Forget about the graphics.

[Insideout Ink Demon]

And what of PC gaming? They'll probably sneer at all of the developments in this story. 'Consoles have fallen to the casuals,' they'll say. They will then nag everyone on every forum ever about how PC gaming is superior, then pay thousands of dollars so they can mine for diamonds at 600 frames per second. No, wait, that's what they do now. So I'm not sure what they'll do, but what I am sure of is that, whatever they do, whichever path they take, the rest of us will not give a rat's ass.

hey, PC gamer here. nice way to generalise a massive group of people!

What exactly have I done to you?
When have I ever preached about graphics?
when have I spent 1000's on my PC?
Am I not also a gamer? Do development costs not also effect me? Why not give a rats ass about what i do as a gamer?

C'mon, since we're all the same, show me examples of when I've done any of this? Answer my questions above

You are also a gamer. So are the thousands of your brethren who nag everybody on every conceivable forum. If what I say doesn't apply to you, that's probably because I'm not talking about you.

I never said you were all the same. The ones who shout out 'PC gaming Master Race!' on every remotely videogame related news story are the ones I refer to. They're driving me crazy. You, personally, are not, so it stands to reason that you are not the one I'm referring to.

not my "brethren" i dont answer for everyone who owns a pc, gaming or otherwise.

If it doesnt apply to me, how about not making such sweeping and dismissive generalisations when starting a topic?

you say "I never said you were all the same" - but at no point did you say "some PC gamers"

 

[briankoontz]

Graphics are the primary advantage the AAA industry has over the rest of the games industry. That's why it's always going to be pushed unless the industry fundamentals are changed.

Graphics are actually of some importance, and I don't mean in the eye candy sense. Realistic facial expressions have real potential for game development, realistic human bodies and other elements of realism can affect gameplay. Imagine a social game about body persecution for example, with the main character a fat person looked down on for his weight. This kind of game is greatly benefitted by great graphics and character models which can depict a wide range of character ages, physiques, weights, physical attractiveness, etc.

As any serious gamer knows though, graphics don't matter much. Only AAA industry whores believe graphics are of vast importance.

 

[william12123]

While graphics are making AAA games more expensive, there are a hell of a lot of things that do well without. I thinks it's just that most AAA devellopers perceive less good graphics as a risk. I have the distinct impression that I havent been the target market for AAA games for a while, since few of them emphasize what I find cool. There are still good games, but they seem to be perceived as an "exception" (like minecraft). I'd be curious to know how many people actually care about those tremendous graphics, and what percentage of the gamer population they are. The escapist might not be the best test pool, seeing as very few of us are in the lucrative "casual to semi-casual" crowd.

 

[Dragonbums]

videogame companies have sucked themselves into the vicious whirlwind of better graphics and those who support it aren't making it any better.

Nintendo isn't necessarily going HD all the way. From what I've heard they are simply picking and choosing which games will actually make a difference with the HD upgrade.
The only reason they are doing it it seems is because everyone keeps complaining about them not doing it. How much would this actually improve their game is beyond me.
Super Mario Galaxy and Skyward Sword looked amazing and they aren't even in HD. In fact It seems to me that they are sinking money into something that benefits very little- if not, nothing to their games visually and financial wise. I will even go as far as to say that when Pikmin comes out, nobody is going to praise if for it's HD graphics. It would probably look the same even without HD because Nintendo polishes their games to a T.

Valve doesn't do it because they know that good games sell games. Not HD or better graphics.
The fact that TF2 is still their biggest money machine after all these years is a testament to that.