Sometimes when the boss man is asleep we can sneak in a few opinion pieces here at Casualty Gamer. Unfortunately his wrath is legendary so I feel like I should point out this is an opinion piece and nothing more. Right. On with it then.
It’s no secret that most Flash games are relatively shallow. That may have been out of necessity as little as 5 years ago, but we’ve reached the point now where a good Flash programmer can easily match and even exceed the capabilities of a SNES or Genesis. Why then have we yet to see the Flash equivalent of say…Final Fantasy 3 (6) yet?
Most Flash games are made for free in the author’s spare time which could explain it, but look at most of the games that pop up on paid subscription services like POGO. They’re crap for the most part.
The other possibility is that professional game studios are scooping up all the real talent out there and more or less dominating all their free time. We can’t blame people for wanting to see a little money in return for there efforts can we?
So here’s my question. Given that we know a talented Flash developer or team of developers can easily make games that are at least on par with the best games from the 16-bit era, would you be willing to pay for them? Let’s say a site used a subscription model similar to POGO, but with the promise of awesome Flash RPGs, adventure games and old school beat-’em-ups galore. Would it be worth it to you?
A lot of us are getting our old school gaming fix these days off services like Xbox Live, PSN and Wiiware, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s room out there for a similar service aimed at Flash gamers without a company like Microsoft or Sony telling devs. what’s acceptable.
Maybe I’ve missed the point altogether here. I tend to be wrong about most things so it would hardly surprise me if that were the case. Can anyone show me a Flash game that will make me change my views? Is there another reason why most of them suck that I completely missed? Is Colin going to have the Casualty Gamer hit squad pull a Jimmy Hoffa on me for even saying any of this? I guess we’ll find out…
HedonicWill
I would be happy to pay up to $15 for a game that is on par with final fantasy 3 (6). I’d even pay $6.99/month for unlimited access to a site with SNES quality flash games. However, I think the former is more likely than the latter.
From my personal experiences, today’s youth seem to require stunning visuals and don’t appreciate the amazing gameplay contained within low-bit tile-based gems. Perhaps some more experimental titles similar to Gamma Bros, Dino Run, and Maverick could shed some light on the issue.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Colin
Very interesting idea.
It could work, but I think the main target of Flash Games is <16 year olds. Who probably wouldn’t have the money to spend on decent games.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
JudeMaverick
It’s a risky idea to use the ‘buying game’ method. Many game sites like Armor Games sponsors games and if you want the premium version, you have to buy it (StormWinds)
September 16th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Dan Z
Those are all good points above me. It’s a relief to see I’m not the only one who thinks Flash games could be better.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:44 am
notshi
A flash game does not have the budget that even these old games had.
And there are some really good flash games out there. I’m sure you have not played them all.
September 21st, 2008 at 4:19 am
Link Post Sunday 09/21 | Mr Sun Studios
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September 22nd, 2008 at 2:00 am