Graphics Don't Matter

Dave Long writes "My column at GamerDad features some musing on how unimportant graphics are becoming to enjoyment of games. Everything looks great today which removes the excitement of that bullet point on a game box. There's some historical context and speculation on next-gen consoles and graphics' effect on consumers." From the article: "I guess we're getting closer to photo-realism, but I just don't care. The games shown don't look markedly better than anything from this generation. I guess they're impressive in a 'that's close to the movies now' kind of way but the graphics aren't changing gameplay in any way that I can see. It just makes old types of gameplay look prettier. For the people who absolutely adore technology and this incessant need to replicate the real world, there will certainly be things to cheer in the next generation. I'm sure I'll eventually buy the new consoles myself and be at least modestly excited at the graphics, but I've just grown so accustomed to things looking nice on current machines that there's no 'wow' factor anymore."

Comments

Graphics still make me go WOW!

[kjkeefe]

I played Ultima Online for about 7 years. So I was used to playing a game without killer graphics for a long time. My thoughts were the same thing as the poster, gameplay is all that matters.

Well, I recently began playing World of Warcraft because I am sick of how bad UO has gotten. After playing WoW I realize just how much I was missing! There have been times in game where I was climbing a mountain and when I got to the summit and looked out into a valley I literally vocalized, "Wooooow...". It was almost a gut reaction and afterward I thought to myself, "... that was silly...". But it really does make a difference in how much I enjoy the game. I actually enjoy the beautiful views you can find in that game. After playing WoW I am a fervent believer in the "games are art" school of thought. Some of the screen shots from that world are just astonshingly beautiful.

Just the other day I was playing and my (not technology inclined) mother happen to look at my screen and remarked, "Wow, that is really pretty, what is that website?" I explained that actually it was a virtual game world and that I was looking off a boat I was riding watching the sunset.

I believe that you can't have a successful game without well thought out game play, but the artwork is what can make it a masterpiece.