how is THAT good graphics?

Is anyone else noticing this, or is it just me?

For some stupid reason, good graphics nowadays means making everythingshiny like hell. Skin, clothes, etc are supposed to be as shiny as a gold bar? And what's with HDR? I play CS S the other day, turn on HDR and all I saw was nothing, because I was blinded by the ridiculous amount on unnecessary lighting.

I mentioned that to a couple of my friends when the PS3 and 360 were still new, (I especially noticed while playing Kameo when that came out) and everyone just looked at me crazy... they said things like are you nuts? that's good graphics... I ignored them cause I still thought shiny ain't good... at least someone agrees...BadSushi

Making everything shiny seems to be the way to go nowadays for developers, I think its ok overall, but I prefer developers make game look great from a art standpoint.

Gameplay > Story > Animations > Graphicsjoeamis

hm... touche :P

Developer reading this thread:

Wait? Huh? They don't like the graphics? IGOR! QUICK! ADD MORE BLOOM! MORE BLOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

Gameplay > Animations > story > GraphicsKGB32

Alright, let's settle this once and for all. The question of the topic at hand being about HDR, bloom, normal maps and those kinds of effects. I agree that some games go over-board with them to hide the fact the underlying graphics are weak. But used with care they can really add to a game, just think about the Half-Life 2 Episodes.

Now about gameplay being more important than graphics, are you smoking weed? This statement is perhaps true in a text-based adventure game, not in any modern FPS/TPS/RPGs.

Think about it: If graphics really didn't matter, would companies devote such time to it? Wouldn't they realise it doesn't matter much and save millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours? Wouldn't they be happier?!

They would. But that's not how it floats: Graphics are absolutely vital and I dare say, even the most important part of a game.

Hmmm, true.

I feel that this generation has the most homogenised art-styles since the 8-bit generation. Almost every game in its respective genre seems to be aiming for the same look, especially shooters who are particularly bad for over usage of the effects you mentioned. That is why I feel games like MP3 look much more striking and beautiful than games on technically superior consoles.

Now about gameplay being more important than graphics, are you smoking weed? This statement is perhaps true in a text-based adventure game, not in any modern FPS/TPS/RPGs.

Think about it: If graphics really didn't matter, would companies devote such time to it? Wouldn't they realise it doesn't matter much and save millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours? Wouldn't they be happier?!

They would. But that's not how it floats: Graphics are absolutely vital and I dare say, even the most important part of a game.

Have you sniffed 5 gallons of glue because it seems that your brains have melted away...

Graphics come last...Think of this, you got a great game with great graphics with no story, gameplay worse than in...in...[FILL THE BLANK] and very bad animation. Would you still play that game? oh, sorry, of course you would, graphics are all in all...

In my list reigns as best games ever titles such as: Diablo 2, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Half Life, Arx Fatalis...I can easily devote many hours to those in day because usually the story is good and the gameplay is fun, atmosphere great...Of course the graphics have much to do with gameplay...Diablo 2 would be very bad if it had that all cartoonish doll like graphics of WoW or GW. Same would apply to all of above. I couldnt personally stand GW or WoW...Not because the gameplay sucked...Not because graphics were bad(which they actually was)...Not because the community was bad...But because there were almost 0% story. Instant failure. EPIC FLYING FAILURE actually. Blizzard made games like Starcraft which are still very popular. Yes, I might be alone with these thoughts because Blizzard made biggest failure ever and made WoW instead of making some GOOD game. And they have lured millions of players to pay for them with ultra shiny cartoonish doll like graphics which doesnt create atmosphere just makes game look ridiculous. I cannot get a feeling of being undead assassin if I look like a friggin barbie and doesnt need to sneak just click on a enemy and BOOM his down. Blizzard and NCsoft are sirens...Blizzard made good games(Diablo, Diablo 2, Starcraft...) but now they have fallen into same hole of stupidy as other companies and put story and gameplay aside and pay thousands or hundreds or whatever for people to develope GOOD GRAPHICS! Just throw story and gameplay to trashbin, we get players with graphics...GAMING INDUSTRY NEEDS MORE GAMES LIKE DIABLO 2, SYSTEM SHOCK 2, VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE - BLOODLINES! NOT GAMES WITH OVERSHINYDOLLCARTOONGRAPHICS! DOWN CURRENT GAMING INDUSTRY! LONG LIVE NEW FLESH!