Flash 2D and 3D Games

Reading an article about a new toolkit that enables a 3D world to interact with a 2D Flash application, I wonder why anyone who is gaming wants to play in 2D? I'm not that into games so it is probably my own blind spot. On the other hand, it's easy to see why game world vendors who are betting their companies on Flash do. They want badly for Flash to become the dominant interaction platform because of a line of thought that until one does, a market remains fragmented and it is harder to make bigger profits.

Weirdly, this is the same thinking that says Internet Explorer must be the only web browser and all others should give up. Ain't gonna happen but one wonders why anyone believes the best way to improve the bottom line is to get rid of user choice. Isn't that exactly why the content dies when the platform dies? The industry spent almost two decades adopting open standards and view source level applications so this lock in condition that hobbled the industry for its first four decades could be broken, and here comes the game industry telling us to put the chastity belts back on. What's up with that?

On the other hand, interaction technology between 2D and 3D worlds with automation for creating the 2D version is experimentally interesting. I wonder if it has a shelf life given the increasing power on the desktop and mobiles. As a means to work with maps and 3D worlds such as Google Earth, I can see it. As a gaming platform, I don't get it but again, I'm not a gamer.