   Old-school genres.
  To get straight to the point, can an old-school genre make it in today's world of pseudo-realistic 3D graphics and big-budget game development? Things like vertical shooters, platformers (possibly with some 3D twists to their graphics) or even text-based MUDs?  I could, say, design a sophisticated platformer, but how many would want to play it, or pay to play it?I suppose this question is more about presentation and demographics rather than actual game design, but I am curious to hear what people have to say on this front.   
  Define "make it". Vertical shooters, platformers, and text-based MUDs are "making it" every day, despite having low market penetration compared to GTA or WoW. Casual games, and mobile games specifically, have been a renaissance for many of these older genres, and nearly any genre that was popular in the past can find a niche audience today.   ;  Nintendo is a good example.  For example, Super Paper Mario uses a lot of gameplay mechanics from the original Super Mario Bros, and pulls it off well.  Super Smash Bros is similar to street fighter or mortal kombat.  Bomberman Blast on wiiware...  Etc etc...Geometry War on XBox is another good example.  The gameplay itself have to be of very good quality to catch on.  But yeah, it does happen.   ;  It's not the Genre, it's the content that matters.   ;  There are plenty of old school genre's alive and kicking today.  They never went away, and despite popular belief, still have an audience.  What people fail to take into account is gaming is bigger than ever today, compared to 20 years ago.  But with a new and much larger audience, the bigger companies catered towards that audience.  So while an adventure game 20 years ago considered 100,000 fans an incredible success, today that's more of a niche fanbase.   ;Quote:Original post by SneftelDefine "make it". Vertical shooters, platformers, and text-based MUDs are "making it" every day, despite having low market penetration compared to GTA or WoW. Casual games, and mobile games specifically, have been a renaissance for many of these older genres, and nearly any genre that was popular in the past can find a niche audience today.Exactly.If "makeing it" means you are spoken about in the same breath as John Carmack and Cliff Bleszinski, constantly make the cover of Game Informer, have a different Ferrari to drive every day of the week, have an entourage of 'booth babes' and such...well no, you likely can't "make it" produceing old-school games.But if "makeing it" means you can keep a modest roof over your head and food on the table produceing old-school games...Then that is a definete YES!Although Johnathan Blow's Braid on X-box live arcade is more of an exception than general rule of "makeing it", it does illustrait what is possable. He worked on Braid for three years, sinking over $180k into its development. It ended up selling over 55,000 copies in its first week of release on the Live Arcade, and even after Microsoft takes its cut, thats about half a million dollars in one week...none too shabby.   ;  I think there is definately a market for old school type games. I personally love games that have four basic movement controls (up,down,left,right) and a single button action (e.g. fire or jump).However, I think to be a success, you can't use an old school style of game as an excuse for poor quality. You have to have a fun game and you need to take advantage of all the technology at your disposal.Platformers and top-down shooters are fun. But if the graphics and sound look like they are 10 years out of date, nobody is going to play for long. However, if the game looks good and plays good, you will have an audience.John   ;  You can tell that I'm a bit of a newcomer when it comes to game development!  I personally do prefer the old-school games over newer ones, although there are a few exceptions.  I'm not much of an expert when it comes to what the populace thinks in general, so thanks for the insight everyone.   ;Quote:Although Johnathan Blow's Braid on X-box live arcade is more of an exception than general rule of "makeing it", it does illustrait what is possable. He worked on Braid for three years, sinking over $180k into its development. It ended up selling over 55,000 copies in its first week of release on the Live Arcade, and even after Microsoft takes its cut, thats about half a million dollars in one week...none too shabby.Actually, xbox-live arcade is a good example of old-school games "making it". Besides Braid you have Geometry Wars 2 (2d shooter), Castle Crashers (arcade brawler), Bionic Commando (remake), Megaman 9 (remake), all of which were commercial successes. Most games in Xbox Community Games are also old-school, but the success of this platform is still uncertain (Microsoft hasn't revealed unit sales yet).   