Did we really cared about graphics ?

[qw90700]

There is one thing people mix together but mean different things.

Graphics and Visuals.

Graphics are what we don't care about. Pixel art with limited colors can be beautiful. Old N64 or PS1-style 3d models. They can all be considered beautiful even nowadays, in a rustic way.
Look at Symphony of the Night, with pixel art during the "everyone wants 3D" era. Undertale, with Earthbound-like graphics. So many beautiful games emulating 8-bit ones. And then there is VVVVV with its Atari-like artstyle.

Visuals, on the other hand?
You can have something with much more advanced graphics, but with vosuals that are eye-bleeding. Lots of brown and low saturation together with a lot of bloom to be "realistic" like in the later PS2early and early ps3/xbox 360, for example..

AAA games are investing so much into mind-bending and photorealistic graphics, they ignore the visuals.

Which is funny, because we are now at a point we barely notice the graphic advancements in the game itself unless we just stop midgame and watch everything just for the sake of it, only usually noticing how detailed they can make the 3d models everywhere without massive slowdowns. And even that had many ways to trick - compare Pokémon Scarlet&Violed to any Xenoblade game on the Switch, and keep in mind that graphics-wise Pokémon is the better one, but visually it certainly does not seem so.

Yep. I'll always dislike the visuals that actually prevent you from playing the game just because you literally cannot see. I'm glad they don't pour tons of bloom anymore on the screen lol but now the current issue is games that don't have decent clarity between colours. IDK if they wanna sell HDR screen or something, saturation is too low or they bash intense color that has similar colors so they look so flat I can't see anything. I always had a problem playing Borderlands games for example. So this is not always about "personal preference of visuals" or people necessarily judge "quality of graphics" but sometimes it's about accessibility problem that for some people it's a big issue as much as being a color blind. Sometimes bad visuals in games gives me headache because my brain trying to understand difference between objects or if it's even an object or part of the background lol. Sometimes it hurts my eyes just like The Outer Worlds because too intense colors attacking my eyes and this is not "too much saturation" but rather "too much similar frequency colors ruining my eyes and brain" thing lol. And then Zelda BOTW and TOTK and some new Pokemon game I really forgot which ones were they but some Switch ones really so bad I'm not sure if I'm seeing something. I had the same problem playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I had to focus hard to make my brain convinced my eyes seeing visuals like "not enough colors to process visual data" issue lol.

In that regard there is a lot to say about some pixel games, especially point and click games force you to hunt pixels in the ocean of not properly drawn objects and background. Sometimes 3D isometric games hurt my eyes too because the size of objects is not properly adjusted. Now they make text in games so small I need a telescope to be able to read them lol.

Another side of the coin is "I pay tons of money so I at least demand realistic looking games" which is a personal preference mixed with "I waste my life working and earn that much money to pay for rubbish games by paying so much money so I demand decent quality" so then I have nothing to say about it. When people buy something they naturally don't want rubbish Nintendo, Sony and Xbox quality games, they want Sega™ quality that art over 9000!!! lol

 

[MasterYoraeRasante]

Now they make text in games so small I need a telescope to be able to read them lol.

Oooh this. This becomes even more of an issue if I don't have my glasses with me (I got used to wearing glasses, but still like to take them off from time to time), the old games I can read just fine even without them but some of the newer ones?

Screens increased in resolution, so they can cram more text on the screen... but that is only acceptable if the screen is big enough for you to read in it from the distance you would be playing.
Most computer games expect you would be playing up close, so this is not usually an issue for them - thus how they can cram so much info in MMOs. But videogames are usually played from a distance, yet some games I need to get close to even read what is in the screen, even with glasses.

 

[χKai]

When I was little, and Mario 3 had just come out, I was excited AF about the graphical update since the first two games.
The fact that Mario was orange blew my young mind. I loved it. Everything about the game looked so much better.

I won't say that graphics don't matter in a game, they should be an appealing focal point while playing anything, but the main focus should be on what makes the gameplay fun.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I think we were but not like today normies that just blow everything out of proportion:

"Did you know that Ellis pupils dilate when she shoots!!!!!!"

But it did catch our eyes, I mean we moved from one gen having blocky hands to another where each finger had animations.

 

[DragonMals]

Graphics don't matter to me. It's all about if the story and the gameplay impacts the player. Yeah try not to make something comparable to E.T, but there are some indie games out there that would take the Zelda CDI games and transform them into something else that's highly successful (Arzerette)

 

[qw90700]

Oooh this. This becomes even more of an issue if I don't have my glasses with me (I got used to wearing glasses, but still like to take them off from time to time), the old games I can read just fine even without them but some of the newer ones?

Screens increased in resolution, so they can cram more text on the screen... but that is only acceptable if the screen is big enough for you to read in it from the distance you would be playing.
Most computer games expect you would be playing up close, so this is not usually an issue for them - thus how they can cram so much info in MMOs. But videogames are usually played from a distance, yet some games I need to get close to even read what is in the screen, even with glasses.

I feel ya. Gotta make sure to at least look at the screen from 30 CM distance and honestly it helps the eye when you have to look at the screen for a long time and don't try to look at the screen when the envoirement is too dark, because screen's light directly attacks your eyes so hard say hello to early blindness and experience how old people have to live their lives in a decade or so lol. My eyesight is okay so I can even read ship's name in great distance and see cells of people when I talk to them lol but when it comes to video game texts IDK "less is more" mentality rolled for decades and evolved into a monster in design mentality. Despite a text can be bigger they choose the exact size that it gets hard to read lol. I feel thankful for games that actually has text size options that sometimes biggest one is not big enough and curse at games text is so small I don't even bother, I read the mind of the game to predict what the text is probably about. It's even easier to read tiny text in legal papers that state how they will scam you over if you sign the paper lol. From my visual arts studies I can explain why these texts hard to read is in the way colors blend to each other until they reach your eyes like frequency of the lights as a wave gets mixed to each other. That's why visual art 101 is about choosing proper colors to stay next each other so colors will look clearly visible. In that regard the pixel art logic is as the color is thin inside a thicker color the less you are able to see it. For example if the text of this form was thinner it would be harder to see but as it's it's just right and barely the size is just the right size for decent visiblity lol.

I guess in new games these text would look "okay" if I had a 4K screen but then I never needed such big screen so my current 2K monitor is okay but it seems as time passes everything get smaller but it ain't cute lol.

 

[Mopeybloke]

I think we all used to care about graphics.

When video games started, they were very simple, and the option to be immersed in a world of sights, sounds, and interactivity wasn't feasible. For decades after, we felt that possibility near every time we had a jump in graphics.

Graphics improving meant reaching a higher level of immersion for a while.

Today we care less about graphics because they don't improve as much, so the benefits are harder to see than the cons, like expensive hardware and lower performance.

 

[Netra]

Get me a good gameplay or a immersive storytelling and I don't give a sht about graphics.
Graphics are for fps or tps games, and even in those I prefer graphics from 6 gen over photorealism.

 

[soulsas]

I really don’t care much about graphics… the story needs to be engaging and the characters interesting. Best storyline I’ve seen in recent years, for example, is Children of Morta.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight Cardboardtubeknight]

I cared only until proper autonomy was figured out. Once that happened things became pretty samey. Just follow the yellow line

 

[qw90700]

Today we care less about graphics because they don't improve as much, so the benefits are harder to see than the cons, like expensive hardware and lower performance.

What people wish to have a better graphics recently changed. Now people are not even satisfied with "realistic graphics". Read about Resident Evil Requiem's complaints and witness people spam "what a BS PS3 graphics" lol. They are actually PS4 generation that believes PS3 graphics looked way worse than how PS1 was.

Previous generation gamers was easily fooled with detailed 3D with blended darkness and lightness as in colors and light but newer generation gamers are not deceived. To them even the current hyper-realistic RTX graphics are not "realistic" which they are right because no video game ever can really look like how real life is because of simple laws of physics and how real deal objects' light directly reaches your eye and thus how your brain reacts to it. But they found a delusion to fool themselves with. They invented "body camera" FPS genre with heavy filters like noise and all to trick their brain graphics are realistic. If video game companies wanna follow trends soon every game will look like body cam or "drone camera" style. Resident Evil 10: Body Cam when? lol

 

[Lokgamer]

My answer is simple: Graphics is the only thing of a video game which I don't care at all. If you only care about realistic graphics, you should stop playing video games and watch live action movies instead.

 

[Roy U. OmOm]

Did we really cared about graphics ?

Somebody clearly haven't watched any of Blizzard games' cinemic yet.

The reason why the graphics are important is because they catch the attention of people who don't play video games.

The reason why you don't care about the graphics is becuse they haven't progress at all since the last decade. That's right: decade. Because it's been this long since Arkham Knight and Until Down were released. No game ever before or after has reached this high level of graphical fidelity and rotoscoping.

Spoiler: Arkham Ass

But what's really degrading is not graphics but the art direction however. Trough the extensive abuse of vfx and shaders, the textures lose their shape, form and color palette. On top of that the guidelines, given to the graphic design team, now tend to put emphasis on "safe" rather then "exotic" artstyle.

 

[qw90700]

My answer is simple: Graphics is the only thing of a video game which I don't care at all. If you only care about realistic graphics, you should stop playing video games and watch live action movies instead.

But then how else can they experience doing something in a realistic reality? ¿¿¿How??? Alas, alas lol.

 

[Bagleman]

I remember when the ps3 xbox 360 gen of games came out I did not want to even consider playing the older gen of games and was obsessed with all of the new hyper realistic games. Nowadays I find myself looking for niche ps2 games and enjoying them for novel game play ideas that I was blind to as a middle schooler.

 

[job32]

I had a little though today, seeing one of those many post on the internet ( " how we saw AAA game back then " " back then it was top notch graphics " " back then we though it was so real " )

and i really though about it, did i really cared ? did we really cared ?

as far as i can remember i never though as a kid " wow this looks so real ! " or " wow the graphics are so great ! " during my era at least ( 4th and 5th gen - megadrive / snes through ps1 / n64 and more )

i though games were fun, were super cool and have so much power and action ! ( it was the 90's sorry xD ) but never really cared about graphics, as long as the game was fun, it was all that mattered, and i could play ugly ass game as long as it was fun.

What do you think about this ?

Didn't read the other posts, so probably already said. The story&gameplay is first and foremost. The graphics fade into insignificance if the game is gripping enough.

 

[secreto7]

I didn't mind the graphics of games, could love them or simply be used to just how they were.

But for example I remember the reticency and hate for the new 3D point-n-click graphical adventures. Or jarring transitions from 2D games to 3D.

If the art direction is good, any type of graphics could be accepted. And of course liking them is subjective and could change.
They're just tools, it depends how they are used.

A problem today is the overuse of 'realistic graphics' without becoming dull, due to creativity, ability, or the extended use of common assets and tools like massified game engines.

 

[moonbits]

You guys make it sounds like you'd be fine with playing games like Ultima 2. I don't think you'd be fine without smooth scrolling of pixels today.

 

[job32]

You guys make it sounds like you'd be fine with playing games like Ultima 2. I don't think you'd be fine without smooth scrolling of pixels today.

I agree with you somebit here. Gameplay mechanics in those games are fairly difficult but if I had a choice of fixing the graphics or gameplay mechanics, it would be the gameplay mechanics first.

 

[secreto7]

You guys make it sounds like you'd be fine with playing games like Ultima 2. I don't think you'd be fine without smooth scrolling of pixels today.

I think that's more about gameplay.
Perhaps it's that we remember the good things and forget others?

 

[Cantarella]

I think that's more about gameplay.

no, it's definitely about graphics.

and yes, you all cared about them. you all have eyes. erm, well, most of you have eyes. when we went from 8 bit to 16 bit, it was awesome. when we went from playstation polygons to ps2 polygons, it was rad. people talk about art direction and story like it's totally divorced from graphical capability. the art direction of shadow of the colossus can't exist on n64. You can't have a cool dutch angle if your game is 8-bit.

understandably, nobody really gives a fuck about any kind of graphics arms race at the moment because games have more or less looked the same for a really long time, and the current standard for visuals has contributed to game production taking roughly 1000000000000 years to make any one final fantasy.

 

[secreto7]

View attachment 88511

no, it's definitely about graphics.

and yes, you all cared about them. you all have eyes. erm, well, most of you have eyes. when we went from 8 bit to 16 bit, it was awesome. when we went from playstation polygons to ps2 polygons, it was rad. people talk about art direction and story like it's totally divorced from graphical capability. the art direction of shadow of the colossus can't exist on n64. You can't have a cool dutch angle if your game is 8-bit.

understandably, nobody really gives a fuck about any kind of graphics arms race at the moment because games have more or less looked the same for a really long time, and the current standard for visuals has contributed to game production taking roughly 1000000000000 years to make any one final fantasy.

If the graphics are too bad to distinguish things or hurt your eyes, then yes.

But look at FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, maybe you don't like it, but it's very good imitating those old crappy graphics and I liked it.
Or the success of Undertale.

 

[Cantarella]

well, the OP of the thread is asking if people really cared about graphics back in the day. It's not asking if anyone can ever like a game with poor visuals ever.

 

[ShadowsofCreationAga]

I am impressed by graphics constantly, ESPECIALLY when playing older games and taking into account the technical limitations of the time.

I was playing Fire Emblem Awakening a couple weeks back and started laughing because I realized that every cutscene only had five models on screen at most, at any given time, even if more people were part of the conversation. It's a silly little thing to notice, didn't hurt or help the experience in any meaningful way, but it was clearly a limitation they had to work with, and peeking behind that curtain as a player always makes me smile.

Expedition 33 sold as well as it did mostly from word of mouth, but a lot of that word of mouth started with 'Holy shit! A turn-based JRPG that actually looks like a Modern AAA game!' which is a thing we arguably haven't seen in a decade, since Lost Odyssey.

In terms of when I was younger personally, of course I was blown away by modern graphics. Seeing FFX or FFXII for the first time was mind blowing, but that didn't make me suddenly dislike earlier games.

So yeah.. it very much so is still a thing, even when we don't want to admit it. It's an animal brain instinct thing. We can look past it, we can enjoy games with weaker specs and older graphics, but when we see something eye popping and impressive, our emotions react before our brain can keep up.

 

[secreto7]

well, the OP of the thread is asking if people really cared about graphics back in the day. It's not asking if anyone can ever like a game with poor visuals ever.

I played old games on my first computer with Windows 3.1 and didn't think much about it more than if I had fun or not.