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Inauro
Village Dweller
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 9
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| Do Graphics Make Games @ MMORPG.com |
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MMORPG.com contributor Andree Ehrig poses the question, do graphics really matter?<blockquote><em>It is said, that the first impression is the most important one - in real life. When you are looking for a new job, having a date or just want to leave a good impression, your outfit and appearance are quite important to impress people positively. Can the same be said about games? I think so and I will let you know why.
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<br>Imagine you walk along the shelves in a game store and are looking for a new game to play. What do you see first? Normally the large and colorful boxes with many colorful pictures of the games inside. Now imagine you found a game that sounds remotely interesting. You pick up the box, check out the backside and look at the screenshots of the game. That is the first impression a game leaves and those are the few critical seconds a game has to convince you that it is worth buying. If the screenshots on the box look good, chances are high that you will at least read the text on the box to learn more about the features of the game. If the screenshots are not convincing right away, a game has little chance to otherwise convince the potential buyer of its content.</em></blockquote><a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/326/page/1" target="_blank">More...</a> |
Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:01 am |
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Kepler
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 109
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quote:
It is said, that the first impression is the most important one - in real life...
Can the same be said about games? I think so
Amen. |
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Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:03 am |
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Silicor
Village Dweller
Joined: 14 Apr 2005
Posts: 4
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Graphics definately matter, but your answer is very one dimensional and would be better serverved with multiple questions.
Are graphics important to grab consumer attention? I agree with you yes to this one
Are graphics more important than good gameplay? I would say, no way! The prettiest game in the world will have a short shelf life if it sucks. And games with outdated graphics can thrive if they have excellent gameplay.
What is more important: pretty graphics or functional graphics? to get people interested it might be pretty grahics, but functional graphics are critical to immersive, fun gameplay so I would answer functional
Does the game genre matter when discussing graphics? Absolutely, first person games have been some of the prettiest I have seen. Wargames on the other hand can look good, but never as good. This is where functional and pretty design decisions can conflict. Personally, I'd always pick functional.
Fresh concepts vrs pretty graphics? Maybe it is because I started gaming before there were pretty graphics, but if an independent developer has to choose between spending its precious development dollars on state of the art graphics or next-generation gameplay, I want them to spend it next-generation gameplay.
Remember, classic games don't become classics because they are pretty, it is because they are fun and addicting... but graphics definately contribute.
So my bottom line is: graphics are important but gameplay is king. |
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Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:25 pm |
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XVampireX
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 100
Location: Beneath Heaven, But Above Earth. |
I kind of agree with what Silicor has said, though it goes much more indepth than that.
There are different kinds of graphics for games and it is for sure that most people would like the game to have graphics like the next-generation or better.
But lets take in account that not every person in this world has the best rig in the world, either.
Another thing is that for each gameplay style (Mostly view perspectives, such as third person or first person and so on) there is a different requirement, actually, some games may even be better with certain graphics.
Diablo is a pretty good example, It's a 2d/3d mix in a top-down perspective and with outdated graphics (Though it was good for its time, and still is, pretty much), was the game good? Hell yes.
It is certain though that people would most likely prefer better graphics as a priority over gameplay because of the what so called "First-Impressions", even though these First Impressions are most likely false.
Since this thread is somewhat related to the MMORPG genre as well, lets not forget about Ultima Online, which is still good (Although, it really is not my gameplay style, too slow for me).
To summarize: Graphics are important, but gameplay SHOULD have the priority over graphics.
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"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" -Edmund Burke. Mentioned in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. |
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Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:45 pm |
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