Go Go Frog!

There is a point about gaming in this ... bear with me.

Someone is trying the old 3D web again. Gogofrog.com just issued a new press release trumpeting itself. It's interesting technology that does, indeed, resolve some of the mistakes of the past. There's no cumbersome client, this works via Flash and they're promoting their site as an accessible tool for generating content.

However, and this is where gaming comes in, it just seems so unnecessary. Do I really need a virtual world to browse a gallery of pictures when a 2D layout of thumbnails is so much easier to navigate? The predatory positioning of our eyes makes the assumption the depth is the way to tackle the world, but is it always needed? The assumption in game design these days really seems to make that assumption, as we can't even resist the urge to update classic titles in a manner befitting all three dimensions.

There are times, I guess. Like I have an old mod Grind which I'd love to redo at some point. It's one part Jet Set Radio and one part deathmatch. I've thought about how I would do it in 2D, and it just doesn't work. It's not really the deathmatch part, that's been done 2D for some time (Combat for the 2600 anyone?). It's the motion of skating itself.

But I do wonder if we evolved games too quickly and have left design concepts of the 2D world completely untouched.