120°

Eventually Graphics Won't Matter

The “leap” in graphics from the PS3/60 era to the PS4/Xbox One generation is not a great one. Certain developers, like Quantic Dream, have pushed graphics so far that something like Beyond: Two Souls still looks like an impressive title even today, gameplay criticisms notwithstanding. Meanwhile, people play something like Watch_Dogs on new consoles and many people say “Well, it looks better, but not that much better.”

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NextLevel3568d ago Show
xX-StolenSoul-Xx3568d ago (Edited 3568d ago )

Once we reach photorealism well I actually think it'll just make me crave more fantasy games as realism is not what I crave.
Anyways gameplay already matter more than graphics.
Many indie games show this fact and the mass popularity on minecraft shows gameplay is what matters.

I'll always prefer a cool art style vs realism

uth113568d ago

This was my thoughts exactly. Stylized graphics are the future, not photo-realism. This will be driven more by talent rather than resolution.

DougLord3568d ago

Gameplay has always mattered more than graphics. Go look at the classic greats and tell me you wouldn't rather play them than something Next Gen with a 30% meta score.

Matt6663568d ago (Edited 3568d ago )

Do you mean realism as in graphics being realistic, or game play realistic, as in that car acts a certain way and that gun acts a certain way etc.

Game play should defiantly come before graphics, but I would to see more games with game play realism

Magicite3568d ago

its time to make realistic physics, fully destructible world, ability to pass any obstacles and so on.

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SteamPowered3568d ago

I dont know about this theory. The first thing I do with any game on my PC is crank the settings to max. I mean, sure the game is playable, but I think its human nature to want more and push the limits.

Eldyraen3568d ago

True but the theory is sound as once it reaches a certain level more won't necessarily be better and just become distracting clutter.

I don't think we have reached that level yet or even close but graphics of today (especially the top tier games) have reached a point where I can't seriously complain about most of them anymore be they released on PC or Consoles (handhelds and mobile sure but they are catching up and handhelds are now much older tech wise than most mobile devices). There is still room for improvement of course but not near as much as there used to be. Most "weak points" are due to limitations such as physics (static props), true 100% dynamic lighting, etc which makes the world somewhat "fake" but doesn't distract much.
Devs though can do so much today where I don't notice it "most of the time".

Realism, once truely achievable, will become secondary however as there will still be a huge market for it but style and substance will begin to reemerge to balance things out. Think of it sort of like Art or Film as we can make anything look "real" given enough time, money, and talent but there are still huge markets for other styles than pure realism.

I still think we have a few generations of consoles to go though till then and even then scale of games can be expanded which may not be pure graphics related but fidelity wise will make huge advances.

Graphics at some point will be at a level where other aspects of the game will have to catch up for true progress to continue.

Clown_Syndr0me3568d ago

The graphics leap hasnt been that great, that much is true.
I guess the main differences we will see this generation will be to do with gameplay dynamics that werent possible last generations. Maybe more players, bigger worlds, shorter loading times, better physics...Im no expert but Im sure you get my drift.

I also agree with the comments above, often stylized graphics are better (depending on the game ofcourse). I want to see a proper cartoon game this gen, like The Simpsons Game or the Family Guy game that actually looks exactly like the cartoon! That would be cool.

SteamPowered3568d ago

South Park was pretty unreal. Plays just like an episode. Im not saying they broke the budget on animation, but it really adds to the game.

Clown_Syndr0me3568d ago

Oh yeah I forgot about that. That was awesome. I love cartoon games for some reason.

VJGenova3568d ago

I love that more and more games have either no loading screens or very short ones. Dark Souls is a good example of this.

I remember mortal kombat trilogy on psx took about 20 seconds to load a fight. Injustice on pc takes maybe 5 seconds.

And of course, gameplay is what keeps us engaged in the games we play. That's why I stopped playing the remake of Thief after 5 hours ...

uth113568d ago

Yes despite that the new gen is more powerful, the gain in graphics isn't that noticeable because it was pretty good to begin with. Yet some people want to take us to 4K gaming with faster and faster FPS. So that means you will need hardware that is 4X more powerful, 4X the memory, 4X as much data to load (hello long load times) for the same gameplay!

If you game from your living room sofa, you would not benefit much from 4K unless you had a huge TV.

I'd rather see those compute resources put into worlds that are more interactive, better physics,etc.

VJGenova3568d ago

Are you saying that you'd notice the better graphics on a smaller screen as opposed to a larger screen? Or are you saying 4K gaming is pointless unless you have a large tv?

uth113568d ago

I'm saying 4k is pointless unless you are really close or have a large screen. Or else your eyes cannot tell the difference (not my opinion, this has been demonstrated)

VJGenova3568d ago

Gotcha. I sit about 8 feet from my 60" tv. Thinking if it was 4K I'd be able to tell. Granted it's not 2 feet like a computer monitor would be ...

dcj05243567d ago

The graphics leap is small because the consoles are running PC hardware from mid-range 2012 PCs.

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DougLord3568d ago

The Xbone is 1,300 GFlops vs the 360 at 230. That's a 465% increase.

The PS4 is 1,800 GFlops, which is roughly 40% more than Xbone.

So the difference between the 360 and the Xbone is 12x GREATER than the difference between the Xbone and the PS4.

If the difference between last gen and this gen is not significant - then 1/12th of that is INSIGNIFICANT. Basically undetectable to the naked eye.

FlyingFoxy3568d ago

There are PC graphics cards just under 5 Tflops that aren't terribly expensive, and you most certainly can see the difference.

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70°

The entire WatchDogs series is 87% off and it's not even Black Friday

If you are looking for a bargain, check out the huge discounts across the entire WatchDogs series on Steam.

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200°

Watch Dogs Deserves A Remake, More Than Ever

With the world of information and technology, privacy and security growing every day, Watch Dogs deserves another chance in the spotlight, now more than ever.

RaidenBlack1001d ago

The only Ubi title that deserves a faithful remake right now is Splinter Cell 1.
All 2014+ Ubi titles are just underwhelming. Especially ones from 2016+ are just cancer.

LucasRuinedChildhood1001d ago (Edited 1001d ago )

Seriously, are we so far removed from Ubisoft actually making good games that people now praise Watch_Dogs in retrospect?

"Watch_Dogs has remained one of my favourite games of the last ten years." Jesus Christ.

HankHill1001d ago

I remember being so disappointed in Watch Dogs when I played it at release. It was alright, but I think I fell for the hype and I needed a game to play on my new PS4.

obidanshinobi1001d ago

This is what happens when mediocrity gets praised as good.
Standards are slipping across the whole entertainment industry.
What was once considering rubbish is now considered as OK, what once was OK is now being praised as good etc etc.

LamerTamer1000d ago

Everyone has their own likes. I liked it a lot myself. I played through it twice and liked the car chases and the open world with fairly decent environments and missions. It suffered from the whole downgrade thing where they showed graphics that weren't actually there. No game will appeal to everyone but it was still ambitious for it's time.

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gantarat1001d ago

assassin's creed 1 should get a remake.

ExBee1001d ago

For certain! AC1 was brilliant at the time but with new graphics and gameplay it would be amazing! Do you prefer old combat or new though?

RaidenBlack1001d ago

I'd say a reimagining of AC1.
I direct AC1 remake would be a bad idea. It'll need better story pacing and significant better world building.

BlaqMagiq11000d ago

Old. Let it play like how it did with AC2-Syndicate style gameplay but refine the setting and story.

Profchaos1001d ago

It would need a lot changed for it to be enjoyable again as even back in 2007 on launch we were all complaining about it's repetitive gameplay go here perform one of three side quests repeat then assassination now do it over and over until a big battle with a unforgiving checkpoint system.

BlaqMagiq11000d ago

Absolutely. It needs it. The only AC I truly didn't enjoy.

chicken_in_the_corn1000d ago

I'd prefer it didn't. Ubisoft would make it so bloated, it wouldn't be anywhere near the original

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smolinsk1001d ago (Edited 1001d ago )

Absolutely, this watch dogs legion was terrible boring.

Profchaos1001d ago (Edited 1001d ago )

As a fan of the franchise legion was garbage and I regretted my purchase for the first time in the franchise the entire thing felt like an experiment in NPC behaviour and released without the writers input on what makes a good story.

I don't think I'm alone in that feeling though as wrench and Aiden are brought back and the campaign was rewritten to fit them.

I am tempted to buy the season pass to play it again with Aiden but fool me twice shame on me I'm waiting for a deep sale

camel_toad1001d ago

Agreed. Despite the annoying hipness of the characters in part 2 I thought it was a really fun game. I was extremely disappointed and surprised at how many steps back they took with Legion. You'd think it was made by an entirely different team. Or was it?

It was just so devoid of fun.

LamerTamer1000d ago

Honestly one of my biggest annoyances with Legion is that they took out the camera views for the driving. I mean the behind the car view that they stuck us with is near unplayable. I always used a first person driving view. After two releases why did they take OUT features? I don't get it.

TheSinsibleOne1001d ago

The fist watchdog game was the best by far
After that they weren't weird and annoying with that hipster stuff. Aiden was a badass.

LamerTamer1000d ago

I thought so at first too. I got used to it and it ended up being good after some play time. I just had to give it a chance.

TheEnigma3131001d ago

Remake the PoP series from xbox/ps2/gc era

RaidenBlack1001d ago

They are remaking Sands of Time.

TheEnigma3131001d ago

That's good news. Hopefully it's done right.

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290°

Inside the Driver game that died so that Watch Dogs could live

From VG247: "When cars slide, they leave tyre marks. In a game like Driver, they’re an aesthetic touch, part of the inherent cool of a handbrake turn. But those dark shadows in the road also tell a story. From tyre marks, you can determine the speed of a vehicle, when it started to skid, and its ultimate direction of travel – long after the car itself has vanished into the distance."

vallencer1065d ago

Different spellings in different parts of the world friend. Tyre is a correct way to spell it.

Pridefall1065d ago

Dunno why you got downvpted when tyre is correct in Australia.

mikefizzled11065d ago

The mystery that is En Fore Gee

neutralgamer19921065d ago

Give us driver San Francisco remastered

IGiveHugs2NakedWomen1065d ago

Why did they stop making some of the best games ever? Driver was one of them.

Gameseeker_Frampt1065d ago

Assassins Creed 2 showed Ubisoft how to make money and Far Cry 2 showed them that gamers don't like complex ideas. Now Ubisoft just turns out games that are just variations of the same thing.

WeAreLegion1065d ago

Best driving mechanics ever made. Nothing has come close.

Gardenia1065d ago

A story driven game with pure driving gameplay. I'd love to see a new Driver game or a remake of the first one.

ApocalypseShadow1065d ago

Yes. This one. A definite remake of the first without adding any ridiculous fluff. The first game had great physics and sound for its time. The start of the car in the beginning cinema I watched constantly. My father and uncles were big muscle and classic car freaks. Only thing crazy about the game was the relentless cops in the last level. Insane the way those police cars were and launched at you.

Bleemcast made it look better just like PC emulators. But would definitely take a remake.

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