Sorry I wasn't sure what the appropriate category would be for this.

Now, I have had some "visions" so to speak and great interest in (though unfortunate I am not a hardware engineer lol) seeing a purely 2D based console system.

While I know 3D is the main thing these days, and I would assume there is 2D functionality within the API's of newer systems like PS2/PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii etc.

It would be great to see a 2D console (very cheap I would imagine) but very optimized for 2D games, and have a much simpler programming interface than old generation consoles and by far easier than current ones (as they are geared to 3D).

The differences being, geared to 2D gaming, cheaper, optimized purely for 2D, and with an easier programming interface or toolsets, many more people could jump in and develop nice games, man it would be nice to see those old SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) RPG games and what not again.

I guess it's more a pipe dream, but I tell you what, if no one else does it and when I one day have the oppoturnity to jump right into all this I most definitely want to give it a shot!!!!!


Anyway this post is mainly to ask what people think of my idea? Is it something you think people would take to if it was done?

It is an old idea, there are a lot/some people who don't like 3D games, but prefer 2D gaming and there is some really nice and really nice 2D Games in the market, they might look like 3D, but they aren't, I myself prefer 2D and thought about this a long time ago, but creating a 2D console - I don't know if it could get a big market share, due to most could play it on windows or similar.. But if it would be optimized only for 2D, then it would be cheap, small, low power costing and etc. Bu still, you would need to get a big LCD TV which is quite expensive. ;]

get an Atari and put it in a modern looking package ?

If it's realy cheap and if it has a large community before it's launched, I think a 2D console would be a great idea. What if it would be portable (with a built-in LCD) and have a TV-out connection and a wireless remote, don't you think it would rock ?

It definitely would, and the main points would be the fact that it was purely optimized for 2D (creating alot of possibilities with 2D), of course having much larger storage of game data than before (CD/DVD even, I mean heck 2D much less data, less loading time , probably CD or something custom).

And from a developer standpoint the best feature, would be a very complete set of developer tools. You would of course make the raw API highly exposable as you would in other consoles but also have an IDE overtop to handle complexity for certain things, basically making development easier for those that wish it, or want to spend more time on other aspects.

But yeah, I think it'd be awesome.

CD ... too old , having data stored on SHDC SD cards is much faster, cheaper and more compact .
So, we have found a hole in the markt, now we need somebody who can develop this thing

Yeah true, I meant CD as opposed to DVD mostly based on cost and the fact that DVD size for a purely 2D game would be overboard.

I guess if someone wanted to go that far... lol, how big can these SHDC SD cards get? and what kind of gains do they have over CD/DVD?

They can go pretty big, atm the biggest one is 16Gb or 8Gb . The advantages are obvious, it's small, it has no moving parts, it uses less energy, it has a very low access time and is relatively fast. It might be a bit expensive to buy at first, but one SD card could store many games (eg. buy a game on CD or download it and install it on a SD-card. At 100Mb/game, you could store like 80 games on an 8Gb card ).

Yeah true that is pretty sweet.

We are talking producing yesterdays console content here though, so the price/cost should be very low.

How much on average would you pay for one? or are there any other alternatives that might work as well but on a cheaper scale. Your right about using this kind of memory, it should be much faster and more reliable than cd/dvd's etc (just like the old catridges eh, man could those things take an absolute beating and still push on for years).

I'm pretty sure my Playstation is a 2D-only gaming machine and it's dirt cheap now-a-days.

P.S: I moved it to the correct spot for u

xboxrulz

The first Playstation? nah that's also 3D (look at tekken etc).

Thanks .