[quote="DJ Coco"]The problem is that the quality standard's been raised a lot over the past decade. Back then you could just edit an engine and throw a bunch of assets together to have some fun, but nowdays in order to get positive criticism you need to pour a whole lot of effort into it, and once you do that you might as well make an original game instead and not waste your efforts on a product you will never be able to sell or own in its entirity.[/quote] My biggest hurdle is something like this. Though every game I have ever submitted to MFGG has been a low-quality experimental game jam haha. I'm actually somewhat proud that I've never submitted an "arrow keys/Z/X platformer" to MFGG. I made an "infinite" runner and a game where you type words to run. I think if you listed every game on MFGG, they'd certainly be in the top 10% for uniqueness, the typing one probably higher.

Fangames and ROM hacks have been around for ages now, and the quality standards have grown exponentially as the years went by; what used to be mind-blowing is standard fare now. The work that goes into just a decent fangame or hack, in other words, is quite a lot, even if you use Nintendo's graphics and music. Plus there are limits, because you can't do everything when you're working with someone else's pre-established works. It's not like you can drop Mario and Toad in an FPS, for example, and expect it to work. Plus there are engine/hardware limits that need to be kept in mind if you're ROM hacking. At that point, why not just say "screw it, im doing something original"? You are at no risk of DMCA's, and you can make a profit off all your hard work. At this point, you'd have to be a really big fan and/or nerd to make a high-quality fangame.