- 3D polygonal visuals give players a greater sense of being part of the action
- they also allow for more freedom and choice
- some people are turned off by 3D polygonal visuals because they feel they're too complex
- "When Super Mario became Mario 64, the range of players narrowed greatly."
- Miyamoto feels the dev team made great strides in making a 3D polygonal game for everyone with Super Mario Galaxy, but this still wasn't enough for some players
- that's why Nintendo created New Super Mario Bros.
- "When asked 'what will we do on 3DS,' the answer is, of course, we'll make both (2D and 3D). They both have their own appeal."
- the 3D effect on 3DS can help make it easier to determine depth, which would greatly help those players with issues feeling out that mechanic while playing
- this could be of benefit to Zelda as well
- "gives a great feeling of existence to Mario, Link and others."
- this also goes hand-in-hand with character weight, which also is very important to making the characters feel real
- in 2D Mario..."It's difficult to tell when they will hit the player, so we were only able to use these (depth visual tricks) lightly. However, we'll be able to use this type of thing quite a bit on the 3DS."
- Iwata: "You went more in-depth than I'd been expected. This is the first I've heard of this."
- Miyamoto: "No good? Don't tell any game magazine people."
Source: GoNintendo, which in turn came from andriasang.com
Making both a 2D and a 3D Mario game for 3DS? Miyamoto's trying hard to please both sides of the coin this time.
Sometimes I don't know if 2D is the way to go when it comes to increasingly advanced consoles. I mean, even though New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold a lot more (pleasing many retro Mario fans), the fact is Mario Galaxy and its sequel were far superior games, and sold quite a lot as well. Not to mention Galaxy 2 had a fair chunk of 2D sections in its stages, in addition to being mainly 3D. The trick here is striking a balance between the two dimensions. 2D makes for simplicity and ease of control, and anyone can pick up, play and enjoy. But at the same time, 3D gives an extra dimension in freedom of level design. You can make more things happen with three dimensions than you can with two. NSMBWii's mistake with fans wasn't because it was 2D, but because most of the level elements were old and played out. It felt bland and boring to half the people playing it. That same half would be the ones to herald Mario Galaxy 2 as the new coming.
Miyamoto was right in saying 2D and 3D both have their own appeal, but 2D has to be done right and brought up-to-date, or risk being stuck with one foot in the past like NSMBWii. He talked about depth perception in 2D Mario for 3DS...will we be seeing Bullet Bills flying out from the background of the screen into our eyes? Sounds like an exciting prospect. Time to reinvent the wheel.
...he also mentioned Zelda didn't he? 2D Zelda? Remember how the last one turned out? Oh well, there's no stopping him anyway, and what he makes is usually right on the money.
