Bethesda: People Who Say Graphics "Don't Matter" Are Usually Lying

[bigbananadave]

i'd have to say that in the videogame industry graphics are important, but come completly second place next to gameplay and plot.

and i would have to rubbish Pete Hines comment reguarding good graphics = immersion. for a few following reasons:

1. Final fantasy 7 and 9 are my most faverable games of all time compared to the likes of Final fantasy x which had groundbreaking graphics at the time, but in my oppinion storyline, battle system, leveling system and the lack of a world map ruined it for myself

2. If Pete Hines comment on good graphics = immersion is true then surely every movie released based on its novel must always better than its litterary version. which again in my opinion is very rarely the case. for one poor example from the top of my head, Dan Browns Da Vinci Code movies are dreadful compared to the novels.

 

[PurePareidolia]

When people say "Graphics don't matter" it's code for "I like graphics as much as the next guy, but don't use them as a crutch to support your horrible game", not that we hate things looking nice. So this makes a lot of sense.

 

[goliath6711]

Okay, so you're telling me that in 2011 if the gameplay were better, you would pick a basketball game that looked like this...

[http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/image/19691/basketball/29687/]


...over a basketball game that looked like this?




They're not the only piece of the puzzle, but they are an important piece just like everything else. They don't even have to be great, just believeable. But this notion that they don't matter at all is just ludacris.

 

[stuhacking]

When people say 'Graphics are important' it's code for: "Graphics is all we got."

I do like graphics as much as the next guy, but I want a game first.

 

[EonEire]

Good graphics couldn't save FF13, so clearly I can say graphics dont matter if you have NOTHING to back them up with.

 

[Hyper-space]

Rogue-likes, Minecraft and an entire movement of creative game design on a low-budget may disagree with you there, Pete Moneybags.

BTW, denial is usually the first symptom of an issue, Pete, my boy...

Considering how much players ***** about graphics (Dragon Age Uno and Deux) and bash a game for not having perfect textures when under close scrutiny, i say yeah, Mr. Hines is right.

 

[Signa]

Bethesda talks about immersion. I have to admit I lol'd a bit.

Well, there's Morrowind...

I'm under the suspicion that they don't want to acknowledge that game anymore. It probably was made by accident, and they don't even want to try to "fail" like that again.

<link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108446-Skyrim-Will-Be-Weird-Like-Morrowind>Wut?

Seriously, that didn't make any sense.

I could go into a long rant about what I think I'm seeing, but I'm not in the mood. Skyrim will be awesome and well loved, so anything I will say will just get ignored because you're having too much fun to care about the flaws I'd be pointing out.

As far as the nonsensical "fail" remark, I'm starting to wonder if a lot of my favorite games have been made because the dev didn't know what they were doing, and just messed with some gameplay mechanics or features until they got lucky. The fact that Oblivion felt so different than Morrowind tells me that they had more of an idea on how the game would be played than they did with Morrowind.

 

[Dendio]

If bethesda really feels this way then why release the models of oblivion in such a sad state. Its so bad that many if not most people download appearance packs to help improve the models look and style

 

[Burningsok]

All Pete said was that it catches your eye. Pete forgot that once you ACTUALLY play the game that graphics will soon become worthless, and the gameplay will be the last thing left sticking out.

Old Pete... your argument is based only on seeing the game first hand. Playing the damn game is a whole different thing. Yes graphics help with immersion, but it only lasts for like a week.

Anyways, I'm a Bethesda fan, so I'll let this slide

 

[ninja51]

I dont think anyone really listened to the podcast who commented. He said, and im paraphrasing just a bit "graphics may not matter much, and it really is on a case by case basis of how much, but they do matter." Which is 100% true, so case closed, comments on that are over. Also, he states there is much untapped potential in Tamriel, and when specificly asked about revisting already done provinces he says no, hes been there and done that. There are still like 5 or so provinces without a game taking place in them, he was just saying we'll probably exaust those before they go to the other mainlands in the game where other, much crazier, races reside.

 

[oldmeme]

Rubbish I say. Crysis felt like a hollywood action movie to me, whereas the Stalker series has always felt incredibly immersive and deals with far worse, much less effective textures and detail. The first hour or so of Crysis for me was a whole lot of "oh my god, it's incredible!", quickly followed by "huh, this is getting kinda repetitive". It really is all about the gameplay for single player stuff, graphics are just an extra bonus otherwise.

As for multiplayer, unless you're on an extremely dedicated role-play server on an MMO, it'll never feel like being really there with all the "LOL SCRUB TACTICS" and memes being sprout around.

 

[DTWolfwood]

i will straight up agree with that man. I USE TO THINK graphics don't matter, until i realized how less motivated i am to playing an older game because it looks terrible to me now.

just saying the most poignant example i can think of is of the Stronghold Series. I absolutely love the first game and Crusaders (100+ hours), but after playing the lesser games Stronghold 2 and Legends, (I say lesser because they just had less "sim" options and was more based on combat which was always the weak point of the Stronghold series) i tried to play crusaders again and was completely put off the second i put down a stockpile

I need my graphics if im honest, if its a feast for the eyes, i'll love it more
(guess it also explains y i loved Empire:TW more than i did Medieval2:TW)

 

[Sennz0r]

Well I won't say he's wrong. In this decade graphics do help immersion, but Morrowind had me plenty immersed at the time. Though of course that was a long time ago, and standards have changed.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Okay, so you're telling me that in 2011 if the gameplay were better, you would pick a basketball game that looked like this...

[http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/image/19691/basketball/29687/]


...over a basketball game that looked like this?




They're not the only piece of the puzzle, but they are an important piece just like everything else. They don't even have to be great, just believeable. But this notion that they don't matter at all is just ludacris.

I wouldn't say it's ludicrous. For example, I still play a lot of ASCII games:

Spoiler: DooM, ADOM and Nethack

If a game (especially an RPG) is immersive enough you really don't need graphics. They're a nice plus, admittedly, but by no means are they the be all and end all of game design. I have never stopped playing a good game because of bad graphics, but I've stopped playing plenty of good looking games because of bad gameplay.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Graphics do matter to me, but not so much the level of technology and I think that goes for the thousands of Minecrafters as well.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Considering how much players ***** about graphics (Dragon Age Uno and Deux) and bash a game for not having perfect textures when under close scrutiny, i say yeah, Mr. Hines is right.

They seem to complain even more when the gameplay is utter wank.

 

[PinochetIsMyBro]

Graphics DO matter.

They just don't matter as much as the game play does. I'll play an ugly looking game that's fun, but I won't play a great looking game that makes me want to watch grass grow instead.

 

[GeorgW]

Tell that to all the minecraft fans that voted Mojäng past nintendo in MM. Or to all the CS fans that keep it being the most played game on Steam. Or to all the people that still play Heroes3, Mario bros, Sonic, Tetris or Doom.

You call me a liar, I call you ignorant!!!

 

[Matthewmagic]

Wow, how about we all get upset over something that simply comes down to preference?

Why can't we qualify statements with phrases like "for me" anymore?

Graphics don't matter for me. I enjoy mine craft despite the face it looks like my 11 year old niece's Lego collection.

OR

Graphic's do matter for me, I need the alien I'm shooting in the phase to look ultra realistic.(which is an oxymoron because the chances that any real aliens look like any of the models we created is slim to none. So realistic doesn't really apply to games that are fantasy.)

but nah, solipsists are always going to post threads assuming what they enjoy in video games is all encompassing.