Are graphics killing the gaming industry?

[kawligia]

As long as Wii is the top selling console, graphics isn't the thing killing the gaming industry. Wii needs more games like Mad World. Not super violent, but games with stylish visuals that make up for the fact it's a glorified Gamecube.

I'm hoping the success of the Wii will show developers that FUN is the most important aspect of gaming and they will develop their own products accordingly.

Graphics are good, but it was a bit shit when the NPCs in Oblivion would walk up to each other and say "I sure hope I never see a mud crab" for the one thousandth time in the exact same voice.

That was completely inexcusable because it wouldn't even have taken much longer to get more voice actors. And it wouldn't have been more expensive either. I don't know why these companies worry so much about WHO the voice belongs to. There are plenty of college students around Maryland that are into drama and theater. They would do just as good a job, and will probably work for a sandwich. And there will be variety!

More games like Mad World? Graphics showcases with limited gameplay that sell like swine flu brand hot dogs in a mosque?

LOLOLOL I'm going to have to remember that one.

 

[ygetoff]

I don't think that graphics have anything to do with lower game quality. Take CoD:WaW for example. It uses the CoD4 engine, which is a very good game engine with good visuals and physics. The game still wasn't very good (to me at least). Graphics alone cannot make or break a game. What can break a game is bad controls, bad glitches, and simple bad gameplay or story.

 

[dthvirus]

I do know that Bethesda made the release of Fallout 3 coincide with the date of the Great War in the series. Something tells me it was rushed, because it is a bugfest.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'd have to partly agree about the wii.

We don't need technically excellent graphics, so long as they are artistically good.

Now I know there are armies of WOW haters out there, but I'd say a big part of the games appeal is that it has nice varied looks, without needing some epic PC to play it, its very scalable, and yet looks beautiful, not because of thousands of polygons, but because the art direction and the artists themselves have made the most of the limitations they had to work within.

There's a place for super realism, in the case of sports games, Gran Turismo, etc.

However we can't afford to get too obsessed with it.

 

[Trendkill6]

I think it's just that the developers spend more time developing graphics that the story and gameplay suffer abit. Sure I want a good looking game like everyone else, but I want it to be fun and the story to draw me in, and very few games this current generation have done this.

But I think graphics have gotten to the the point where they aren't going to get much better so they will have to make better stories, better gameplay,and spend more time testing for bugs (I'm talking to you bethesta.) to keep us intertained.

 

[kawligia]

I do know that Bethesda made the release of Fallout 3 coincide with the date of the Great War in the series. Something tells me it was rushed, because it is a bugfest.

Try downloading this mod: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1086

It gets rid of GFWL. Once I did that, I had very few problems.

 

[ender214]

I think the graphics are worth the investment, because if I buy a game and it has crappy graphics, I usually won't give it a chance to even prove whether its worth playing. Maybe this is because I prefer PC games and thus am usually searching for better hardware for better graphics, but I don't give games with terrible graphics the time of day.

Then people like you are probably the reason for why developers spend so much time on the visuals. But really, people who simply can't play anything that doesn't look awesome don't deserve to call them self's "gamers"

I can play anything regardless on how it looks so long as i find it fun to play. Hell i was playing Contra on the NES yestarday and i had a blast!

EDIT: Sorry for the double post!

I don't mean I won't play Classic games (Donkey Kong for Game Boy remains one of my favorites), but modern games with terrible graphics (e.g. Godfather II) are simply a turn-off when there are so many games with amazing graphics out there.

 

[KevinR1990]

I feel that the industry's obsession with graphics at the expense of gameplay is a problem, but one that I feel is only a symptom of a far more important issue. I am speaking of the fact that the video game industry has been trying to imitate Hollywood at every turn. It's not just graphics. It's the push for HD. It's their hiring Hollywood actors and screen writers just to lend their projects more "prestige," if that's the right word. It's the replacement of regular gameplay with quick-time events that basically turn the game into a series of interactive cutscenes (mind you, these things can be used properly, which some games do). It's the fact that everybody's trying to copy the film industry, even though video games are a completely different medium from film. Remember: Hollywood didn't really take off until after it stopped trying to copy Broadway, and visionary filmmakers started to realize that a) they could do things with film that they couldn't do on stage, and b) what worked in the theater didn't necessarily work on the big screen.

 

[Nutcase]

All those are just symptoms. The cause is that the bulk of the audience has become less discerning, so the developers can't differentiate themselves by making better, more complex games. Differences in graphics technology you can demonstrate even to the dimmest simian, since all they have to do is look.

 

[weirdaljedifan2]

The graphics were just fine last generation. We don't need gritty, detailed graphics to play a game.

 

[classyplatypus]

No, seriously no, they are in no way doing anything bad for the gaming industry. I you disagree, then you're just stupid :^]

 

[SageOfCalm]

I would say it might be challenging the Eastern developers. We're 3 1/2 years into this generation and besides Capcom and MAYBE Konami, nobody is making their mark and FFXIII won't be out till 2010 for us. They're lucky this generation is probably going to last longer than previous, I think. And western developers seem to be having an imagination block. They love space marines and buying each other.

Other than that this is the most balanced generation we've ever been in. Three healthy consoles and two healthy portables with an up and comer in Apple. And their is no shortage of AAA titles, except Wii.

 

[acturisme]

Wait, gaming is being killed? When did this happen?

Gaming is being choked. Graphics like pictures can tell a story but good writing and voice actors go a loooooooooooong way to making a so-so game a great one.

 

[IsoNeko]

Halo =/= Good Graphics.

Look at how well that's doing, and is doing still.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/04/28/live-activity-for-week-of-april-20th.aspx

That being the latest stats release by Nelson

 

[quack35]

Halo =/= Good Graphics.

Look at how well that's doing, and is doing still.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/04/28/live-activity-for-week-of-april-20th.aspx

That being the latest stats release by Nelson

Halo 3 has great graphics!

And the mythic map pack is probably helping those numbers (a tiny bit).

 

[Dr.Sean]

Until I can see the individual hairs on a man's head and the individual beads of blood dripping from the place his neck used to be, I demand the people that make video games crank up the graphics until it is hard to tell if it's real life or not!

 

[IsoNeko]

Halo =/= Good Graphics.

Look at how well that's doing, and is doing still.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/04/28/live-activity-for-week-of-april-20th.aspx

That being the latest stats release by Nelson

Halo 3 has great graphics!

And the mythic map pack is probably helping those numbers (a tiny bit).

Spoiler

Killzone 2

Spoiler

Gears of War 2

Spoiler

Halo 3

Your witness.

 

[CulexVanda]

Yes and I'll end it at that

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Yes.

 

[sauerkraus]

Graphics were at the perfect gaming-eye candy ratio in 2005. Since then the better graphics have ruined my ability to play new games on my outdated desktop (and I recently broke my new laptop) and are distracting developers from creating good gameplay.