What is Digg?88 Comments
- edstate, on 02/12/2008, -0/+37Both?
- l0k0, on 02/12/2008, -5/+32People often wrongfully assume that more powerful hardware will only result in graphical benefits. However, more powerful technology goes a long way towards improving gameplay too. Interactivity, namely physics variables, have really made Crysis, Half-Life 2, and GMod far more enjoyable. Dynamic environments contribute volumes to a game's replay value and immersion. Immersion itself, can make a game far more enjoyable. If they didn't push the boundaries, F.E.A.R. wouldn't be very scary, Call of Duty wouldn't feel nearly as intense or authentic, Oblivion would be quite boring to explore, and Burnout wouldn't be very destructive. We're especially seeing major improvements in scale. Every year, level design expands. Would Supreme Commander be the same on small maps? More cpu horsepower can handle more npcs and more complex actions, something which, games like Company of Heroes are reliant upon, and what makes the original Half-Life stand the test of time so well. Grander and more seamless and ultimately more fun gameplay doesn't necessarily require advanced technology, but I'll be damned if it doesn't enable us to explore bigger and better concepts in game design.
- KnockoutNerd, on 02/12/2008, -0/+22Personally I think that the story is more important but without good gameplay who cares?
- inactive, on 02/12/2008, -4/+22Monkey Island isnt just a great game because of its story. Its unique graphic style really defines it. If you want an example of “pure story makes a game great” id suggets you’d go with Zork.
- grumbel, on 02/12/2008, -2/+17Yep, and one always has to keep in mind that Monkey Island was one of the *best* looking games of its day, in fact is was the first game that truly impressed me in terms of graphics, because it was the first game that had "3D" graphics (they even printed that on the box). 3D of course not in the current sense, but its pictures had depth, when you walked 'into' the background your character got smaller, when you got nearer to the screen it got larger, that was something that games like Maniac Mansion didn't have and one thing that really increased the 'being there' feeling a lot.
I think the whole debate graphics vs story vs gameplay is kind of pointless, since there really are almost no games that had great story but ***** graphics, most of the great games always had all aspects maxed out and even those that didn't never completly failed in any category. - spyrochaete, on 02/12/2008, -0/+10If the story is good enough it's worth playing a crappy game to see how it concludes. What you do in a game isn't necessarily more important than your motivation for doing it.
- CrankyHippo, on 02/12/2008, -0/+8FF7 graphics were good at the time, but its not the graphics that makes me want to play it over and over, its the story/characters. Block fist-gun FTW
- inactive, on 02/12/2008, -1/+9Graphics vs narrative?
Surely a far better comparison would be GAMEPLAY vs narrative since narrative can get in the way of gameplay and vice versa. A well managed project won't suffer by having both good graphics and a good narrative. - inactive, on 02/12/2008, -1/+8its never about graphics vs narrative. its about graphics vs gameplay
- MacEnvy, on 02/12/2008, -1/+7Site's dead for me, here's the Google Cache (with TinyUrl preview):
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yqsj7a - Kwipper, on 02/12/2008, -0/+6Okay, so to sum this article in one sentence so that other people don't have to read it.
This guy is telling us how Narrative is better than Graphics. - gk128, on 02/12/2008, -0/+6Great graphics are relevant for a short time, but great narrative can be relevant forever.
- grumbel, on 02/12/2008, -0/+6You must be kidding, "Escape from Monkey Island" has by far the worst graphics of any Monkey Island title. It might be more "up to date", but really lacks all that charm that the previous titles had. It one of those games where 3D graphics did far more harm then good.
- inactive, on 02/12/2008, -0/+5i didnt like your first sentence but your second sentence was worth 10000 points
- kingmanic, on 02/12/2008, -0/+5A more realistic breakdown:
$500,000 on coders
$250,000 on graphic designer
$100,00 on a game designers
$200,000 on Q&A
$200,000 on misc fees (rent etc..)
$750,000 on marketing and distribution.
Most AAA, 2 mil + games have decent to good gameplay wrapped up in a fairly pretty package. It's the B titles that have to choose gameplay or graphics the other and usually end up failing at both. - inactive, on 02/12/2008, -0/+5Monkey Island has been extremely successful because it has incredible puzzles, good story, and hilarious dialog
- Jsoul87, on 02/12/2008, -2/+7A great-looking game with a good storyline to go along with it is like a beautiful woman with an amazing personality. Rare, and a keeper!
- ultraJesus, on 02/12/2008, -0/+4Nothing but pompous touting of how good the way things "used to be" wrapped up in a nice layer of nostalgia.
- kingmanic, on 02/12/2008, -1/+5'The stories also sound like they're made up by 11 year old losers who just watched Star Wars for the first time'
Eragon? - SeriousMite, on 02/12/2008, -0/+4I think story works best in games when it blends seamlessly with the gameplay (Portal, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus). Just tacking a bunch of cutscenes to gameplay, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with what you're actually doing in the game (usually shooting things in the face), just doesn't work.
- kingmanic, on 02/12/2008, -0/+4Look at blizzard games. Good art direction but not usually the top end of the graphics curve. They focus on polished game play and narrative and you get games that people play for years. game play > narrative > Art direction > Graphics. But eye candy is nice too.
- awills, on 02/12/2008, -0/+4I agree. Too many games are trying to take themselves extra seriously, but they have nothing to tell me, and are really just boring rehashes. Prince of Persia 2 comes to mind, with its "dark and serious" tone. It was laughable, and I couldn't even play the game because of it.
- solid12345, on 02/13/2008, -0/+3Uhm I personally do not want to play FF7 over again because I find no fun in re-building up your characters and fighting hundreds of random battles all over again just to relive the same story you know.
- 1807, on 02/12/2008, -0/+3Submitted for the approval of the Digg Society, I submit Final Fantasy 7 (PSX) and Lunar The Silver Star(Sega CD and PSX). Both are RPGS (or JRPGs as they're reffered to today), but both games had memorable stories and charectors. People talk about immersion, but the only games I've ever felt a deep connection with was RPGs. As far as Story goes, those games are the bar for me. The one FPS game I really got immersed in was Chronicles of Riddick: Return to Butcher Bay.
- kingmanic, on 02/12/2008, -0/+3Which isn't mutually exclusive either. Story vs Game play might be because jamming good narrative might alter the game play.
- bosssmiley, on 02/12/2008, -0/+3Nah. You could sometimes see literally nothing of the action on Monkey Island and it would *still* have you rolling around with laughter. There was a great scene in "Secret of Monkey Island" where Guybrush goes into a room 'off camera' to recover a plot critical object. The whole of the rest of the sequence is basically a cut scene composed of odd sound effects and hilariously bizarre inventory instructions. I still remember it with affection X years on. :-)
- vaterite, on 02/12/2008, -0/+3How do you know MGS4 has an engrossing story? Are you from the future?
- MrSwap, on 02/12/2008, -0/+3half-life series
- JonTheGoose, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2It's not a matter of either-or, it's both. A truly great game strikes a balance between an engaging story and convincing graphics that allows the player to suspend disbelief. It's just like any good movie. Some movies have really great plots but ***** acting and camera work, others have stunning cinematography but a diluted plot. Great movies have both.
- SSCrow, on 02/13/2008, -0/+2Gameplay > Story > Graphics.
Graphics always improve as the tools become better for the artist to express their visions.
Its the role of Artists to compliment the Gameplay & Story with strong settings, themes, and Style. - spyrochaete, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2Maybe you disagree but I can think of a few examples. Many adventure games with ridiculously obscure puzzles were worth cheating through in order to see what happened next.
- TexanRudeBoy, on 02/12/2008, -2/+4Everything is about how games look or sound now, no one cares about gameplay. I'm very hard pressed to find a game on either 360 or PS3 that isn't simply prettier than before.
- TheInimitable, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2Case in point: Phoenix Wright.
...Pun intended? - Ryudo2k9, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2To me it depends on what game you are playing.
When Playing Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney it's obvious for such a great series visuals don't matter much but lets say I am playing Final Fantasy you expect big budget visuals and CGI movies and a good story. Then there is the combo of both like Zelda Windwaker it's intro was great but was just looking at a stylish 2D intro then used a stylish cel shaded visuals.
Then you have games that need to just push the visuals on the systems they are on like Metroid Prime 3 on Wii or Bioshock 360 with it's water effects and so on but visuals can age easier Game play if great from the start then no matter how the visuals age the game should always remain fun. - fascistpig, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2Hegel is fun!
- SoulGrub, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2Ditto Half Life 2, Bioshock
- l0k0, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2None of those games you mentioned are dynamic in the least. And yes, I do give a ***** about Bioshock. I do give a ***** about Portal and many, many other single player narrative games.
- grumbel, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2That came out wrong, Monkey Island was of course not the first "3D" game, it simply was the first game of its kind that I saw (i.e. sprite-scaling, not polygon 3D we already had that on the C64) and that made a lasting impression on me that I can vividly remember even 18 years later. Damn I am getting old...
- plundstedt, on 02/12/2008, -1/+3Too much to ask for in today's world.
- awills, on 02/12/2008, -0/+2I think what this article is really about is not that good graphics are a problem, but just that they have become the entire focus of developers, and that is a problem. Wouldn't it be nice to actually have a narrative you had to think about when you played a game? When I think of my favorite movies or books, they are narrative experiences that I can think about much later, and they provide insight into the world I live in, or at least a new viewpoint that I can consider. I often have to interpret them, and I can think about what their point was. When was the last time you played a game was complex enough that you wanted to sit around afterward and think about what that game "meant," or what it had to tell you? It is a rare experience, and that seems unfortunate. It's getting to the point where I almost feel like I'm wasting my time when I play games because I am not being presented with anything new to consider, and that sucks because video games are one of my favorite things.
- Doomsan, on 02/13/2008, -0/+1Same here, i loved the game almost 10 years ago, but the grinding has kept me away from it
- ubergeek09, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1Half life 2 had both great graphics and great narrative. The great narrative part is a rarity for FPS games :).
- Hellothere123, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1More like a movie is worth a thousand pictures, and a world is worth a thousand movies.
- vaterite, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1I take issue with your statement that "the basic function of a game is to tell a story." Before video games, almost no games told a story. Games like chess have been around for several thousand years without the need to explicitly tell a story. What story does Tetris tell? That game, one of the most successful of all time, has neither narrative nor graphics.
- CameronakaCam, on 02/13/2008, -0/+1I agree with CrankyHippo completely.
- nmaster64, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1Narrative. Narrative. Narrative. Narrative. Narrative.
Also graphics. - Vodka2389, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1Have we met? You nailed me down right on the money. Seriously.
- bosssmiley, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1"This wordthink..." - Geez. Nice job on predisposing me to dislike and/or disregard any further product of your thought processes within two words; that must be a record. The word is 'essay', not 'wordthink'. :-
Still, dugg for the realisation that 'character and plot > pretty shineys', and for Zak McKraken. - solid12345, on 02/13/2008, -0/+1If I want graphics and narrative I will rent a movie. Give us better gameplay, I remember when video games were made to be played not watched.
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