Sakurai: "It's going to be hard" to go back from 3D to 2D

Have you tried navigating the jagged maze of naked, non-bump-mapped polygons that is a PS1 game lately? Well then, congratulations! If you're reading this, that means the profuse eye-bleeding has probably stopped.

Back in the day, though, those graphics actually weren't - in most circles - considered a form of assault. So, what happened? Better graphics, that's what. PS2, Xbox, PS3, HD. And now, Kid Icarus: Uprising boss Masahiro Sakurai thinks we're looking at a similar step up in the leap from 2D to 3D.

"Yes this is indeed my first 3D game but I have a feeling that it's going to be hard to go back [to 2D]," he told ONM. "For example when you watch Avatar in 3D you take notice of the 3D element initially, but then as the movie goes on you forget about the 3D novelty as your eyes get used to it and simply enjoy it for what it is."

"That's the nature of the way we get used to things as they become familiar. The problem is that when you go back to 2D after 3D it feels flat. So in terms of game development I would think that going back to 2D after working on a 3D project may be very difficult for me."

We really can't wait for the day when people start saying, "Oh man, photorealism on a 1080p HD screen? That's all? How totally retro!" And by "can't wait," we mean "dread it with everything in our being."