Are graphics becoming less important

Satsui Ryu

Satsui Ryu

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Between the Switch serving the competition ass whoopings handily, to the rise of indie and retro rereleases/remakes, to the general disillusionment with AAA games it seems like people are a lot less interested in cutting edge graphics. If this is the case, how do you see the industry thriving without being able to bank on new technology to improve games. Will companies just put the effort that would've gone towards developing better games to finding more ways to nickel and dime consumers like with more micro-transactions or will how we play video games change completely.
 
Satsui Ryu said:
Between the Switch serving the competition ass whoopings handily, to the rise of indie and retro rereleases/remakes, to the general disillusionment with AAA games it seems like people are a lot less interested in cutting edge graphics. If this is the case, how do you see the industry thriving without being able to bank on new technology to improve games. Will companies just put the effort that would've gone towards developing better games to finding more ways to nickel and dime consumers like with more micro-transactions or will how we play video games change completely.
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Not really it's just game developers have done little to advance the visuals. Not much difference in most games so the general effect is not about graphics.
 
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Art style is more important, a good art style will stand the test of time even with outdated graphics power/tech. Wind Waker will still look good 30 years from now, so will Parappa the Rapper. Graphics stability is more important than fidelity right now, a good steady, smooth 60 fps frame rate is more desirable than another 20 million ray traced polygons.
 
AAA gaming focused on the wrong things in the last couple of years IMO.

Insanely detailed textures and lighting while interactivity (world physics, destructability, AI, etc.) haven't evolved at all. Majority of AAA games are just a nice looking but completely empty shells. This is also why games like TOTK and BG3 are getting so much praise because they are trying to break this facade.
 
It depends on how you interpret the term "graphics". When the "video" part of a video game is unpleasant you might as well play a board game.
 
Graphics are pretty much as good as they're gonna get. Textures will get sharper, and environments more photo realistic, but there's never gonna be another huge "leap", like there was going from 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th gen.

It won't effect game sales, as long as the games are good. Quality is far more important, which is why nobody remembers that amazing looking PS4 werewolf game(I don't even remember the title, LOL), because it was like four hours long and the gameplay was weak. It looks better than most games today, but nobody is going out of their way to play it because of that.
 
Blayt7hh said:
The switch is not serving up any ass whoopings lol.
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It's the third highest selling console of all time. It's launch games still sell at full price. Software is still selling well into the next generation.
 
Satsui Ryu said:
It's the third highest selling console of all time. It's launch games still sell at full price. Software is still selling well into the next generation.
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The Switch is a juggernaut for Nintendo, we're all aware, but it's not dominating hardcore gaming. After all, if we are only looking at dollar bills, then phone/tablet gaming dominates everything, and those games are all dogshit. So yeah, graphics stop mattering to revenue a long time ago.

Switch games might sell at full retail, because Nintendo consumers are willing to pay it, and Nintendo games move the most physical units, but when it comes to the true bestseller charts in the major leagues of gaming (not shitter apps), where digital sales count, Nintendo drops precipitously. It doesn't dominate anything.
NPD Bestselling Games 2022, US
NPD Bestselling Games 2021, US
NPD Bestselling Games 2020, US

If you look at the most played and most watched/streamed games....once again, Nintendo is in the back, not the front.
https://sullygnome.com/games/365/watched
https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/top-10-most-watched-games-on-twitch-in-2022-2020903/

If you look at the most esteemed games by critics, Nintendo does well with metascores, but always mysteriously disappears when it comes to actually voting on the best game, the top-earning GOTY nod accumulators, rather than compiling averages of 1-10 scoring. It hasn't taken the top prize since 2017, and it only had one game make the Top 10 last year, for example:
https://goty.gamefa.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_the_Year_awards
https://opencritic.com/browse/all/2023/score
 
Plissken said:
Art style is more important, a good art style will stand the test of time even with outdated graphics power/tech. Wind Waker will still look good 30 years from now, so will Parappa the Rapper. Graphics stability is more important than fidelity right now, a good steady, smooth 60 fps frame rate is more desirable than another 20 million ray traced polygons.
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I agree with this. I just started playing Bloodborne (2016 release) for the first time and even with the lower res visuals it looks stunning. The design, atmosphere and mechanics all make up for what it lacks in graphics.
 
Between the lack of future graphical leaps and increased demand leading to years long development cycles and rushed out releases, I see the gaming industry outright stalling in regards to technological progress.

I don't think that graphics have become less important. An ugly game is an ugly game. It's just that there is a standard for good graphics and with the rise of independent developers, said developers have found ways to work around it through styling.

With that said, the excitement for improved graphics that came with next gen system releases has definitely gone. I still remember popping a boner when looking through the last editions of the Sega Saturn magazine. Improvements aren't obvious enough to really feel excitement for future tech anymore.
 
Law of diminished return.

Once the graphic does a good enough job for immersion, improving it does not do much to elevate the overall experience especially through repeated plays.
 
I haven't cared about graphics since the ps3. And graphics haven't really improved much since then either.

Now I spend more time playing games with little basic looking sprites than anything that looks realistic.

Although I do enjoy XCOM but they already look good enough IMO
 
Will post this again for probably the 10th time over the last 8 or so years

gfdrB6eqKbOwJp4DTyNMvuIe_2yCjYl2OS1BlWxlHrY.png
 
Satsui Ryu said:
It's the third highest selling console of all time. It's launch games still sell at full price. Software is still selling well into the next generation.
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That's not what you claimed though.
 
It's the same with phones and TVs, the upgrades just aren't that impressive like they were in the past when you'd see more noticable jumps in quality.
 
Madmick said:
The Switch is a juggernaut for Nintendo, we're all aware, but it's not dominating hardcore gaming. After all, if we are only looking at dollar bills, then phone/tablet gaming dominates everything, and those games are all dogshit. So yeah, graphics stop mattering to revenue a long time ago.

Switch games might sell at full retail, because Nintendo consumers are willing to pay it, and Nintendo games move the most physical units, but when it comes to the true bestseller charts in the major leagues of gaming (not shitter apps), where digital sales count, Nintendo drops precipitously. It doesn't dominate anything.
NPD Bestselling Games 2022, US
NPD Bestselling Games 2021, US
NPD Bestselling Games 2020, US

If you look at the most played and most watched/streamed games....once again, Nintendo is in the back, not the front.
https://sullygnome.com/games/365/watched
https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/top-10-most-watched-games-on-twitch-in-2022-2020903/

If you look at the most esteemed games by critics, Nintendo does well with metascores, but always mysteriously disappears when it comes to actually voting on the best game, the top-earning GOTY nod accumulators, rather than compiling averages of 1-10 scoring. It hasn't taken the top prize since 2017, and it only had one game make the Top 10 last year, for example:
https://goty.gamefa.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_the_Year_awards
https://opencritic.com/browse/all/2023/score
Click to expand...
I wouldn't really bring mobile into the topic since the install base is massive compared to game consoles and they are not really gaming devices. And looking at those top 10's, considering the Switch has 2 to 3 top 10 games each year going up against multiplatform games is very impressive. Since most of those games are multiplatform/PC games it is kind of an unfair comparison, but Nintendo certainly held its own against those odds. And looking at those Twitch streams I don't think they mean very much since it looks to be a bunch of free to play stuff and nothing really console exclusive at least in the top 10.

But long story short The Switch very much outperformed other consoles of the generation and even after the inventory shortage were selling more units than even the PS5 for a bit. Microsoft and Sony didn't experience nearly the same sucess as Nintendo during that generation.
 
Satsui Ryu said:
It's the third highest selling console of all time. It's launch games still sell at full price. Software is still selling well into the next generation.
Click to expand...
You’re talking about sales now not who’s making better games. Your thread is about gameplay. The switch is not making better games. In fact most of their games are newer and better versions of the same games they’ve been making since the N64 days.

No the switch is not making better games than the other platforms. The switch is cheaper and marketed towards kids and the general public.
 
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