Game graphics are a fickle thing, games that looked fine in the 80's look like sheer arse today. Games like Far-Cry(Far-Cry 1 to clarify) or Just Cause(1) that looked beautiful on released now look quite bad, this is because games that go for the realism look tend to look worse quicker, however WoW and Fallout: A Post Apocalyptic RPG(the original Fallout) still look quite nice, mainly because of the more cartoon-y look, which ages beautifully, like your mum, but games that try to be graphical powerhouses tend to age as gracefully as Joan Rivers, that is to say, not at all graceful. There are some exceptions to this rule, the
Elder Scrolls IV engine, that looked fine in Oblivion and Fallout 3, both games had some beautiful landscapes, and it even didn't look overly bad in New Vegas not bad for what is, essentially the same graphics as used in a now 4-5 year old game.
Games have came a long way since 1-bit Space Invaders and PacMan for the Atari 2600, and I'm not sure how much further they can go, look at games like Crysis 2 that look utterly realistic, but then again I did say the same thing for CoD 3 and Halo 2. Nintendo take the cartoon-y look and run as far as they possibly can with it, obviously because the Wii has, to be fair, the same graphical capabilities as the Gamecube, and this shows in games that try to be realistic, like Conduit, which looks adequate at best, but Super Paper Mario and Mario Kart, which look near perfect, because Nintendo knows how to whore out its top franchises to make a grossly huge pile of cash.
But there is only so far nostalgia and cartoons can get you, made very clear by Nintendo's intention to make a console that can actually perform to the current generation standards, as they realize that the Wii is not going to last forever, cheap gimmicks and Zelda can only do so much. However I think the Xbox 360 and PS3 could carry on for a while now, the graphics are getting better and Microsoft and Sony, keen to cash in on the Wiis only unique feature, have both released hugely successful cash cows, I mean motion controls, that improve on what the Wii does, both giving better graphics and Microsoft actually improving on the concept, rather than Sony, who have just painted the Wii controller black and stuck a huge purple ball on the end, oh, Mr. Stringer you crafty fox, you.
Now, I admit that I did fall for this and I own both a Wii and Kinect and I have to say that the Kinect is quite impressive, the Wii, less so, sure the gimmick is fun for a while but after about a week you start to see limitations, the Wii motion sensor seems to be the worlds most pickiest bastard, and I refuse to pay £20 for a thing that only makes the Wii do what it should have always done, it also makes the Wii looked rushed out, if they had spent a few more months on development that could've made the original Wii-mote more responsive, and maybe put a better graphics engine in, and not the same fucking one from the Gamecube you lazy bitches, but I digress. And Kinect only works if your sitting room has nothing in it at all, or you live in Buckingham Palace.
Developers need to stop trying to force any innovation down our necks, and instead improve on the Status Quo. A game is more immersive if the graphics are decent and the controllers are good, and not just a bunch of arm flails that may or may not punch your opponent(a which technique which my dad calls the Windmill). Not that that will stop Nintendo, who seem so keen to innovate that you can actually smell it, see The Power Glove and the Virtual Boy(and maybe even the 3DS, but only time will tell, time and consumers).
If you can think of any other old games with nicely aged graphics, or successful innovations please list them below.
Elder Scrolls IV engine, that looked fine in Oblivion and Fallout 3, both games had some beautiful landscapes, and it even didn't look overly bad in New Vegas not bad for what is, essentially the same graphics as used in a now 4-5 year old game.
Games have came a long way since 1-bit Space Invaders and PacMan for the Atari 2600, and I'm not sure how much further they can go, look at games like Crysis 2 that look utterly realistic, but then again I did say the same thing for CoD 3 and Halo 2. Nintendo take the cartoon-y look and run as far as they possibly can with it, obviously because the Wii has, to be fair, the same graphical capabilities as the Gamecube, and this shows in games that try to be realistic, like Conduit, which looks adequate at best, but Super Paper Mario and Mario Kart, which look near perfect, because Nintendo knows how to whore out its top franchises to make a grossly huge pile of cash.
But there is only so far nostalgia and cartoons can get you, made very clear by Nintendo's intention to make a console that can actually perform to the current generation standards, as they realize that the Wii is not going to last forever, cheap gimmicks and Zelda can only do so much. However I think the Xbox 360 and PS3 could carry on for a while now, the graphics are getting better and Microsoft and Sony, keen to cash in on the Wiis only unique feature, have both released hugely successful cash cows, I mean motion controls, that improve on what the Wii does, both giving better graphics and Microsoft actually improving on the concept, rather than Sony, who have just painted the Wii controller black and stuck a huge purple ball on the end, oh, Mr. Stringer you crafty fox, you.
Now, I admit that I did fall for this and I own both a Wii and Kinect and I have to say that the Kinect is quite impressive, the Wii, less so, sure the gimmick is fun for a while but after about a week you start to see limitations, the Wii motion sensor seems to be the worlds most pickiest bastard, and I refuse to pay £20 for a thing that only makes the Wii do what it should have always done, it also makes the Wii looked rushed out, if they had spent a few more months on development that could've made the original Wii-mote more responsive, and maybe put a better graphics engine in, and not the same fucking one from the Gamecube you lazy bitches, but I digress. And Kinect only works if your sitting room has nothing in it at all, or you live in Buckingham Palace.
Developers need to stop trying to force any innovation down our necks, and instead improve on the Status Quo. A game is more immersive if the graphics are decent and the controllers are good, and not just a bunch of arm flails that may or may not punch your opponent(a which technique which my dad calls the Windmill). Not that that will stop Nintendo, who seem so keen to innovate that you can actually smell it, see The Power Glove and the Virtual Boy(and maybe even the 3DS, but only time will tell, time and consumers).
If you can think of any other old games with nicely aged graphics, or successful innovations please list them below.
