Where have all the platformers gone?

[Arqus_Zed]

What it says in the tittle.

Jak & Daxter took a hike after playing with their automobiles on the PS2 last time. Safe for that little PSP spin-off nobody cares about. Sly Raccoon has hung his hook on the, well... hook. Spyro & Crash have been raped over and over again ever since their original creators thanked them for proven services. Rayman only cares about those damn ugly rabbits anymore. Banjo & Kazooie are messing around with vehicles... Tim Schafer started doin' action/adventures instead of another Psychonauts-style game... Sonic hasn't done anything half decent since the time I was still crapping in diapers... And we never heard anything anymore from Haven, Vexx, The Muppet Monster Adventure, Scaler, Dr. Muto, Evil Twin, or whatever! (not that I would actually want to hear from all of those, but still, proving a point here)

The only one we have left is Ratchet and his scrapmetal friend. Their still ridin' the lightning, but where's the competition? Why is it that Insomniac suddenly has monopoly over the platformer genre?

And they're not even 'pure' platform anymore, more like a TPS/Platform...

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Times have moved on, Graphics have improved and people would rather play Modern Warfare or Halo shooters then a good solid adventure platforming game. It's a sad turn of events but it's one we must deal with nonetheless.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

It's not even about graphics, because modern platformers like Little Big Planet look amazing. I think the biggest thing is the ability to make kinds of gameplay. Early-90s era games were heavy on platforming, but once computuing power reached a certain point, you saw the birth of FPSs and games in 3D. Plus gaming has expanded to a wider audiance. Not everyone wants to play an adventure platforming game. I know I don't. Give me a shooter or racer any day.

 

[Bonkekook]

I think it has to do with the birth of modern FPS games as well, but not for the above reasons. Most gamers now are overly caffeinated nerds with a limb-destroying fetish and have to be killing something with a gun every 5 seconds.

Developers recognize that, and have shifted what they make to take advantage of it.

Amended: It's not the ONLY reason, obviously. Xbox Live/Playstation Network have contributed to it as well. Gaming is starting to be less and less of a personal experience because you no longer are restricted to playing by yourself.

 

[Lazarus Long]

Well, Mario still jumps around from time to time. And there's stuff like I Wanna Be The Guy, but that's forging its own masochistic subgenre. You might have to turn to flash games on Kong and the like to get your fix.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

They are around...Banjo went on to something else...something awesome. Banjo went to Nuts and Bolts. If you hated Nuts and Bolts...NOSTALGIA SLAP!

Mario still does his thing, though.

 

[Souplex]

I am fairly certain Mario is still around, and coming out with more games.

 

[Pimppeter2]

They died when they realized they couldn't get better than Jak and Daxter

 

[Arkhangelsk]

I miss them. For next E3, I want a new Jak & Daxter announcement, a new Sly Cooper announcement, and a Ratchet & Clank announcement (although R&C remains pretty present in this generation).

 

[NIHILHATE]

Bring back ODDWORLD! In all its 2D glory!

 

[Shynobee]

Well, Little Big Planet is a pretty AWESOME platformer... Just saying...