My coworker and I got in a heated argument today about how common this practice is. He was saying that "most" 2D games nowadays start with 3D models, and then render 2D sprites. The problem, is, though, that I can't think of more than a handful of games that use this approach (Donkey Kong Country, Mario VS. Donkey Kong).
I say it was heated because it got to the point where I said "I just don't see this being done in any games," and he said "well that's because you're an idiot!" Seriously, where is this technique used? Sprites are typically hand-drawn because they look better, and 3D models stay 3D for purposed of ease of animation and rotation, etc..