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What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 10th, 2007, 1:02 pm
by JustLikeHeaven1
In videogames most games can be boiled down to three graphics styles (IMHO). First you have the realistic graphics style. This style is represents by games like Call of Duty, Gears of War and most sports titles.
Next up we have the Saturday Morning Cartoon style. This is far less used these days, but its still a common graphics style. It can be seen in games like Psychonauts, Sam and Max, Alien Hominid and most children's games.
Last but not least we have the "art" graphics style. These games tend to be beautiful looking, but aren't ultra realistic. Games like Ico, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus.
So my question is which style do you prefer. Below is an example of each.
PS3 - Heavenly Sword 
Sam and Max - PC
Okami - PS2
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 10th, 2007, 1:27 pm
by Funkmaster V
Depends on the game. I know I'm in the minority tho, but graphics aren't a big deal to me. I care about fun, escapablity and gameplay.
FUNK
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 11th, 2007, 6:19 am
by Alienblue
NONE! I prefer the old, early 80's abstract style, flooded with color and energy, like QIX, AMIDAR, Ms.Pac-Man and Phoeinex!
(This is as good a place as any to state I always thought the "real" coin-op frogger was butt-ugly, I mean, PURPLE bushes and grass? Snakes and otters that resemble something colored by a toddler with broken crayons? Ye gods, give me the Colecovision version anyday-or even the anstract 2600! At least the colors are right!)
BTW, is there some icon or something that moderators could insert to indicate "post includes several GRAPHICS"?! I know most of you don't care, but it take 5-15 minutes to load screens like this on my OLD iMac. It really slows things down. Sometimes it's worth it but I'd at least like to know in advance!-thanks.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 11th, 2007, 12:01 pm
by Quill
Frankly anything that looks 'realistic' is ugly. The problem being that 3d graphics just aren't that advanced yet and even with motion capture the animation still looks mechanical.
The 'realistic' look actually works against it self to the audience. When something is very realistic, people tend to look at the things that aren't real about it. They'll focus on all the differences from real life instead of the similarities.
With the non realistic styles you try to find something that you can relate to and thusly focus more on that.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 11th, 2007, 1:31 pm
by Alienblue
"...anything that looks (3D) realistic is UGLY!"
What Quill said! I don't like "realistic" 3-D games much except for RACING games, and I think THERE the graphics can be excused because you are usually driving so fast. TOCA3 for PS2 is the best and most beautiful driver for PS2, but even there I noticed how "computerized" the people looked at the pitstops!
I like 3-D boxing games (along with Bowling and Tennis) and much prefer the Cartoony NES games like PUNCH OUT! and the early TENNIS to modern "realistic" games. The funny, cartoony graphics draw you in and make you laugh; far more entertaining than "real life" stuff. As a cartoonist myself, I know how cartoons, animation and carictures can draw the eye more than a real photo.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 12th, 2007, 12:12 am
by Conn
Depends on the atmosphere the game is going for. A gritty, dark game should definitely use realitsic graphics, but a game that doesn't take itself seriously or is much more lighthearted should use cel-shading. Of course there are exceptions to both.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 12th, 2007, 10:19 am
by JustLikeHeaven1
While I realize that certain games work better in certain situations, I feel like these 3 styles pretty much go back to when systems could support them (probably somewhere between 8bit and 16bit era). I was just curious if some of you had a certain affinity towards certain graphic styles.
I personally love the "saturday morning cartoon" style. This style is probably used less, but its effective nontheless. I would consider a current game like Timesplitters to use this style (the exagerated features) and classics like Punch Out (good call AB) use it as well.
I feel that realistic graphics lose their sparkle faster than the other two types. I feel like people will be raving about Okami's presenation for many years to come. While Gears of War will probably be outdone graphically in the next year or so. Nothing against Gears, its just the nature of the business.
Look at how badly some realistic graphics have aged. In the 16 bit look at how something like Madden 95 looks...its pretty terrible. Yet if you look at Mutant League Football the graphics hold up pretty well. Go into the 32 bit era, and look at Tomb Raider or Resident Evil, they both were a graphic whore's wet dream back then, but they look awful today. I think Castlevania Symphony of the Night or even Crash Bandicoot have held up better.
I will always prefer the graphics style of something like Ready 2 Rumble rather than Fight Night. Its just a personal choice. Ready 2 Rumble shows more style and its more fun. While the current editions of Fight Night look gorgeous the older versions don't hold up as well.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 12th, 2007, 11:53 pm
by Blah
I personally think that it all depends on what game we're talking about. For games like final fantasy, I would probably go with the realistic look, while with Super Monkey Ball it would obviously be cartoon style. However, I do prefer the Okami style just because it's an amazing way for the game designers to express their creativity without worrying about limitations.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 13th, 2007, 1:49 am
by Conn
[QUOTE=Blah]However, I do prefer the Okami style just because it's an amazing way for the game designers to express their creativity without worrying about limitations.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, Okami's art style was a directly influenced by limitations- apparently the PS2 couldn't handle the realistic graphics CLover was aiminfg for, so they went with a cel-shaded style.
What Style of graphics do you prefer?
Posted: March 13th, 2007, 2:30 am
by a1
[QUOTE=Conn][QUOTE=Blah]However, I do prefer the Okami style just because it's an amazing way for the game designers to express their creativity without worrying about limitations.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, Okami's art style was a directly influenced by limitations- apparently the PS2 couldn't handle the realistic graphics CLover was aiminfg for, so they went with a cel-shaded style.[/QUOTE]
The same thing was done on the DS with Tony Hawk. I kind of like cel-shaded graphics, so I'm actually happy when developers are limited by hardware and go with them. If only developers went with cel-shaded more often without the cause being hardware limitations.