THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
ABSTRACT Video gaming is an entertainment industry that became big at the end of the previous century, in the start there were only 2D games but since "I, Robot" 3D slowly overtook the market. Now that
all big releases seem to be in 3D, does this mean that there is no more room for 2D games? By looking at what reasons there are to create 2D games as well as statistics concerning unit sales and critical acclaim, the author tries to find out how 2D is doing, on which platforms it is doing the
best and if mobile gaming or social networks have a positive influence. In the end it seems like 2D
is long from dead, especially portable and mobile platforms as well as social networks are keeping the 2D percentile up.
Abstract
2
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 About the author ............................................................................................................................................... 4 The question ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 Hypothesis ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 Why is this interesting? .................................................................................................................................... 6 The difference between 2D, 3D and 2.5D games........................................................................................... 7 2D: Two-dimensional ......................................................................................................................................... 7 3D: three-dimensional ........................................................................................................................................ 8 2.5D: two-and-a-half-dimensional ...................................................................................................................... 8 2D because of restrictions ................................................................................................................................... 9 Money .................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Time .................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Skill .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 2D as a feature .................................................................................................................................................. 11 An art choice ................................................................................................................................................... 11 A unique selling point .................................................................................................................................... 12 The state of 2D games ..................................................................................................................................... 13 The start of 3D ............................................................................................................................................... 13 Success by units sold .................................................................................................................................... 13 Success by critical acclaim ............................................................................................................................ 16 Success per platform ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Success on mobile phone.............................................................................................................................. 24 Success on social networks........................................................................................................................... 24 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................... 26
Table of contents
3
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR The author of this research document is Kasper Mol, a 20 year old student from the Netherlands who is writing this document as a graduation paper for his study at Qantm College Amsterdam. The
author has been studying Interactive Design and Animation at Qantm for the past 2 years and before that got his VWO diploma at a regular high school.
THE QUESTION With the rise of indie developers, mobile platforms and social media networks is the market share of 2D games in the US saved, and are there other factors keeping it alive?
HYPOTHESIS For a long time after videogames were first introduced in the 60's, 2D was the most popular or even only way of doing things simply because the technology wouldn't allow anything else. But
because technology is always getting better it didn't take long before 3D made its introduction. Ever since that moment 3D has been gaining on 2D and has now long overtaken it. SMARTPHONES AND SOCIAL MEDIA However, now that almost half of all smartphone users plays games on their smartphone at least
once a month (COMSCORE, 2010), statistics show that over 60% of the online population in the US has a social network profile (CHECK FACEBOOK, 2010) and according to NewZoo in 2010
61% of the US social network users also play games on it, this opens new opportunities for 2D games. The same study also shows that online casual games are being played only 3% less than console games, these games are almost exclusively 2D.
Even though mobile phones and the internet do allow for 3D games, this is not always worth it. An average 2D game is a lot easier, faster
and thus cheaper to develop than an average 3D game. Especially because of the financial crisis more and more developers are opting for
the "safe" route of 2D games which require a smaller investment of time and money and because of that will either grant smaller profits faster, or cause smaller losses faster.
Iphone 3 ŠApple 2009
There are only a small amount of gaming companies that can still afford to work on triple-A titles because they either have a really big name, a popular franchise, lots of money or a combination of those three.
Introduction
4
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
NEW PLATFORMS the
platforms
introduction
such
as
of
Steam,
various Xbox
new
Braid ŠJonathan Blow 2008
Also,
Live
Arcade and the Playstation Network has opened up doors for independent (indie)
developers to publish and make money with
cheaper
150
indie
games.
Steam,
being
the
biggest indie platform, already sells almost games
ranging
anywhere
between 2 and 20 euro's. Indie developers, developers
without
publishers,
means
in
2D
very
almost all cases that they have a really low
budget,
and
this
makes
interesting for them as well.
Braid, a critically acclaimed (9.3 on Metacritic*) 2D indie game
Some of these platforms are being combined as well so some of the numbers might be the same
people, but what will happen when people can play online casual games through Facebook on their
smartphone? This has the potential to make the market even bigger and because these games would most likely be free, this opens up extra room for more 2D games. THE PREDICTED SITUATION The author suspects that the market share of 2D games is at an all-time high right now or will reach that within the next 2 to 4 years, to go back down again after that. When the world gets
through the financial crisis the smaller game companies will start to pick up 3D again. The author does not believe 2D will completely die out, as long as there are gamers there will be people wanting to make games; and as long as there are people wanting to make games there will be indie developers, which will always have generally low budgets and will keep a lot of them to pick
2D. There will also always be room for games that choose to be 2D purely for the sake of 2D, but these will most likely be in insignificant numbers.
* Metacritic.com is a site that computes weighted averages of reviews from top critics and publications for a given movie, TV show, video game, or album.
Introduction
5
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
WHY IS THIS INTERESTING? Games have become increasingly more popular over the past years. While first only being played by a small group of people, research has shown that in 2010 75% percent of the US population with
internet access plays games (NEWZOO, 2010). This shows that games are a big market that can compete with other entertainment industries. The same research also shows that 88% of social network users play games, making this a huge platform.
Games are their own new form of media just like books and movies once were. Games also are
getting more social with the years, there are already some huge LAN events and e-Sports (electronic sports, competitive gaming) are becoming bigger and bigger. One example of how big e-Sports are getting is the GSL Starcraft 2 tournament, having a first price of around 85,000 USD (TEAMLIQUID, 2010).
Dreamhack Winter ŠDreamhack 2009
A picture of Dreamhack Winter 2009, Dreamhack holds the official world record as world’s largest LAN party*.
2D from a graphical point of view has been below 3D games ever since technology allowed it, but if one looks at the technological requirements for an average 3D game and with that also the work
that is needed to create one this will always be more than for the average 2D game. Now that games are such a big market and most of the gaming platforms are advanced and popular enough
to still allow making profit after putting in years of development time, the amount of 2D games compared to 3D games is very little indeed.
However now that because of the economy a lot of game development companies are going bankrupt, other companies will have to change their methods in order not to end up the same way.
* A LAN (Local Area Network) party is an event where people who play videogames bring their computer and play games against or with each other over a local network.
Introduction
6
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2D, 3D AND 2.5D GAMES 2D: TWO-DIMENSIONAL The 'D' in these definitions stands for dimensional, 2D then of course stands for two-dimensional. When the author speaks of a 2D game he is talking about a game that consists purely of 2D
graphics and gameplay. A 2D graphic, or sprite, can be many things ranging from drawings and pixel-per-pixel art to (manipulated) photographs or even pre-rendered 3D. In the last case we are talking about 2D and not 3D because after rendering the object has lost the ability of changing viewpoint, when a 3D object is rendered it becomes a flat image thus 2D.
Super Street Fighter II ŠCapcom 1993
Ken character from the Street Fighter series, left as pixel art and right as a drawing. Both were part of a sequence of images for an animation in different 2D games
By 2D gameplay the author means that whatever the player is controlling can only be transformed (moved) across the X and Y axes. In a full 2D game there are no game objects that are
transformed across the Z axis but this illusion could be created by scaling them up to get closer to the screen or down to get farther away.
perfected
this
illusion
by
creating
a
Doom Šid Software 1993
One game that is very well-known had almost
very
convincing 3D-looking world while actually only working
from
2D
assets.
There
is
some
discussion whether or not ID Software's Doom
should be considered a 3D game because it plays
and
looks
like
one,
even
though
technically it isn't. The author considers Doom a 2D game because all the assets used to create
the
game
are
2D.
Luckily
enough
nowadays it's not worth the trouble creating this 'fake' 3D anymore and not a lot of games were made this way so we don't have to consider it as a different category.
The difference between 2D, 3D and 2.5D games
7
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
3D: THREE-DIMENSIONAL When the author refers to a '3D game' in this document he is talking about a game that combines
3D gameplay and 3D graphics. By 3D graphics the author means 'actual' 3D and not 'fake' 3D like Doom. 'Actual' 3D is polygonal 3D; the word polygon comes from geometry, meaning a plane figure
that is bounded by a closed path or circuit, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments (WIKIPEDIA, 2010). In games 3D objects are comprised of a polygonal mesh (a combination of
polygons) and a material, in game engines the polygons are always triangular. A material is a
combination of textures (bitmap images) and code that defines how these textures work together with each other and the polygonal model in order to create a final asset.
Gears of War 2 ŠEpic Games 2008
Epic Games' Gears of War 2 Leviathan, a wireframe render exposing the polygons Here the polygons are still mostly square but when the mesh is exported to the game engine they will be 'triangulated'.
3D gameplay simply refers to whatever the player is controlling or makes contact with is influenced
by the three axes: X, Y and Z. Sometimes things will be transformed on the Z axes without actually affecting the gameplay by doing so, if this is the case the gameplay is still considered 2D.
2.5D: TWO-AND-A-HALF-DIMENSIONAL Trine ŠFrozenbyte 2009
2.5D games are, as one could have guessed, a combination of 2D and 3D games. A 2.5D game takes the graphics from a 3D game and the
gameplay from a 2D game, combining it into 2.5D. By all means visually a 2.5D game resembles a
3D game, engine-wise 2.5D games have the same requirements as 3D games. The only difference is that
the
gameplay
stays
on
two
dimensions
allowing the simplicity of 2D gameplay to be visually enhanced with 3D graphics. A good example is seen on the right; Trine is a game by FrozenByte that features 'old-school' 2D platform gameplay combined with 3D graphics.
The difference between 2D, 3D and 2.5D games
8
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
2D BECAUSE OF RESTRICTIONS MONEY Probably the biggest restriction any business can face is money, this is pretty much connected to
time because the more time one spends, the more employees they have to pay resulting in losing more money. For game companies a 2D game can be a good way of taking less risk because if the game doesn't turn out to be a best-seller, at least it didn't cost them as much. For indie developers money is also a big constraint but in a different way.
Indie developers that are just starting out are usually a group of people with similar skill or interest that want to build a game together, and will most likely not work with salaries. However, to create a
game one needs expensive hard- and software, including but not limited to extra monitors, digital drawing tablets, 2D software (such as Adobe Photoshop) and 3D software (such as Autodesk Maya).
When one want to create a 3D game, they're still going to need 2D software to create concept art
and textures but if they are creating a 2D game they will obviously not need 3D software which already saves them thousands of euro's. A 2D game also requires a less powerful engine so there are more (and probably cheaper) options in that area as well. PRODUCT PRICE Angry Birds ŠChillingo 2010
Another way in which money can be a constraint, is for the consumer. For a long time many people
have complained about the price of a video game, even
the
author
feels
like
some
games
are
definitely not worth a 'full' price of 60 euro's (60
dollars in the US). But there are also exceptions, some games are offered at a much lower price
and can be much more entertaining, publishers should think more about not automatically putting
a full price tag on every studio-created video game.
A
cheaper
product
can
attract
more
Angry Birds, currently the best-selling iPhone game priced at only $0.99
customers, just like in any other industry, and if
2D can make a product cheaper, maybe because of that it can sell more copies. A great example of this is the iPhone game market which is growing in the portable gaming industry with high speeds (CNET, 2010), this is partly because of their big market but also because the average price of an iPhone game is only $1.12 (148APPS, 2010).
2D because of restrictions
9
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
TIME After money, a well-known big constraint is time, if we would have a limitless supply of time then neither money nor skill would be a real constriction because these are both obtained with time.
Deadlines are existent in any gaming company and are usually set by publishers, but indie developers can choose to take a lot more time, this isn't always the right decision though because if
they ever want to get their game finished they're going to have to set some limits. One of these limits could be 2D, creating a 3D game requires a much greater time span and the pipeline for creating each asset is way more extensive.
Brütal Legend ©Double Fine 2008
Also, 3D games require extra efforts such as
proper lighting, creating materials, animations have
an extra dimension which multiplies the amount of work required greatly. Look at it like this: when
creating a character for a 3D game, one (really small) part
of
the
process is creating
a
2D
character sheet, which is then used by a modeler to translate the concept to 3D. When creating a
character for a 2D game, the same amount of
effort to create a character sheet is required to create a final character, excluding animations.
A model sheet for the game Brütal Legend, the side view could be used as a finished character in a 2D game
SKILL Finally, a restriction that could cause one to choose 2D over 3D, is skill. This doesn't apply to big
game companies that create triple-a titles, these companies have a large team of skilled individuals that excel at their job, or they wouldn't have it. But when one looks at indie developers this is not always the case, indie developers are usually people that are just starting out and in a lot of cases
could not get a job at a big company. Without insinuating that 2D art is a piece of cake, 3D art requires a completely different skill set which is harder to learn. It is more likely that one can find a
group of skilled 2D artists than a group of skilled 3D artists, and a high-skilled 2D team can most likely create a better looking game than a low-skilled 3D team.
Samorost 2 ©Amanita Design 2005
Avencast ©Clockstone Studios 2010
Between Samorost 2 (2D from 2005) to the left and Avencast (3D from 2010) to the right, both indie games, which would you say has the better looking graphics? And which do you think took more time to make?
2D because of restrictions
10
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
2D AS A FEATURE One thing the author feels is an important topic to talk about in this document, is that even though it is more likely a game was made in 2D because of the cheaper price or lesser time requirements, there also exist some games that are 2D for a different reason. Even if the author is unable to
prove that certain games were made 2D because of certain reasons, he wants to show that these
games were well received (partly) because of these reasons. Of course this only applies to games that have 2D gameplay to begin with, so the developers only had to choose in terms of graphics.
AN ART CHOICE Even though 3D will in basically every case look more realistic than 2D, there are some types of graphics that can only, or much easier, be achieved in 2D compared to 3D. This counts mostly for
really stylistic ways of drawing or animating that would be a lifetime of work in 3D. Below are but a few examples of games that have a unique 2D style either by choice, or for which they have been explicitly credited, or both.
©Fuelcell Games 2010
An unreleased indie game with a very distinct style created
by
Michel
Gagné.
Joseph
Olson,
of
the
developers confirms that 2D was a conscious choice in an interview by COREGaming (2010):
"While the biggest feature is obviously Michel’s style and fluid feature quality animation at HD resolution[...]"
CASTLE CRASHERS
and PSN, selling 1.8 million times and awarded with a 8.4 on Metacritic. Castle Crashers' art style was commented on by various gaming sites to really
make the game shine and since the other games
by The Behemoth are using this same art style, one could definitely say it is a conscious choice. LIMBO A minimalistic and monochromatic game that was very
well
received
with
a
score
of
9.0
on
Metacritic. According to an article by IGN.com from 2010 about the game director Arnt Jensen, the game's origin were mood drawings and Jensen quit his job to create this game in his own vision.
2D as a feature
11
Castle Crashers
©The Behemoth 2008
A hectic 4-player co-op game released on XBLA
Limbo ©Playdead 2010
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
INSANELY TWISTED SHADOW PLANET
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
A UNIQUE SELLING POINT 2D can also be considered a unique selling point in various ways that are not directly related to art style. First of all with the up rise of social networks and casual gaming, browser-based games are
becoming more and more popular. One thing however that can still be a big obstacle for browserbased 3D games is the fact that users have to install a plug-in, for less tech-savvy users this can be something that prevents them from playing a game because they either don't understand it or
don't feel safe doing it. Another way 2D can be a unique selling point is through special in-game features. With the introduction of new platforms that don't quite support the latest technology, older
games get re-released. In those situations one can't exactly call the 2D a unique selling point but
there is one game that used a smart system to attract nostalgic gamers and people that haven't played those games yet at the same time. And there are some games that use 2D as a unique gameplay element.
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND: SPECIAL EDITION
in the end of 2010 for the small price of €9 and got
a 8.6 on Metacritic. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is based on The Secret of Monkey
©LucasArts 2009
Island, a point-and-click adventure game released in
October 1990 by Lucasfilm Games (now known as Lucas Arts). Even though TSoMI: SE is a full remake
featuring new graphics, a new soundtrack and voice
clips; one reason TSoMI: SE was so well received is that it features a button that enables one to seamlessly switch
back
and
forth
at
any
time,
even
during
conversations, between the remake and the original.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
This game was released on PC and Xbox Live Arcade
CRAYON PHYSICS DELUXE Crayon Physics Deluxe is a casual indie game released in 2009 by Kloonigames, the game has a score of 7.9
of 2008 (with an early build called Crayon Physics). The idea behind this game is extremely simple but it
allows players to use their almost unlimited imagination
to solve puzzles. In this game the player is playing on a digital sheet of paper on which a level, and in some
cases instructions, is drawn with crayons. Each level has a star that the player has to reach by drawing
various shapes with their mouse on the screen, bigger shapes will have more weight, circles can roll
etc. There are also some predefined shapes that indicate bolts or hinges allowing one to play with physics in order to finish a level.
2D as a feature
12
Crayon Physics Deluxe
©Kloonigames 2009
on Metacritic and won the Independent Games Festival
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
THE STATE OF 2D GAMES THE START OF 3D I, Robot ŠAtari 1983
There hasn't always been a battle between 2D and 3D games, 2D existed years before 3D was even invented so it is very interesting to know when this battle started, or when the first 3D game was released.
This game is I, Robot, published in 1983 by Atari. I, Robot was an arcade game which means it was played on machines specifically built for the game which players pay for by buying 'credits' for coins.
The game was also the first to feature camera control options. Sadly
enough the innovative graphics didn't attract any customers and the game was a commercial flop.
Since this game marked the start of a new player on the field: 3D, the fight was on. In order to
see how 2D and 3D have been matched up over the years one has to know the amount of successful 2D and 3D games that have been released in the past. It would be more accurate to
have an exact list with numbers indicating how many 2D and 3D games there have been in total but this is almost impossible to measure.
SUCCESS BY UNITS SOLD Of course 'successful' is too abstract to go from so this has to be defined further, however what is
considered successful changes with a lot of things of which one really important one is time. The most logical way of defining successful for this purpose would be financially successful so first of all the author will be looking at the games with the most units sold.
The author will look at the top 50 of games with most units sold in the US for each year (if
enough data can be found) and calculate a percentage difference between the amount of 2D and 3D games, then a graph can be constructed which shows an estimate of the 2D games market share.
Keep in mind that these statistics are focused on retail PC and console games only, excluding the
mobile market. Also, since a lot of profitable 2D games use the 'freemium' business model (free to play with paid premium services) and do not sell units, these games will be looked at seperately.
Accurate video game sales statistics could only be found starting in 2001, statistics concerning a top 50 in sales could only be found for 2005 and later, before this time games weren't such a huge
industry and statistics weren't fully tracked. For 2001-2004 the author will be analyzing a top 10 instead of 50, granting less accurate but still relevant results.
Units sold data was provided by The NPD Group (2001-2004) and VGChartz.com (2005-2010).
The state of 2D games
13
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
2001 #3
Pokémon Crystal
Gamecube
#9
Pokémon Silver
Gamecube
#5
Super Mario Advance
3 out of 10: ±30% 2D games in 2001
Game Boy Advance
2002 #4
Super Mario Advance 2
1 out of 10: ±10% 2D games in 2002
Game Boy Advance
2003 #2
Pokémon Ruby
Game Boy Advance
#3
Pokémon Sapphire
Game Boy Advance
2 out of 10: ±20% 2D games in 2003
2004 #6
Pokémon Fire Red
1 out of 10: ±10% 2D games in 2004
Game Boy Advance
2005 #26 Sonic Mega Collection Plus
Playstation 2
561,371 units sold
#50 WarioWare Touched!
Nintendo DS
414,178 units sold
Nintendo DS
2,249,580 units sold
Nintendo DS
820,328 units sold
2 out of 10: ±20% 2D games in 2005
2006 #3 #9
New Super Mario Bros.
Brain Age Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
#25 Big Brain Academy
#40 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team #49 Yoshi's Island
4.5 out of 50: ±9% 2D games in 2006
Nintendo DS Game Boy Advance Nintendo DS
1,264,806 units sold 675,387 units sold 588,933 units sold
New Super Mario Bros. counts as half, all characters are pre-rendered in3D and the environment, which takes up most of the game, is 2D.
2007 #4
Pokémon Diamond / Pearl Version
#18 New Super Mario Bros.
#19 Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day
#26 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day #33 Cooking Mama
#42 WarioWare: Smooth Moves
5 out of 50: ±10% 2D games in 2007
Nintendo DS
4,232,821 units sold
Nintendo DS
1,356,014 units sold
Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Nintendo Wii
1,446,992 units sold 1,067,358 units sold 878,017 units sold 718,418 units sold
WarioWare: Smooth Moves' mini games are partly 2D and partly 3D so it also counts for a half.
The state of 2D games
14
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
2008 #9
New Super Mario Bros.
#14 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day #19 Pokémon Diamond / Pearl Version
#21 Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day #26 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time[..]
Nintendo DS
2,329,817 units sold
Nintendo DS
1,639,373 units sold
Nintendo DS Nintendo DS
1,931,142 units sold 1,618,539 units sold
Nintendo DS
1,506,752 units sold
New Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo Wii
4,525,899 units sold
#13 New Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo DS
1,946,004 units sold
4.5 out of 50: ±9% 2D games in 2008
2009 #4
#11 Pokémon Platinum Version #21 Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story #45 Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force #46 Scribblenauts
5 out of 50: ±10% 2D games in 2009
Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Nintendo DS
2,954,658 units sold 1,309,021 units sold 784,604 units sold
Nintendo DS
756,333 units sold
Nintendo Wii
3,191,403 units sold
Nintendo Wii
1,601,042 units sold
2010 #4
New Super Mario Bros.
#11 Pokémon Heart Gold / Soul Silver Version #12 Just Dance
#32 New Super Mario Bros.
3 out of 50: ±6% 2D games in 2010
The state of 2D games
Nintendo DS Nintendo DS
2,954,658 units sold 741,176 units sold
15
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
UNITS SOLD: THE RESULTS
40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Sadly enough, detailed statistics couldn't be found before 2001, however with a short glance one can
already see that 2D games are in an overall decline concerning units sold and at the short end of
the stick compared to 3D. There is an obvious trend to be found in the 2D games that sold well from 2001 to 2010: the list is almost exclusively populated by titles for the Nintendo platform, especially handheld versions, which has been known for the past years for their big casual gamer
market. Also a lot of these games are for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advanced or Nintendo
Pokémon, Brain Age and New Super Mario bros dominate the 2D market in the US concerning units sold
SUCCESS BY CRITICAL ACCLAIM Next to selling units, some games can also be very successful but may not be interesting to the
biggest part of the market. These games can still be found by looking at critical acclaim. Gamerankings.com is a site that collects data from multiple review sources and combines them to
create a list of games ranked by score. The author used this list (filtering out games with less than 20 reviews) to figure out the amount of 2D games among the critically acclaimed. Just like the units sold data, these statistics will have duplicates over various platforms. However since these duplicates also exist for 3D games it would be inaccurate not to count them.
The state of 2D games
16
New Super Mario Bros.
©Nintendo 2007
Brain Age ©Nintendo 2005 ©Nintendo 2006
Pokémon Diamond Version
DS.
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
1999 #6 #7
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
#25 RollerCoaster Tycoon
#27 Heroes of Might and Magic III #31 Grandia
#34 Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete #35 Jagged Alliance 2
#36 Final Fantasy Anthology
PC
91.88% - 26 reviews
PC
87.00% - 23 reviews
PC PC
Playstation Playstation PC
91.81% - 37 reviews 86.74% - 23 reviews 85.78% - 36 reviews 85.38% - 20 reviews 85.09% - 24 reviews
Playstation
85.07% - 21 reviews
#15 Pokémon Silver Version
Gamecube
91.41% - 22 reviews
#29 Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors Expansion
PC
89.11% - 35 reviews
8 out of 50: ±16% 2D games in 1999
2000 #22 Marvel vs. Capcom 2 #36 Diablo II
#50 Street Fighter Alpha 3
#34 Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete #35 Jagged Alliance 2
#36 Final Fantasy Anthology
8 out of 50: ±10% 2D games in 2000
Dreamcast PC
Dreamcast
90.15% - 29 reviews 88.58% - 49 reviews
Playstation
85.38% - 20 reviews
Playstation
85.07% - 21 reviews
Game Boy Advance
92.68% - 41 reviews
Gamecube
91.50% - 21 reviews
PC
85.09% - 24 reviews
2001 #6
Advance Wars
#10 Mario Kart Super Circuit
#12 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons #14 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 #23 Golden Sun
#34 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon #45 Final Fantasy Chronicles
7 out of 50: ±14% 2D games in 2001
Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance
92.03% - 36 reviews 90.62% - 24 reviews 89.71% - 45 reviews 88.28% - 38 reviews
Playstation
86.70% - 22 reviews
Game Boy Advance
92.42% - 44 reviews
Game Boy Advance
91.30% - 52 reviews
2002 #7 #8
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
#13 Metroid Fusion
#26 Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 #39 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
5 out of 50: ±10% 2D games in 2002
The state of 2D games
Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance
91.70% - 38 reviews 89.52% - 32 reviews 88.33% - 27 reviews
17
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
2003 #10 Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Game Boy Advance
92.25% - 37 reviews
#29 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
Game Boy Advance
90.16% - 50 reviews
#28 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
#45 WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! #49 Fire Emblem
Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance
90.35% - 61 reviews 88.97% - 52 reviews
Game Boy Advance
88.57% - 46 reviews
#20 Metroid: Zero Mission
Game Boy Advance
89.89% - 48 reviews
#39 Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Game Boy Advance
86.89% - 40 reviews
5 out of 50: ±10% 2D games in 2003
2004 #30 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door #46 Pathway to Glory
Gamecube
88.30% - 66 reviews
N-Gage
86.37% - 21 reviews
#16 Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Nintendo DS
90.45% - 60 reviews
#19 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Nintendo DS
90.21% - 69 reviews
4 out of 50: ±8% 2D games in 2004
2005 #17 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap #26 Lumines #47 Meteos
Game Boy Advance Playstation Portable
90.22% - 65 reviews 89.80% - 75 reviews
Nintendo DS
87.84% - 61 reviews
#13 New Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo DS
89.17% - 73 reviews
#24 Tetris DS
Nintendo DS
87.22% - 58 reviews
5 out of 50: ±10% 2D games in 2005
2006 #17 Elite Beat Agents
#34 Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories #41 LocoRoco
#42 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Nintendo DS Playstation 2
Playstation Portable
88.30% - 51 reviews 85.65% - 63 reviews
85.38% - 71 reviews
Nintendo DS
85.31% - 61 reviews
#19 Final Fantasy VI Advance
Game Boy Advance
90.65% - 24 reviews
#31 Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Playstation Portable
88.26% - 47 reviews
5.5 out of 50: ±11% 2D games in 2006
2007 #24 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
#32 Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords #33 Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness #42 Planet Puzzle League
6 out of 50: ±12% 2D games in 2007
The state of 2D games
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade
Playstation Portable Nintendo DS
89.58% - 24 reviews
88.14% - 28 reviews 87.77% - 41 reviews 86.81% - 27 reviews
18
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
2008 #4
Wii
94.00% - 22 reviews
#14 Braid
Xbox Live Arcade
92.06% - 54 reviews
#22 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Xbox Live Arcade
89.77% - 48 reviews
#8
World of Goo World of Goo
#15 Chrono Trigger
#29 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix #40 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
PC
Nintendo DS
Xbox Live Arcade
92.86% - 21 reviews 91.82% - 50 reviews 88.79% - 33 reviews
Playstation Network
87.82% - 28 reviews
#12 Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Nintendo DS
90.94% - 45 reviews
#35 Plants vs. Zombies
PC
88.60% - 30 reviews
7 out of 50: ±14% 2D games in 2008
2009 #27 Peggle Deluxe
#36 New Super Mario Bros.
#43 The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition #44 Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes #46 PixelJunk Shooter
Xbox Live Arcade Nintendo Wii
Xbox Live Arcade Nintendo DS
89.33% - 30 reviews 88.12% - 56 reviews 87.44% - 25 reviews 87.40% - 26 reviews
Playstation Network
87.21% - 35 reviews
#14 Super Meat Boy
Xbox Live Arcade
90.84% - 34 reviews
#18 Kirby's Epic Yarn
Nintendo Wii
89.85% - 26 reviews
6.5 out of 50: ±13% 2D games in 2009
2010 #16 Limbo
#31 Professor Layton and the Unwound Future #32 Pokémon SoulSilver Version #35 Pokémon HeartGold Version
6 out of 50: ±12% 2D games in 2010
The state of 2D games
Xbox Live Arcade Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Nintendo DS
90.48% - 65 reviews 88.47% - 33 reviews 87.94% - 36 reviews 87.83% - 40 reviews
19
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
CRITICAL ACCLAIM: THE RESULTS
30%
20%
10%
0% 1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
First of all, one should realize that in the above list titles were sorted on their release year. In the
units sold list titles weren't filtered per year and so had duplicates over various years, without duplicates it seems 2D games still hold their ground and this shows that not just a select few franchises can exist. When ordered by critical acclaim it seems like the number of 2D games is a lot steadier over the past 10 years with the highest average being in the past 2.
A couple of trends can be seen that are very similar to what came out for units sold, especially between 20001-2005 Nintendo has been leading the market concerning 2D games. However, starting in 2006 new platforms were released such as the Playstation Portable, Xbox Live Arcade and the
Playstation Network these gave developers new reasons to create 2D games. Another trend that is very clear from these statistics is that the larger platforms (such as Xbox 360 or Playstation 3) are
not very popular for 2D games, having zero 2D titles. Their sub platforms though (XBLA and PSN)
are very popular for 2D games, this is most likely because people won't be very willing to spend
the full product price on a 2D game and developers don't want to create a cheaper (lower quality)
game for a big platform. These sub/arcade platforms and Steam for PC have allowed developers to
Nintendo DS ŠNintendo 2004
Game Boy Advance ŠNintendo 2001
offer smaller, cheaper and maybe more artistically-oriented games.
The Game Boy Advance (left) and Nintendo DS (right) have dominated the 2D market in the US with top critically acclaimed games
The state of 2D games
20
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
SUCCESS PER PLATFORM From the results gained by looking at units sold and critical acclaim over the years, we can see
that there's actually not much change concerning the market share of 2D games, concerning retail games. Before looking at mobile or social network platforms though, it is interesting to look at how
2D fares on the various platforms. The author will use critical acclaim as calculated for the previous
section, with stats from Gamerankings.com, because more data is available than with units sold. The author will look at the top 50 best scoring games on each company's latest home console and
portable console (where applicable), as well as the PC. Please note that Nintendo Wii will include
WiiWare, Xbox 360 will include Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation 3 will include Playstation Network, games from these sub platforms will be marked in cursive.
PC #16 World of Goo
2008
92.87% - 21 reviews
#25 Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
1999
91.81% - 37 reviews
#24 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
1999
91.88% - 26 reviews
#38 Planescape: Torment
1999
90.64% - 39 reviews
Nintendo Wii #4 World of Goo
2008
94.00% - 22 reviews
#13 New Super Mario Bros.
2009
88.12% - 56 reviews
4 out of 50: ±8% 2D games on the PC
#10 Kirby's Epic Yarn
2010
89.77% - 30 reviews
#19 Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars
2010
85.89% - 41 reviews
#31 Mega Man 10
2010
82.98% - 25 reviews
#26 Mega Man 9
#38 A Boy and His Blob
#39 Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth #40 Trauma Team
2008 2009 2009 2010
84.04% - 28 reviews 81.55% - 31 reviews 81.40% - 20 reviews 81.22% - 30 reviews
#48 Geometry Wars: Galaxies
2007
80.65% - 55 reviews
Playstation 3 #40 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
2008
87.82% - 28 reviews
2009
87.21% - 35 reviews
Xbox 360 #19 Braid
2008
92.06% - 54 reviews
#29 Super Meat Boy
2010
90.37% - 35 reviews
10 out of 50: ±20% 2D games on the Nintendo Wii, of which 3 are from WiiWare
#49 PixelJunk Shooter
2 out of 50: ±4% 2D games on the Playstation 3, of which 2 are from Playstation Network
#28 Limbo
#33 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
#36 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night #40 Peggle Deluxe
2010
90.48% - 65 reviews
2008
89.77% - 48 reviews
2009
89.33% - 30 reviews
2007
89.58% - 24 reviews
6 out of 50: ±12% 2D games on the Xbox 360, of which 6 are from Xbox Live Arcade
The state of 2D games
21
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
Nintendo DS #2
Chrono Trigger
2008
91.82% - 50 reviews
#5
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
2005
90.45% - 60 reviews
#4 #6 #7 #9
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
2009
90.94% - 45 reviews
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
2005
90.21% - 69 reviews
Elite Beat Agents
2006
88.30% - 51 reviews
New Super Mario Bros.
#10 Pokémon SoulSilver Version #11 The World Ends With You
#12 Professor Layton and the Unwound Future #13 Meteos
#14 Pokémon HeartGold Version #15 Kirby: Canvas Curse
#16 Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes #18 Tetris DS
#20 Planet Puzzle League
#23 Professor Layton and the Curious Village #24 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
#25 Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time #26 Advance Wars: Days of Ruin #27 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
2006 2010 2008 2010 2005 2010 2005 2009 2006 2007 2008 2008 2005 2008 2006
89.17% - 73 reviews 87.94% - 36 reviews 87.92% - 62 reviews 87.91% - 37 reviews 87.84% - 61 reviews 87.83% - 40 reviews 87.46% - 60 reviews 87.40% - 26 reviews 87.22% - 58 reviews 86.81% - 27 reviews 86.07% - 60 reviews 85.54% - 47 reviews 85.53% - 52 reviews 85.47% - 54 reviews 85.31% - 61 reviews
#28 Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
2009
85.28% - 44 reviews
#34 Pokémon Diamond Version
2007
84.98% - 53 reviews
#33 Pokémon Pearl Version #35 WarioWare D.I.Y.
#36 Space Invaders Extreme #41 Contra 4
#42 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor #43 Rhythm Heaven
#44 Bleach: The Blade of Fate #45 Picross DS
#47 Clubhouse Games #48 Sonic Rush
#49 Pokémon Platinum Version #50 Super Scribblenauts
33.5 out of 50: ±67% 2D games on the Nintendo DS
The state of 2D games
2007 2010 2008 2007 2009 2009 2007 2007 2006 2005 2009 2010
85.01% - 48 reviews 84.62% - 33 reviews 84.50% - 41 reviews 84.10% - 45 reviews 83.87% - 23 reviews 83.72% - 32 reviews 83.50% - 28 reviews 83.47% - 38 reviews 83.18% - 30 reviews 83.16% - 53 reviews 83.14% - 35 reviews 83.08% - 33 reviews
22
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
Playstation Portable #4
#9
Lumines
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
#10 Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
2005
89.80% - 75 reviews
2007
87.77% - 41 reviews
2007
88.26% - 47 reviews
#16 PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe
2009
87.05% - 21 reviews
#21 Patapon
2008
86.21% - 64 reviews
#19 LocoRoco 2
2009
#23 Patapon 2
2009
#25 LocoRoco
#26 Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords #28 Half-Minute Hero
#31 Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days
2006 2007
2009 2009
#38 Space Invaders Extreme
2008
12 out of 50: Âą24% 2D games on the Playstation Portable
86.49% - 48 reviews 85.50% - 36 reviews 85.38% - 71 reviews 85.19% - 31 reviews 84.57% - 34 reviews 84.07% - 29 reviews 82.75% - 26 reviews
SUCCESS PER PLATFORM: THE RESULTS
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0% PC
Nintendo Wii
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo DS Playstation Portable
The results from this research are very much the same as what was found in the previous results, it seems that the platforms where 2D is most prevalent are the portable platforms, with the Nintendo
DS having a big lead on the other platforms. The Nintendo DS is also the only platform on which
there are more 2D games than 3D games. When looking at the latest generation consoles that are available now (Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) one can see that especially the latter two who are
well known for their graphical capability, are not a popular housing for 2D games. However, their sub platforms Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network have given 2D games a chance to be popular.
The state of 2D games
23
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
SUCCESS ON MOBILE PHONE Of course, we have to look separately at the mobile platform because this is a completely different platform. Because the amount of widely-popular titles that sell quite well is relatively small on the mobile platform, the author made a list that isn't based on release year. The mobile platform has only been popular since the release of the iPhone which was in 2007 so this information will only
show how well 2D is represented on the mobile platform overall. To find out what are the bestselling games on the mobile platform the author used information from press releases found through Wikipedia.
TOP 10 BEST-SELLING MOBILE TITLES IN UNITS SOLD #
Title
Units sold
Dimensions
1
Angry Birds
10 million
2D
3
Sonic the Hedgehog
8 million
2D
2 4 5 6 7 8 9
Block Breaker Deluxe Doodle Jump
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Flight Control Pocket God
Brain Challenge Flick Fishing
10 Bubble Bash
8 million 5 million 3 million 2 million 2 million
1.5 million 1.3 million 1 million
2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 3D 2D
SUCCESS ON MOBILE PHONE: THE RESULTS Flick Fishing ŠFreeverse 2009
When one looks at the top 10 of the best-selling games in units sold on the mobile platform, he can easily see how underrepresented 3D is on
this ever-growing platform. In the top 10 there is only one game that is not 2D, Flick Fishing (as seen to the right), and it's very far behind the top few games that are all 2D. Even if this pattern doesn't hold up when
we would look at games that sold less, this definitely shows that creating a 2D game for the mobile platform, at the moment, has no downside.
While creating a 2D game is the cheapest and fastest, it can also be the most successful on the mobile platform.
SUCCESS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS Last but not least, a look should be taken at the social network "platform". Since Facebook's launch
in 2004 it has reached over 500 million active users within 6 years (FACEBOOK, 2010) of which
~145 million in the US of which 61% plays games on Facebook (CHECKFACEBOOK, 2010). This makes social network gaming a huge new platform and that's why it deserves its own section. With
the help of AppData.com, the author sorted through the top 50 games based on MAU (Monthly
Average Users), and then looked at how many were 2D. When going through the list the author found something very interesting: there were no 3D games. That means that in the top 50 games for Facebook, 2D represents a full 100%.
The state of 2D games
24
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
CONCLUSION The author hypothesized that 2D right now is at an all-time high ever since 3D overtook it, and it seems he was not far off. Concerning units sold on consoles, 2D games have been in steady
decline, as was expected. Especially the latest graphical beasts concerning consoles seem to have
their success-doors shut for 2D games. However, portable platforms and the more recently introduced arcade sub platforms do make room for 2D, with the Nintendo DS showing even more successful 2D games than 3D games.
When looking at the most successful games concerning the mobile and social network platforms, it almost seems like 3D was just invented: out of the top 10 selling mobile games there was only one in 3D and in the top 50 of social network games there were none to be found.
And even if all these platforms would show that 2D is almost dead, there are enough reasons for people to keep creating them. Apart from the restrictions, the author has shown that there are
reasons to have 2D as an actual feature of your game, which shows that in the future, on occasion, there could still be quality 2D releases.
So when one asks, "are 2D games dead?", one could say that they will stick around for a bit longer, being kept alive mostly by Nintendo, mobile gaming and social networks.
The author would like to end this document with a quote from Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the mind behind many popular franchises such as Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda:
“I don’t think everything needs to be 3D, or that just because we’re
seeing more 2D games now, that everything’s going to shift back to 2D. Instead, I think that what’s going on is that people are realizing the
benefits of a 3D game, and at the same time, remembering what the benefits of 2D games were.
When going 2D, you need the courage to not be so attached to visual appearance of the games and to really pursue the gameplay experience.” -Shigeru Miyamoto, 2009
Conclusion
25
THE MARKET SHARE OF 2D GAMES IN THE US | Kasper Mol | 29/11/2010
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