My vote is cast for Javascript. It needs, as you mentioned, alot of effort in order to push it as a viable 2D gaming market, but with the implementations which have been coming out in recent years, I have increasing respect for it.

Plus, take a look at this: http://www.willjessup.com/sandbox/jquery/solar_system/rotator.html

Now I’m a believer.

Thanks for pointing out Java applets as one of the possible options. The primary reason I overlooked it is because, I (and many others) never bother to install the Java plugin either for IE or Firefox. In other words, it isn’t out-of-the-box like Flash or Javascript. That rules out a big chunk of the casual gaming market.

I agree that art assets for a 3D game needn’t be high. Demos (from the demoscene) are a good example of how procedurally generated textures and models conserve a lot of space. I also agree that indie game developers show their talent in innovation not in high production values. We’ll leave that to the pros ;)

I think you’re mistaken about the space requirements for a basic 3D platformer. Remember that Mario64 was on an 8MB cartridge. Now, they did a heluva job conserving space, but I think you’ll find it’s more than possible to stick to your 25MB max.

It probably won’t be cutting-edge, but who are we kidding? Major games these days have credit listings longer than many movies. And these days, most of them aren’t nearly as fun to play as a good 2D action game. I’m expecting shareware and indie games to see a solid rise in the near future, what with the crap you see on the shelves nowadays…