This is also what made arcade games great and you can see these traits in the best selling games on ALL platforms.

Taking your examples, Super Mario and Zelda, they would be boring if there was nothing happening for a while, but that is not the case. In classic Mario, you have a time limit preventing you from dilly-dallying and the levels are very dense in elements. In classic Zelda, the levels are full of enemies to keep you from boredom. Wii Sports is also a great example along with Wii Play. FPS games also fit in this mold, except for the easy to learn part. The best selling FPSs are still very pick-up and play in nature.

I’m still certain that an RPG might work on mobile platforms such as the Iphone, as long as it is pick-up and play like the earlier Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy games.

I’m not quite sure about the graphical touches that your readers mentioned, as for me, the Wii and NES proved that graphics don’t matter. They might make a difference. Of course, there is some difference given by the setting. Super Metroid, for example, is vastly different from later castlevanias, despite sharing similar structure.

Zelda 1 however doesn’t fit your assessment. It in fact does force you to use the sum total of your knowledge. For example, over the course of the game, you learn eventually that you can burn down bushes. In order to enter the final dungeon (Before Death Mountain of course) you have to burn down a suspicious looking bush. In that dungeon as well, you must use the bomb techniques you learned in earlier dungeons to get around. Even the fact that there are enemies that you fought before forces you to use what you learned fighting them. If I remember correctly, Zelda II and III did that to an extent as well.

Your point about not using items after you finish with them is one of the things that modern Zelda does wrong in my opinion. Again, in the original Zelda, after you get an item, it’s added permanently to the list of game mechanics, whereas nowadays, I barely use the items I earned. I then use that item in the overworld and make discoveries. The items are actually useful! Nowadays, I instead have to talk to boring NPCs to enter the next dungeon.

One more thing I think could be improved about modern Zelda is the swordplay. The combat in Modern Zelda is just not as exciting and fun as in the originals because there are fewer enemies you fight at a time. Moreover, you just aren’t really given opportunities to use the many sword techniques you learn through the game.

2D is not necessarily better than 3D, but the reason 3D platformers don’t sell at the same level as 2D platformers (If you factor out globalization) is because they’re very different genres. 3D games have been successful, if you see, when 3D doesn’t hinder the gameplay. 2D platforming generally focuses on action whereas most 3D platformers are obsessed with bad puzzles and only one way to do things.

The game design canvas is the biggest contribution I believe. It is sad if we no longer be able to read more articles about it, but maybe it is for the best, for the reader can have the fundamental knowledge about it in this websites and continue to study it in the future by using it or reading more about the concepts (game mechanics, punishment and reward, arts, etc.).

I wish you success in the games you will work on. And if you feel like you have more to say about they, about the experiences, about game design, I hope we can read about it. I also will ask for the better organization of the content of the site, to make it easy for future readers and for future references.

Thank you for sharing valueable knowledge. Good luck.

What can I say? It’s really sad that an awesome site like this have to stop, but it could be even more sad if you had to keep going on it without the will to continue.
I learned a lot here (in fact, I think that The Game Prodigy taught me more about game design, development and business more than any other resource), and I’m very grateful for that. Having a sugestion acepted on the site (the Broken Sword analisys) was very cool too, and I’m honered for that. :)

Thank you very much for the oportunity to learn from you, good luck in your projects, and keep doing a great job, now back on game development! And don’t forget to update us here about this projects!

Thanks for all the great work, and thank you for the opportunity to post some of my own. Good luck in the future, Brice!

I love this site (and your book) and I found everything you have provided to be very useful. Thank you so much for all you have provided!

I do understand your decision, and I wish you the best of luck!

Cheers!

While I never fashioned myself as a game designer, I really enjoyed reading your articles, and I bought your books, more because I wanted to help support the cool spread of knowledge. I must admit, I didn’t quite have to time to read all the articles when you began doing them once or twice a day, but I definitely looked forward to them when you were doing them weekly.
If you ever get into the indie games scene, and need an audio designer, i’d be more than happy to work with you.

Daniel