[NeonAges]

The End of Creativity, or the Rebirth of the Visionary?

I was thinking about this the other day, when everyone was peeing themselves over the supposed Xbox2/PGR3 shots (myself included)--

What will be the effect of the next generation of graphic technology on stylized games?

I think in some respects, it will assist the genre. If you look at some of the demo vids for the Unreal Engine, the majority of the architecture in that game is gothic-style based and it looks AMAZING. The columns and the gargoyles, everything looks incredibly realistic... stone, and weathered. Just great.

But, I was playing the Psychonauts demo, and it struck me how detrimental the next generation could possibly be. What with the closeness that games right now are already achieving in photorealism (GT4, Parts of SCIII) is it quite possible that developers will be pressured to make realistic games like GT4, or Madden 2006, instead of making stylized games like Psychonauts?

Or is it more possible that games will become more stylized and greater in their vision?

Because when I think back, I do believe I have had some of the most fun in stylized games, and photorealism loses it's shine quickly in comparison for me. "Look at Snake's hair! WOW! It moves in the wind!" quickly gives way to the gameplay and story, in my opinion. Where as, games like Wind Waker, I'm constantly looking forward to what the next interpretation will be, in ADDITION to the gameplay/plot factor

Games that look almost like real life don't seem to have the same impact on me as games like Grim Fandango, Katamari Damashi, Wind Waker, or Paper Mario. OR, in games where the realism is part of the stylistic enhancement, like how close to realistic the artifacts were in Pikmin 2.

Me--

I have a slight fear that games like World of Warcraft, Psychonauts or others will become even more sparse, which worries me. Because when I daydream about making games, I don't dream about finding out how to make the most realistic stubble, I dream about making something completely original, taking something that I thought could only be visualized in my brain and imagination, and bringing it to the masses.

Not to mention, everyone's propensity to dish out hate on a highly stylized game such as Wind Waker, in majority BECAUSE of how it looks, only facilitates my fears about the next generation. In addition, I do believe, thinking in retrospect, is why I've had such a magnetism to Nintendo.

I can only hope this is not the case, or take things into my own hands. *pray* Dear God, help me, I want to make games and movies so bad.


At least I can rely on Tim Schafer, I guess. *swoon*

~Apok

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