Detail

[dwarf]

http://www.cracked.com/article_20538_6-games-that-put-insane-detail-into-stuff-you-didnt-notice_p2.html

 

6 Games That Put Insane Detail Into Stuff You Didn't Notice

 

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_20538_6-games-that-put-insane-detail-into-stuff-you-didnt-notice.html#ixzz2YdcTxvIy

 

Now that we're in a golden age of video game technology, players are constantly demanding that video games be made as graphically detailed and realistic as possible. However, programmers have been going to insane lengths to show off their attention to detail in other, less obvious ways for years now, and you probably didn't even notice.

 

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_20538_6-games-that-put-insane-detail-into-stuff-you-didnt-notice.html#ixzz2YdaZjscO

 

Some cool things there, and there will be countless examples from older games too that don't rely on modern engines. Little details like these often raise our estimations of certain games because they have tried to go the extra mile by rewarding the more patient and inquisitive sides in us. Many average games would've phased out of history and memory if it weren't for the neat ideas of the odd pedant or zealot coming to fruition.

 

Hardly an average game, but I loved Prime's scan visor. Sure it's more explicit than anything in the Cracked list, but I loved being able to uncover information about trivial things that advanced the game in no way whatsoever. Retro could have easily made the visor a purely functional device for operating contraptions and such-like, but they took the opportunity to turn it into something special and memorable. It's great to see blockbuster games now incorporating this level of detail in smoother, subtler ways.

[Retro_Link]

The reflections in the Smash Bros trophies is cool! (that's the only game on the list I can associate with... but the others are just mad too!). Should have been Mario reflecting a level he's running through though :p

 

You're right what you say about Prime though, the visor in general was incredible, the condensation the reflection of Samus... at the time it added SO much! and makes up part of the reason why we'll always remember that game and the boundaries it broke! Going that extra mile is sometimes something well worth doing.

 

I think we're getting a bit fatigued from it all at the moment, but someone will come along again and do that extra special little thing that makes their game truly stand out from the crowd. Some game like Metroid Prime where you perhaps don't expect it.

[Jonnas]

I always liked finding small, cool stuff in games. Examining the models in Melee was one of those things, but Metroid Prime's scanner and its rain effects was just amazing.

 

I always liked how Wind Waker's sea changed for no reason, too (waves, foam, rain, etc.) and the moon having phases.