Do Graphics Matter?

[Charlie]

A lot of you have been complaining about sub-par graphics in the games that are coming out for the Wii, but a lot of you say that graphics don't matter at all.

 

So, do graphics matter?

[DTD]

To a certain extent.

I think that nice pretty graphics add to the experience rather than define it though.

[Nintenchris]

I think the complaining is about developers being so lazy that games like Far Cry are turning up with graphics worse than those of its xbox counter part. That is not acceptable when we all know the Wii is capable of more.

[Mikey]

When the graphics are poor for a certain console, but not as good as a more powerful console, people will complain. But if the graphics are great for a console, but not as good as good as for a more powerful console, people will be fine with it.

[Konfucius]

Graphics sure do matter, however, they often are overrated. They rarely make a game good but they make some memorable moments. When you see Hyrule field in OoT or the Great Sea in Wind Waker. Sure the games would largely be the same with worse graphics but these moments would be lacking.

 

I'm a bit of a graphics whore myself but if the game is good they don't matter in the end. However, when playing Red Steel I'm really disappointed with some low-res textures from time to time but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the game.

In the end the question is what you expect. If you expect X360 like graphics you'll be disappointed but if you expect GC like graphics you'll be pleasently surprised.

 

What is really disappointing though are games like FarCry which are a cheap port they didn't put any effort into. Because a lack of PC-like shaders is no excuse for bland textures and jerky motion and both these problems were "sorted out" last gen.

Another problem with the graphical difference between the Wii and its competitors is that some games can't run on the Wii without heavy downgrading and not all developers will go that route. But on the other hand we also get quite a few exclusives therefore.

[Zechs Merquise]

Of course graphics matter. They are part of a package, and you want the whole package to be a polished and engaging item. It's like asking if sound, replay value and length are important, again they're all part of the overall package.

 

Of course people will always say gameplay is the most important thing, and they are right to say so. A beautiful but shallow game is not what we want, however I also don;t want to see a great game ruined because the graphics are appalling and ruin the overall playing experience.

 

We all know the Wii is not gonna produce the ground breaking graphics that the PS3 or 360 produce. However the Wii is more powerful than XBOX and Gamecube, and both of those systems produced some of the best looking games we've ever seen - and I'm happy with that level of graphic quality. No one can argue with the beauty of Ninja Gaiden, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Rogue Leader and Halo 2.

 

But when we're seeing games that look like Far Cry, where the textures and details are akin to those we saw on the N64 we have a problem. It's not acceptable, and it's not gonna help the Wii's cause.

[solitanze]

They do, the majority of people aren't vision impaired, fork out the money expect to have a good game and the quality of the game from a mainstreams perspective is perceived by the quality of the graphics.

[stuwii]

red steel has xbox 180 graphics which is between xbox and the 360. they are very good

[The Bard]

In my opinion TP has better graphics than say, Oblivion on 360, I like the look and feel of the world so much more, so I guess in an artistic sense graphics do matter (you'll hear me to this day saying that Chrono Trigger has the best graphics of all time ) I think Wii has the capacity to produce beautiful games, but at the same time, they're not going to just render themselves. In the next few year I'm hopeful we'll see some absolutely beautiful and classic games.

[Jasper]

Graphics don't matter. Let's face it. They don't matter. Why? Because I still love every moment in ocarina of time and mojara's mask. i treasure them in my heart. But not really one moment of the Wind Waker got me as much as these old games. I loved it, because, my imagination completed the game. What the graphics of that day and age did was give you the rough outlines, and your imagination did the rest. Now everything is so detailed, your imagination has no place at work. All the best games i remember have the worst graphics, but yet their all instant classics.

 

What çinstant classics have really great graphics? GTA looks like shit. Mario sunshine was not as good as Mario 64. The Wind Waker was not the great affaire that we had one Ocarina of Time.

 

Games need graphics, but they don't need detail. In my opinion it's up to the people to complete them. It's up to your imagination. And that's what i'm missing. Me filling in the blanks. And because there's no game that can really say it's bad-looking, I think it's time we find games that fill in the blanks. Beyond Good & Evil did that to me. Metroid did that with me.

[Rummy]

Gameplay first, then graphics. Graphics enhance an already good gameplay, it's like a...erm...thinking of an analogy but can't quite get it out. You need good gameplay first before good graphics can matter enough though, or at least thats what I think.

[BlueStar]

Depends on the game and it depends what "good graphics" mean. FarCry depended heavily on graphics because one of its main plus points is the lush world with sense of scale. So FarCry with shit graphics is shit (I don't mean 'not amazing' graphics, i mean shit. My crappy old PC looked 20 times better without the Wii port's slowdown). Monkey Ball has great graphics because they're well stylised and suit the game, but they aren't superb from a technical standpoint. Warioware's graphics are good, again because they're well stylised. It wouldn't benefit from, say, HDR. Indeed if Wario's minigames looked like Gears of War complete with particle shading, hi-def output and realistic skintones it would make the game worse in my opinion.

 

Someone sneered at Wii Sports for having graphics that could have been done 4 years ago. To me that's a bit like slating Schindlers List for being in black and white, when they could have done that in the 50s.

[That Guy]

Yes they do IMO. I wont enjoy a game if it looks crap. But it's not all about high definition graphics, and I do think that the Wii is a machine capable of producing some eye pleasing graphics. I think Zelda is a good example of good graphics, and Monkey Ball looks really good as well. It doesn't always have to look like Gears of War.

[blender]

yes graphics matter plenty. Nintendo marketing can go jump of a cliff.

[That Guy]

Depends on the game and it depends what "good graphics" mean. FarCry depended heavily on graphics because one of its main plus points is the lush world with sense of scale. So FarCry with shit graphics is shit (I don't mean 'not amazing' graphics, i mean shit. My crappy old PC looked 20 times better without the Wii port's slowdown). Monkey Ball has great graphics because they're well stylised and suit the game, but they aren't superb from a technical standpoint. Warioware's graphics are good, again because they're well stylised. It wouldn't benefit from, say, HDR. Indeed if Wario's minigames looked like Gears of War complete with particle shading, hi-def output and realistic skintones it would make the game worse in my opinion.

 

Someone sneered at Wii Sports for having graphics that could have been done 4 years ago. To me that's a bit like slating Schindlers List for being in black and white, when they could have done that in the 50s.

 

Great post, I totally agree with all of that.

[NintendoRevo]

Depends the point of view! The graphics DO matters. Check MGS 4. Check GoW. Don't tell me you don't love these looks. Or you preffered the older MGS from the Metal Gear Solid from Playstation? On the other hand graphics DO NOT matter because as much as i like Wind Waker.....i prefer the "A Link to the Past" from the S.N.E.S. I guess its how the developer makes the game...he can "make" us notice if the graphics are good or not. If the gameplay / story etc are so damn good then we just don't have time to look for any flaws!

[pedrocasilva]

Depends the point of view! The graphics DO matters. Check MGS 4. Check GoW. Don't tell me you don't love these looks. Or you preffered the older MGS from the Metal Gear Solid from Playstation?

MGS4 is not the prettiest next gen title around, blurry texture low polycounts graphical glitches, sure it's a beta, but it needs work.

 

I don't really mind polished MGS3 visuals though, yes I'm implying MGS4 looks unpolished.

[James McGeachie]

Graphics don't matter. Let's face it. They don't matter. Why? Because I still love every moment in ocarina of time and mojara's mask. i treasure them in my heart. But not really one moment of the Wind Waker got me as much as these old games. I loved it, because, my imagination completed the game. What the graphics of that day and age did was give you the rough outlines, and your imagination did the rest. Now everything is so detailed, your imagination has no place at work. All the best games i remember have the worst graphics, but yet their all instant classics.

.

 

On the other hand a big part of this though is the nostalgia thing. The game looked amazing at the time and you'll still always have the memory of how good it looked AND played then. You cant use liking old games as a comparison because they all looked incredible at the time. Believe it or not in 10 years we'll be looking back at all current gen games thinking the visuals are really poor.

 

Anyway graphics do matter, even in a simple game like Katamari Damacy they're important. It's all about creating a visual style that fits the game experience. If you're going for an all out epic blockbuster, visuals are going to be a big part as they increase the immersion. If you're going for a more simplistic game with a huge focus on gameplay you don't need to focus on massive polycounts and fancy lighting but you do need a cohesive visual style that fits the game and is pleasing to the eye. That still counts as "good graphics" so graphics certainly matter, in any and all cases, even for games like Vib Ribbon on the ps1 (if you've seen it you'll know what I mean) that was all about creating a unique visual style.

[Hellfire]

It's nice to see some good looking games, but more and more, I don't care. I play Zelda, I don't care about the GC textures, I play NES and SNES games, I don't care. I just got pass that point. What matters is that games look appealing and don't make your eyes bleed. For example, to me, ICO, SOTC, WW, Okami, VJ and TP, among others look better than any other next gen game, simply because there's a great art direction and there's an attention to detail, you can see that love was put into the game. Only graphics I can't stand are PS1 graphics, those hurt.

[Fierce_LiNk]

In a short answer, yes.

 

However, I think many are getting good graphics confused with graphical style.

Both are open to interpretation. Twilight Princess seems to have been slated on the graphics front, but I think it looks outstanding.

 

Sometimes, simplicity is best. A nice clean graphical style, like WiiSports, can work wonders. I personally love the look of bowling. It's clean, it's sleek, and it's not too "messy."

 

As Bluestar has stated, just because we can create films in colour does not mean that we can never use black and white ever again. If you've ever seen Sin City (black and white with some colours thrown in from time to tim), you'll know what I mean.

[mcj metroid]

wow i created this thread before the wii launch and it's revolution days.the response is more or less the same now if not more possitive about not caring about graphics which is good news

[Jackster]

Think back to the previous generation for a few seconds, and ask yourself:

a) Which console had the least horsepower

b) Which console came first in the console war

 

Maybe that will answer your question

[The3rdChildren]

Sweet graphics are nice, but they don't often make or break a game as much as most developers would like to think. It's all about the gameplay whether or not something can keep you coming back for more.

 

That being said, if a game looks damned awful then it's clearly going to have a negative effect on the player's overall experience. Everyone loves a game that looks good, but striking a balance between great graphics and gameplay is an art few developers should be able to write down on their CV.

[Caris]

im happy with the Wiis graphics.

 

On a SDTV...

 

They still look jaggy and messy with component on a HDTV.

[The3rdChildren]

im happy with the Wiis graphics.

 

On a SDTV...

 

They still look jaggy and messy with component on a HDTV.

 

This is true. They do look a bit nasty but miles better than composite.