- 7,829
- U S A
- Tetsumura
- Nigel Fox
Link to IGN article
A few exerpts:
There's no disputing that gameplay is the most important ingredient in the success of a gaming experience. Let's face it: games have come and gone that were so dour and joyless, not even the most brilliant graphical wizardry could've saved them. Be that as it may, graphics play an important role in our attraction to videogames. As Sam McGrath of Offset Software explains, "The gameplay itself should of course be the main focus, but gameplay is enhanced when the world feels real."
Graphics are so important, both Microsoft and Sony are deliberately spending big bucks on their E3 keynote presentations to show the world games that boast the graphical capabilities of their respective systems. Lighting, textures, shaders; words like these have been the preoccupation of almost every next-gen demo/discussion we've heard in the past year or so. And it's the images and video footage from these games that Sony and Microsoft are hoping to impress us with.
Next-gen technology helps to blur the line between what we see in CG movies and the interactive game experience. This was hardly the case 20 years ago. In 1986, the processing speed of a Nintendo Entertainment System was 1.79 MHz. That was enough power to support 8-bit graphics which illustrated very simplistic shapes. But the Xbox 360 of 2006 has a 3 core processor, each core capable of doing 2 processing tasks, all running at 3.2 GHz. Graphics now are measured in millions of polygons, rendering complex character models and environments that help create a more "realistic" portrayal of a virtual world.
Essentially, programmers are saying that all the added power is helping them do more with old tricks. Cool effects like motion blur and high dynamic range lighting were experimented with to some degree on PS2 and Xbox, but usually only one high-end effect was used per game. In Shadow of the Colossus for instance, you can see motion blur utilized on the main character. With next-gen technology, games can incorporate more than one effect at a time because of the added processing power. This is why development costs are shooting-up: development teams need more staff that are dedicated to specific elements in the production of a game, elements that have expanded with new technology.
People that make games are excited about next gen technology in some ways and tempered in others. Although they're happy with some of the feats they've accomplished so far, there are still some areas that the technology alone can't solve.
"So much of what we do at the moment relies on textures," says David King a freelance modeler based in the UK. "Normal mapping, light mapping, dynamic cubic reflection mapping, depth mapping, it's all maps. Strangely, texture memory isn't expanding fast enough to deliver on the consoles."
Some developers are pleased with the gains that next gen technology has brought. During the mid-90s', PC games were considered the pinnacle of graphical achievement for many gamers in the U.S. But now, console power has caught up with PC strength.
Now that next-gen technology is making games look better than ever, film industry veterans are migrating over to the interactive world. As one videogame animator (who wants to keep his identity a secret because he's working on a top secret next-gen title as we speak) explains, animating for next-gen games is "way cooler" than animating CG in movies. "Overall I feel that it is better due to the freedom of a gaming environment. The possibilities are endless in a game, allowing artistic freedom to truly be embraced." Before games, this animator worked in the film industry. In his estimation, it will be difficult to differentiate between games and CG movies in a few years time.
A few exerpts:
There's no disputing that gameplay is the most important ingredient in the success of a gaming experience. Let's face it: games have come and gone that were so dour and joyless, not even the most brilliant graphical wizardry could've saved them. Be that as it may, graphics play an important role in our attraction to videogames. As Sam McGrath of Offset Software explains, "The gameplay itself should of course be the main focus, but gameplay is enhanced when the world feels real."
Graphics are so important, both Microsoft and Sony are deliberately spending big bucks on their E3 keynote presentations to show the world games that boast the graphical capabilities of their respective systems. Lighting, textures, shaders; words like these have been the preoccupation of almost every next-gen demo/discussion we've heard in the past year or so. And it's the images and video footage from these games that Sony and Microsoft are hoping to impress us with.
Next-gen technology helps to blur the line between what we see in CG movies and the interactive game experience. This was hardly the case 20 years ago. In 1986, the processing speed of a Nintendo Entertainment System was 1.79 MHz. That was enough power to support 8-bit graphics which illustrated very simplistic shapes. But the Xbox 360 of 2006 has a 3 core processor, each core capable of doing 2 processing tasks, all running at 3.2 GHz. Graphics now are measured in millions of polygons, rendering complex character models and environments that help create a more "realistic" portrayal of a virtual world.
Essentially, programmers are saying that all the added power is helping them do more with old tricks. Cool effects like motion blur and high dynamic range lighting were experimented with to some degree on PS2 and Xbox, but usually only one high-end effect was used per game. In Shadow of the Colossus for instance, you can see motion blur utilized on the main character. With next-gen technology, games can incorporate more than one effect at a time because of the added processing power. This is why development costs are shooting-up: development teams need more staff that are dedicated to specific elements in the production of a game, elements that have expanded with new technology.
People that make games are excited about next gen technology in some ways and tempered in others. Although they're happy with some of the feats they've accomplished so far, there are still some areas that the technology alone can't solve.
"So much of what we do at the moment relies on textures," says David King a freelance modeler based in the UK. "Normal mapping, light mapping, dynamic cubic reflection mapping, depth mapping, it's all maps. Strangely, texture memory isn't expanding fast enough to deliver on the consoles."
Some developers are pleased with the gains that next gen technology has brought. During the mid-90s', PC games were considered the pinnacle of graphical achievement for many gamers in the U.S. But now, console power has caught up with PC strength.
Now that next-gen technology is making games look better than ever, film industry veterans are migrating over to the interactive world. As one videogame animator (who wants to keep his identity a secret because he's working on a top secret next-gen title as we speak) explains, animating for next-gen games is "way cooler" than animating CG in movies. "Overall I feel that it is better due to the freedom of a gaming environment. The possibilities are endless in a game, allowing artistic freedom to truly be embraced." Before games, this animator worked in the film industry. In his estimation, it will be difficult to differentiate between games and CG movies in a few years time.
