Who says you have to make a 3D game to be considered AAA?  With top notch companies barely scratching a living, even with a million copies sold and barely breaking even, other companies are innovating and producing incredible new titles in 2D.

The first is the infamous indie game “Castle Crashers”:

The second is the company that breathed new life into the 2D genre with their breathtaking game “Odin Sphere”.  Here is their latest title “Muramasa” coming out for the Wii:

And lastly, is a company that is has owned the fighting game genre with “Guilty Gear”.  But since their publisher owns the rights to their groundbreaking fighting game and forced the game to become a 3D RTS, they have broken out and gone indie for their new IP, “BlazBlue” and have rocked the socks out of Street Fighter 4 and King of Fighters 12:

Long Live 2D!

Danc on LostGarden made a pretty significant post on the state of Flash Games.  I’ve been anticipating it, ever since he wrote me a letter telling me it was coming.  And personally, I’m shocked by the simplicity of his suggestion.

In a word, one of the best ways to make money through a Flash game is simply to ask for it.

The funny thing is, I would have made more money on Strike Eagle if I did so.

Strike Eagle Stats - April to July

After I put the game through Flash Game Distribution, there was a huge spike in gameplays in the middle of May.  But after that, the game has performed at about 1000-2000 gameplays a day.

The great irony is that even though it says I’ve made nearly$75 on Strike Eagle, I won’t see a dime of it until it rolls over $100.  Which, at this rate, may be next year.

But again, that was me foolishly going for a contest rather than going for a sponsorship.  We’ll see how I fare this next go around.  I should have something put into Flash Game Distribution by the end of the summer.

For all you indies out there, this story will warm your heart and give you courage.

A big shout out for the press at Kotaku who brought this story to light to help this kid.  And another for the “Game On Denver” crew who have graciously allowed the new “Game On” store some time to change their name so there isn’t confusion between the two stores.