Bethesda: People Who Say Graphics "Don't Matter" Are Usually Lying
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
Graphics don't matter. I was more immersed in games on the PS1 and early PC days when I didn't have a bunch of obnoxious bloom in my face. Hell the games I'm looking forward to the most are Disgaea 4 (which still uses sprites) and Persona 5 which likely won't look much better than a late term PS2 game. Yeah pretty stuff is nice, but ultimately it's the gameplay that counts.
Oh yes, and it's very immersive watching frame rate dive cause I need to pump another $1000 into my PC to play the game.. or sit through obnoxious loading times on my console cause the machine can't process all that pretty, or have a game that's stripped down to a hallway with cut scenes cause the devs spent 6 years making it gorgeous and forgot they were making a game.
Companies like Bethesda are so concerned about making their game visually appealing so idiots who like shiny things will buy it. Hines is a perfect example of why games these days suffer from style over substance. They still cost $60 but are about a fraction of the length they were 10 years ago and more prone to being buggy *Cough*New Vegas *cough* or shoddily made cause emphasis was put on the glitz, not the game.
Oh yes, and it's very immersive watching frame rate dive cause I need to pump another $1000 into my PC to play the game.. or sit through obnoxious loading times on my console cause the machine can't process all that pretty, or have a game that's stripped down to a hallway with cut scenes cause the devs spent 6 years making it gorgeous and forgot they were making a game.
Companies like Bethesda are so concerned about making their game visually appealing so idiots who like shiny things will buy it. Hines is a perfect example of why games these days suffer from style over substance. They still cost $60 but are about a fraction of the length they were 10 years ago and more prone to being buggy *Cough*New Vegas *cough* or shoddily made cause emphasis was put on the glitz, not the game.
Totally agree with this, graphics as a scaler.Windexglow said:
I have to admit that I've always held myself as one who doesn't base their decision on game purchases primarily on graphics. I was excited to hear about a new Deus Ex...when I saw the trailers I decided I must have it, so for me I have to admit they've got a point.
It matters to a degree, but not for the best graphics. Rather the visuals that build the right atmosphere for the game.
Like Team Fortress 2. It's deliberately a little cartoony, but it works for the game. If it looked photo-realistic, it wouldn't work.
I feel like games with photo-realistic visuals take themselves too seriously, and developers are the same. As if it doesn't matter how it plays, as long as it's shiny enough for the magpie masses to swarm over.
Oh, and this from the guys who recently shat out New Vegas? ***** please.
Like Team Fortress 2. It's deliberately a little cartoony, but it works for the game. If it looked photo-realistic, it wouldn't work.
I feel like games with photo-realistic visuals take themselves too seriously, and developers are the same. As if it doesn't matter how it plays, as long as it's shiny enough for the magpie masses to swarm over.
Oh, and this from the guys who recently shat out New Vegas? ***** please.
They're nice, don't get me wrong on that. When your playing something like Crysis you want it to be shiny and eye meltingly gorgeous.
But I will take gameplay over graphics ANY day of the week. I've been playing Might and Magic 7 and Postal 2 for about a week now and to be honest i don't care that the graphic are as blocky as hell. I'm having fun, something you should be having when gaming and loving it.
But I will take gameplay over graphics ANY day of the week. I've been playing Might and Magic 7 and Postal 2 for about a week now and to be honest i don't care that the graphic are as blocky as hell. I'm having fun, something you should be having when gaming and loving it.
Well good graphics are nice, but not when they're so powerful nothing short of a government super computer can run them at a decent framerate, or all other aspects of the game are thrown out the window for slightly prettier water. There are better, more efficient ways to increase emersion.
Whether graphics matter depends on the genre and the degree.
For the first part, while RPGs and the like that are more about story and mechanics than graphics, yes, it's fine to get away with lesser stuff. Not bad graphics, mind you, just not top of the line. This is versus FPSes, which tend to need graphics to support themselves because the mechanics are pretty much unchanged from game to game.
Secondly, graphics do matter, but only up to a point. If the game is solid then we'll mostly overlook graphics, but most developers push for better and better pics. There is a horizon when it just doesn't matter any more, since either people stop noticing or they can't run it at full.
It's like the whole Blu-ray versus standard def thing. Yes, Blu-ray has better quality, but both formats are so good that you really can't tell unless you're viewing them side by side.
For the first part, while RPGs and the like that are more about story and mechanics than graphics, yes, it's fine to get away with lesser stuff. Not bad graphics, mind you, just not top of the line. This is versus FPSes, which tend to need graphics to support themselves because the mechanics are pretty much unchanged from game to game.
Secondly, graphics do matter, but only up to a point. If the game is solid then we'll mostly overlook graphics, but most developers push for better and better pics. There is a horizon when it just doesn't matter any more, since either people stop noticing or they can't run it at full.
It's like the whole Blu-ray versus standard def thing. Yes, Blu-ray has better quality, but both formats are so good that you really can't tell unless you're viewing them side by side.
I've played so many games in my current lifespan and i have to say that graphics don't always matter unless its a game that revolves around scenary as its mainpoint but games like pokemon and oldschool games were fine even if they didn't have amazing graphics the gameplay was just as good and we can take a lesson-
from homefront being sort of good looking but lacking a lot in decent gameplay mechanics.
my bottom line is graphics are 50/50 depending on what game can pull of both just as well and i can only think of MGS4 at the momento.
from homefront being sort of good looking but lacking a lot in decent gameplay mechanics.
my bottom line is graphics are 50/50 depending on what game can pull of both just as well and i can only think of MGS4 at the momento.
Gonna play the ass card and bring up...WOW.
Not the greatest looking game, but the genius stroke was hiring great artists who could make the world look pretty good with as little processing power as possible, therefore making the game accessible to a huge percentage of gamers.
I don't think Crysis struggled because of piracy, it struggled because it worked on about 3 current systems in the word on release.
Of course graphics matter, but graphics artistic quality matters far more than technical quality.
Also when it comes to multiplayer FPS games, developers need to remember a lot of people will turn off all the nice graphical tweaks to squeeze an extra few FPS out of it. Multilayered refracting, reflecting, ripply, physics enabled water? No thanks, I'll take a flat colour and go shoot some people thanks.
Not the greatest looking game, but the genius stroke was hiring great artists who could make the world look pretty good with as little processing power as possible, therefore making the game accessible to a huge percentage of gamers.
I don't think Crysis struggled because of piracy, it struggled because it worked on about 3 current systems in the word on release.
Of course graphics matter, but graphics artistic quality matters far more than technical quality.
Also when it comes to multiplayer FPS games, developers need to remember a lot of people will turn off all the nice graphical tweaks to squeeze an extra few FPS out of it. Multilayered refracting, reflecting, ripply, physics enabled water? No thanks, I'll take a flat colour and go shoot some people thanks.
Honestly, this sounds like JUST the type of thing you'd expect a VP of marketing to say. And he's probably completely honest about his opinion on this.John Funk said:Bethesda: People Who Say Graphics "Don't Matter" Are Usually Lying
Some gamers may pooh-pooh good graphics, but Bethesda's Pete Hines thinks they're integral to immersion.
You've probably seen a scene very much like this one message boards and gaming forums all over the place: Gorgeous screenshots from Game X are leaked, but then someone chimes in as a naysayer. "Why do game companies keep wasting time on graphics," they say, "Graphics don't matter at all."
Bethesda's VP of marketing Pete Hines thinks those people are full of it. "There's a lot of people who say graphics don't matter," Hines said in the most recent OXM Podcast [http://www.oxm.co.uk/26494/the-oxm-podcast-bethesdas-pete-hines/]. "To them I usually say 'you're lying.'"
Graphics can make or break whether people are interested in a game, said Hines. "[People] will look at a screenshot and make a snap decision: 'that looks awesome,' or 'I'm not interested.' So if you can make something look amazing just at first glance, it's so much easier to get them."
Graphics aren't just a marketing point either, said Hines - they can aid in a sense of immersion in a fictional world. Naturally, he plugged his company's upcoming Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, saying that Bethesda was "looking for the best sense of immersion you can get." A word of advice, Pete: Mudcrabs aren't very immersive.
Judging from last month's in-game trailer [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108009-First-Skyrim-Trailer-Shows-Off-In-Game-Hotness], Skyrim is rocking the visuals quite nicely.
(Via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/293916/news/bethesda-if-you-say-graphics-dont-matter-youre-probably-lying/])
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It also explains why there are so many terrible games out there with pretty graphics.
The thing is, Mister Marketing VP, that gamers like to support a franchise. They WANT to be a fanboy, and get a game they love, and buy it and other really good sequels of it. You don't get fanboys with graphics. You get it with content.
Graphics give you better sales on launch day, but they don't get you longevity.
Pretty much what I was thinking. One of the reasons minecraft and TF2 work so well is that the art style matches the feel of the game. For something like Skyrim, more realistic, if fantastical, graphics would be what fits. The real issue is whether the graphics are well-designed, not whether you have the best textures. So in a sense, graphics do matter.Irridium said:
The more I read your posts..The more you make sense.Sylvius the Mad said:
That scares me.
Oh, and Welcome to the Escapist.
Pete would say that, considering good graphics was the only thing I was able to appreciate in Fallout 3. Besides, it's easier to wave a sack of bling in front of somebody's eyes to impress them than it is to make something that's genuinely creative and interesting, but hey; whatever sells your shitty, shallow game.