2D physics is an evening project for a week or two. 3D physics is an exercise in smashing your head against a wall, and is basically no fun whatsoever (I’ve written a 2D and 3d physics engine and shipped games as a physics programmer)
I like to think that this is why Havok was such a big thing when it came out and was integrated into (3d) video games, there was a whole slew of games coming out then that incorporated it into gameplay and it was a novel experience. Physics based puzzles and weapons in Half-Life 2 was probably the biggest example of the time.
I'd be inclined to agree. It's very hard to design a physics based video game to be fun IME - puzzles and sandboxes are the only two places I've seen it effective. I'd love to see more examples!
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