^ Yeah, I pretty much agree... unfortunately my half-hearted tone didn't come across well in saying "I guess, an argument could be made" and "relatively pretty". Probably could've made it clearer
Oh no, I totally caught that. Unlike others completely misunderstanding when reading me (a steadily growing pet peeve), I take the time to thoroughly read and understand what others are saying, and if there's any ambiguity (whether it be tone because "it doesn't carry over into text", or the nuances of certain words in a language) I do my best to not make assumptions and consider what EVERY possibility might be. I was merely making the point that, while that was a indeed possibility, it was worth reinforcing that the bleakness of that possibility was still VERY grim. Notice I said "one" would have to go to great lengths, I didn't say "you" would. =)
Personally, I don't really give a shit about graphics so long as stuff looks like it's supposed to and isn't a complete eye-sore with badly contrasting colors, so much bloom I get a fucking headache, constant flaws in the continuity of the environment (like commonly seeing gaps along edges of 3d models and such), and ridiculously bad animation-- which FO3/NV pushed a bit even for my taste... for one example, I definitely prefer the much more physically sensible death animations from the originals with the death-dance from being hit by burst fire or a chunk of a guy's torso being blown out or half a mole rat's skull being blown off by a single well-placed shot after which the body drops straight down rather than the ridiculous rag-doll physics where the body does a full flip from one punch, or other conceptual idiocy that basically equates to this:
http://i.imgur.com/aA3yejU.jpg
Yeah, as time goes on, I'm beginning to shift in my stance towards graphics. On the one hand, while the argument for "it's not all about graphics" reached its peak during the previous console generation, where graphics were the most emphasized attribute of games at the time, I felt (and to a large degree, still do) that graphics weren't the most important thing, but that they were still important. I argued that a game that plays great, is engaging, has a riveting story, relatable characters, and all the hallmarks of "a good game", made into duplicates where one has "good graphics" and the other has "supreme eye candy", the latter just wins because it looks prettier, so long as nothing else is compromised. While practically speaking this was NEVER the case, and titles were often sacrificing much while placing more valuable resources into the arbitrary graphical department, I still held that, theoretically, that was the role graphics played. If all else was equal, then superior graphics would be that icing on the cake.
And then I watched a "walkthrough" of
Sonic Blast, a Game Gear title I'd played as a kid back when that game came out, and had largely since then filed away to the darkest recesses of my memory. Now brought to light, it shoved right in my face the clearest example of this industry obsession with graphics leading to nothing but harm for the medium. Game Gear Sonic games were never that great next to their Genesis counterparts, but this wasn't a matter of relative inferiority, this was a full step backwards. Or maybe several steps? Either way, it was slower, it lagged constantly, the Sonic avatar took up most of the screen (thus further exaggerating the already-noticeable slowness), and for what? A Sonic avatar that looked shapely and round, vaguely mimicking the allusion of 3-dimensionality? No, that wasn't worth it at all. A game as par back as the mid-90s was a complete failure because of all the core mechanics and performance it sacrificed for the arbitrary pursuit of prettiness. I had though that was really a mistake largely during the previous console generation, but not, it has been prevalent all along. And then indie titles with their limited budgets come along side by side with
Minecraft, showcasing great games that are beloved by the masses whilst deliberately avoiding putting much effort into visuals, because their effort was dedicated solely to gameplay, mechanics, performance, and (non-visual) polish. I still WANT to believe that graphics can make all the difference, and I still think it's hypothetically possible. But the harsh reality seems to be that monolithic companies aim low. Really, really low. =(
Love that comic, by the way. XD
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