Slashdot Mirror

Movies take several years to generate two hours of content. Games are often ten times that long, with a much smaller budget. How can they possibly be of comparable visual quality? and why do people try?

I would much rather have games that concentrate on art instead of graphics. (Rez and Darwinia come to mind as examples of visually impressive games with non-realistic styles. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work well in terms of sales...)

I would imagine it's because the amount of processor power required to render graphics on a screen is minimal compared to the amount of processor power requried to generate the correct train of analogue impulses needed to feed imagery into the human brain.

Also, it looks cool when done well - take Rez as a prime example. (I will admit you've really got to see it moving to appreciate it's full glory.)

Some may not remember Rez, so here's a link.

When it first came out for Dreamcast back in the day, it became one of the staples of our lounge parties in the dorm during my 1st year of college.

• American's McGee Alice - admitedly it's not more than a 3D Mario in terms of game play, but oh does it have style.
  
• Rez - abstract shooter with great soundtrack and original graphics.
  
• Tranquility - Abstract 3D flying game. Unlike anything else I've seen, has the simplicity of Tetris.
  
• Gish - 2D platformer with very original gameplay due to the lead character's physical properties

... are somewhat exaggerated.

There have been some games in recent times that have done innovative things with music. Of the games I've played, first and foremost is Rez (and I'm actually quite surprised that neither the AA article nor any comments have mentioned it). If you've never played it, the shots you fire add beats timed to the music, the music transitions very naturally when you jump ahead to the next section of the level, parts of the stage bounce in time to the music, and the timing of the beats gives you cues for when enemies are about to appear or change strategies. It's really a tour de force on unifying music with gameplay.

Another game that brings something to the debate is Metroid Prime. Despite having a Nintendo-proclaimed "cinematic soundtrack" and relying heavily on traditional styles, it's a surprisingly innovative and memorable soundtrack that blends orchestral accompaniment with traditional Metroid musical themes and experimental synthesized instruments. It's something of a counterexample to the AA article's main point that orchestras equal imitation.

Grant Theft Ulala: Cosmic Dance Attack?

I dont play any more console games cause they just plain suck.

I put in a ( poorly written ) submission earlier today about some other problems Sonicteam are having with their PSO franchise atm - seems someone stole a bunch of their preproduction character models / designs from their PSO Card Battle booth at e3. Weird! ( Link )

YLFI,
Mysterious Burning Ranger.

Ummm...

That doesn't look very American to me.