Where did all the platformers (for the PC) go?

As you can see from the sudden surge of posts on my LJ, losing my desktop does have some impact on my current lifestyle. As a last ditch effort to make my (now dead) computer work, I bought a few cans of compressed air as well as (impulsively) a USB gamepad. Now, the gamepad itself is as good as it gets – built like a PS2 controller but even more comfty – but I couldn’t find *any* application that uses the pads except to map controls for a few platformer flash games online and possibly games on the emulator, if I ever decide to drag those antiques into my laptop.

So I sift through my “good games” pile, then my “so-so games” pile (the “bad games” pile elimiated during the great cleanup of 2005), and I’ve found one – one! – platformer out of all the games I have. And so I thought I’d pick up a platformer game at Fry’s tomorrow (for the PC) and… on second thought…

that um, doesn’t exist anymore.

They have a pile of “casual games”, check… FPSes… check. MMORPGs and the ever shrinking stash of SPRPGs… check. Strategy games placed somewhere obscure… check. Platformers… hmm. I didn’t realize how narrow the PC games market is getting until I’m stuck with a computer that can’t run the usual suspects.

Oh well, I think I’ll throw in the emulators.

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