put in 3d models of tanks and infantry into the games. Such as the Paradox games and even Football Manager have had a 3d match engine for a couple of years not)

The Nintendo DS Zelda games are 2D (Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks) despite using 3D Graphics, they are 2D games as much as any other 2D Zelda game was 2D.

In fact, the developers actually prefer to use 2D for Zelda games, as well as the cartoony style graphics, because it allows them to be more creative with new tools/equipment and settings. There was an article about the choice they made to differentiate the Cel-shaded timeline and the 'realistic' timeline so much. There were always more interesting items in Wind Waker and the DS games mentioned above than there was in Twilight Princess comparatively.

However Skyward Sword indicates a recombination of the two. They are using the slightly celshaded style so that they can properly accentuate things for gameplay reasons, not stylistic ones. Particularly the stancing and positioning of enemy's and their weapons will make a large difference in how you defeat them. Something that would be difficult to show with realistic, brown on brown graphics.
author=Thiamor
Obsolete is a strong word to use. Yeah, they aren't used by professional game developers, much, but they aren't obsolete. We, as a gaming community, still are using them for the most part. You hardly see anyone here making 3D games, and to me, that makes all the difference in the world. I want to actually bring back the Sprite style and have it catch back on with the professional, main-stream gaming developers and communities.

I feel there is still so much potential and possibilities left with the 2D, pixel (sprite) graphics. They are much easier to use, and can be used so many different ways, yet you see many people going into 3D programming and such. There are WAY MORE artists than programmers, and many people who can do Art on the computer(s). There is still so much left that is unfinished in terms of 2D gaming.

I can't agree with the bolded text. The reason that many developers are using 3D models, even in 2D games (read: New Super Mario Bros) is that creating 3D models and animating them is much easier than spriting, especially with the massive amount of 3D animators/modelers at the moment vs. the relatively small amount of pixel artists that specialize in character graphics/animation.
Hmm, I forgot that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit tracks are 2d games, but that aside. What I should have said was that sprites have become obsolete in the Zelda world. I think it's a shame too because they can do so much with them.

Note: I have played all the toon Zelda games and to me their like an entirely different Zelda world, so I usually don't think of it when talking about Zelda.
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
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One of the great things about the advance of technology means we can make 2D games a lot easier than ever before, so while major companies like Microsoft are gonna keep pumping out fully 3D games, smaller developers (ex. independent/small studios) can very easily make good games with 2D mechanics and art. Spriting is much easier than before too.
I miss the snes and gb/c/a games.
author=slashphoenix
One of the great things about the advance of technology means we can make 2D games a lot easier than ever before, so while major companies like Microsoft are gonna keep pumping out fully 3D games, smaller developers (ex. independent/small studios) can very easily make good games with 2D mechanics and art. Spriting is much easier than before too.


Again, I just can't agree with this. Developers (even indie developers) very often use 3D graphics even in 2D games because it is much easier than Spriting. While Spriting has its benefits, a skilled 3D Modeller, Animator, and Texturer can whip out the work of a group of spriters much faster.
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
Yes, but Modeling, Animating and Texturing all require more training and higher levels of skill, as well as expensive programs to do it in. While a spriter might use Photoshop (if not a free knockoff), a 3D modeler might use Maya, Photoshop, and maybe even Mudbox. Not to mention that even being trained as a 3D modeler doesn't mean that you're proficient in all three specialties (four if you count Rigging, five for Rendering if you want nice cutscenes), and the time it takes to create good looking 3D models, terrain, etc... you wouldn't necessarily save much time or money relying on 3D.

It's certainly viable if you have people with the training, but it's not easy, since 3D has a higher initial barrier to entry. Neither is definitively superior to the other; it depends on the style of the game the designer is looking for. While I doubt AAA companies will be releasing tons of 2D-sprite games anytime soon, as far as the indie community goes sprites are alive and staying strong.
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