The quality of graphics has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time, there is a huge difference between many games with some looking breathtaking and others far from it. As gamers have we started to care too much about what a game looks like? Are we becoming ‘gaming shallow’?
When picking up a new game, one of the first things you notice is if the graphics are good or bad, this may be because you’re looking at the pictures on the box and not reading the text, still it contributes to whether you cough up the cash to buy it. In reality, how aesthetically pleasing a game is doesn’t particularly impact the game too much, well unless the game doesn’t render everything or is so pixelated you can’t tell the difference between person and wall. If we are put off by some games just because they look old or plainly just ‘disgusting’, then are we really a gamer, as some games are initiative and fun to play but are let down by their looks, so why should we miss them purely based on something so trivial.
I personally know a few people who refuse to play old games purely down to the fact how outdated they look, quite frantically it’s a miracle I still choose to associate with them, admirable if not. Now let’s not get into a debate about how stupid ‘outdated’ is used to describe graphics of old games seeing as the games are not exactly tuned up every week to ensure they still look new. Instead we should focus on the idea that there are gamers, some causal and yet some not, who choose to avoid a game, no matter how much it changed the gaming world, due to its looks. This is frankly a confusing and angering notion, but it has similar principles to when people have similar logic with recent games and bad graphics. They are all games that may have some phenomenal gameplay or original concepts, but the only thing stopping some people play them, is that they don’t want to look at a game that doesn’t have next generation graphics.
Indie games seem to be a completely different ballpark, as it doesn’t matter if they look like a game from the 90s as that’s part of the charm. I know it’s harder for them as they don’t have access to bottomless pits of cash or access to the finest equipment, or even the same scale of team, but surely if people can play these they should be fine when a major developer releases a game that doesn’t have too great graphics. Of course it would be nice if every game released was smooth and looked nice in whatever style they choose, not all games want to be as close to real life, Mario would be a completely different game if he looked like a real Italian Plumber. Maybe we feel differently when games with high budgets lack in the graphics department as it’s more of a let-down and they should be able to do better.
At first you might think you are not ‘gaming shallow’ as you love old games or are not too phased with graphics, but no doubt at one point you have been turned off by a game primarily based on how bad the graphics are. I know I certainly have on some occasions, like Saints Row 4; I got it around the same time I got GTA V and there was a huge difference in the graphics, soon I found myself not playing it anymore, it wasn’t solely due to the looks as I didn’t many other aspects of the game, but it was still a factor. What’s that cliché about the books and covers?
