Graphics Shmaphics

[1WingedAngel]

Okay, I've mentioned this to my friends and everyone else, but now it's time to unleash it on ya'll!!! Ahem, anyway, my little rant has to deal around the new gaming consoles, the PS3, the Nintendo Revolution and XBox 360, all capable of all sorts of things, including graphics that are getting closer to photo realism. All I ask is "Why?", I find myself an avid gamer but I never find myself saying "Boy I can't wait until we reach the threshold of our Video Game Graphics!" Why are we obsessed with getting so close to realistic graphics? I don't care, I'm satisfied with the graphics our current consoles are capable of generating, even the PSone, SNES and Nintendo! I just see this as a "We're doing it because we can" situation. But once you achieve that, there isn't much more to improve, getting boring and lacking after a while. We've accomplished Photo Realistic Graphics, woohoo, maybe now we can put more effort onto the gameplay and storylines.

[NintendoArielle]

I agree.

Gameplay is more important than graphics.

[Sephir0th666777]

I know how you feel.

With the Nintendo DS, We may never again see a 2d Metroid or Advance Wars.

Which is quite saddening
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Red_Quatre:Who's the guy that says "Get over here!" and then grabs you.
Blad: A rapist

[Fayore]

Graphics are one of the last things I look at when looking at a game - I go for primarily storyline and characterization.

That's why so many of my favourite games turn out to be sprite games - simply because I don't care enough about the graphics. XD
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[celestina67]

I'm a sucker for graphics,but it sucks when the gameplay sucks.

[Sephir0th666777]

[quote="Animemaster2334 (Lindsay)"] Agreed. I still find tons of laughter and fun in Sarge's Heroes 2
Melting toy soldiers into jagged polygon grapahic puddles with a flamethrower is a blast XD
I just want smooth playablity and a kick ass storyline, that makes me happy also a funny "go-out-and-kill-anything-that-moves" N64 game can keep me busy and entertained for days.

I still absolutely love Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time [/quote]
I can't find my copies of OoT and MM


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Red_Quatre:Who's the guy that says "Get over here!" and then grabs you.
Blad: A rapist

[NintendoArielle]

[quote="Sephir0th666777 (Tyler)"] I know how you feel.

With the Nintendo DS, We may never again see a 2d Metroid or Advance Wars.

Which is quite saddening [/quote]
There is a Metroid Pinball game in development, which is technically 2D.

Also, there is a 2D Advance Wars game coming out on August 22nd. Ironically enough, that's my birthday! ^_^

[Stratadrake]

Graphics are icing on the cake, not the cake itself (which would be the gameplay).

Some gamers must be the equivalent of licking all the frosting off and leaving the pastry for others....

Nice examples of gameplay with less-than-photoreal graphics that I can think of:
[b]Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker[/b] - Seems like the gamers split into two camps -- those who liked it despite (and/or even because) of the cartoony, cel-shaded graphics -- and those who hated it because of the same. But what it lacks in its simplified shading ramp, it more than made up for in finesse. Environmental lighting, color schemes, and most especially, Link's dynamic expressions and roving eyes.

[b]Viewtiful Joe[/b] - VFX powers made for some awesome moments in gameplay, and the cel-shaded graphics made it a real treat.

[b]Okami[/b] - The tale is that Clover Studios originally wanted to make a photoreal game starring the wolf, but they realized they'd exceed the current hardware limitations, and while discussing what to do, they noticed one of the artists doodling with a brush... and that's where the rest of the concept came from. The preview screens of it have some awesome visual art style to them.
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[PhunkYMunkY]

You know.. I think photo-realistic graphics would only really be appreciated in racing games (where you hardly look at the graphics unless you're playing Burnout 3 after a crash *bone*) or RPGs.. Think about it.. the closer they get to making role playing games as realistic as you walking around in your huge widescreen (at the time the prices would be a fraction of today's) fighting off balrogs and little jelly blobs etc.

Hyper-realistic RPGs would be teh best. You know you'd love it too.

[PhunkYMunkY]

You're a cock.

Who says just 'cause it's not realistic, doesn't mean it can't look realistic?

Skin spewing lava through the pores can be emulated. Scaley dragon creatures can have historically/imaginatively accurate rendered skin with good muscle design and placement.

It all depends on the producer.

Don't be a dick.

[Sephir0th666777]

[quote="NintendoArielle (Arielle)"] [quote="Sephir0th666777 (Tyler)"] I know how you feel.

With the Nintendo DS, We may never again see a 2d Metroid or Advance Wars.

Which is quite saddening [/quote]
There is a Metroid Pinball game in development, which is technically 2D.

Also, there is a 2D Advance Wars game coming out on August 22nd. Ironically enough, that's my birthday! ^_^ [/quote]


A metroid pinball game

I can't see this as being a ggod thing
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Red_Quatre:Who's the guy that says "Get over here!" and then grabs you.
Blad: A rapist

[Red_Quatre]

Pretty graphics make me go
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[amerowolf]

I'm a sucker for graphics sometimes. If something has really horrible looking graphics, like Unlimited Saga, but I buy it because the story sounds interesting. I'm really really sad when it sucks....I spent 15$ bucks on that thing, DAMNIT!

Uh yeah...But you can't really base a games worth on Graphics. But you see, its a money scheme...Eye candy, you know...

[1WingedAngel]

Great Graphics are like Half Naked Women in ads, they promote you to buy the product just solely based on the image you see. So the game could have awesome top of the line visuals, but has bland gameplay and cliche story line. I don't really care for the game's graphics just how it's played, BUT, there is a line. If the graphics are so bad it's hard to determine things like walls and such, then that's the only exception.

It's only happened a few times in my case, but I know there's plenty of games with that flaw. I once read a review for Megaman X6 and they complained on how Capcom was still releasing the MMX games for the PSone and not the PS2, saying that they should move onto a more powerful system. That just pissed me off, MMX6, though frustrating, is a favorite in my book, it shouldn't be slammed because it's released for the PSone.

What I'm trying to say is: Good graphics are okay to have, but we shouldn't keep trying to improve them just because we can. It's the gameplay and storylines that keep us interested, Metal Gear Solid didn't have any CGI FMVs or ground breaking graphics and it's one of the greatest games you can own. And I think it's idiotic when everyone said they hated the Wind Waker because of Link's new look, what a bunch of dumb asses, no offense.

[Stratadrake]

Speaking of which, many high-profile videogame ads don't actually feature any graphics FROM the game, they use raytraced CG made exclusively for the ad... because as advertising psychology goes, it's more important to remember the name.

[quote]Hyper-realistic RPGs would be teh best. You know you'd love it too.[/quote]
Final Fantasy meets The Matrix. Ugh... you sound like a larp.
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