You can probably tell by now that I tend to put graphics underneath a number of factors in games that I like. Some of my favorite titles are not necessarily the best looking of their generation (many of which are not even Nintendo related).
Just to name a few, Brutal Legend, Portal/Portal 2, Mighty Switch Force, Crash Bandicoot 1-3, Sonic Adventure/2, Mischief Makers, Battlezone and other such titles are among my all time favorites. None of these games are considered graphical marvels of their generation, (though Portal 2 showed the advancement of the ever evolving Source engine) but they, to me, are magnificent games that tickled my fancy for one reason or another. In other words, I don't personally believe a game needs to look super ultra realistic or have super real physics to be good. It can help in some games (such as Source physics in Portal), but it is not always essential, depending on the game and the context of it.
To reiterate an observation from a previous blog post, with the coming of the next generation of video game consoles, I've noticed that some dedicated fans of Sony and fans of the PC gaming market have started passionate debates and petty squabbles over the graphics of the new generation.
One thing that really confused me was an article from a fellow quoted as saying something along the lines of "The Playstation 4 will be more powerful than PCs for years to come." I noticed many Sony fans believing this, with PC gamers obviously demonstrating a great deal of cynicism, and perhaps rightfully so.
On the one hand, I think some of the hype for the PS4's specs needs to slow down a little bit. There is no way in heaven, hell or on earth that a dedicated game console will overpower PC technology. Video game consoles are generally PC derivative devices. HOWEVER... can the PS4 be more powerful than... bargain laptops that come bundled with 8GB RAM like my own? Probably. The PS4 is meant to play good looking games. My laptop can barely run Crysis 3 while playing Bioshock at full settings no problem. But as far as actual gaming rigs are concerned, there is no way a console can hope to be more powerful than PC tech for an entire generation. If consoles could evolve their technology the way PCs can, then I would absolutely agree, let alone consider the idea. But you cannot upgrade a console without waiting five years; a PC is a different story altogether. But this quote was just given to hype the console up, and it's unfortunate that some (a mere minority, mind you) of the Sony fans would take the concept as factual.
Now for the PC crowd... whether or not people will agree to it, I think the demos for Killzone and InFamous looked damn good, just under par with a CGI movie. So whether or not the PS4 overpowers PCs is irrelevant from where I'm sitting. What matters is it will play some fucking good looking games and it will have some neat online features for gamers to play with. To put things into perspective, the PS4 is running on (x86) architecture, which many PCs use right now, making it easier to make games on the platform (an issue now rectified from the PS3). Furthermore it has 8GB of RAM, twice that of the Wii U and sixteen times that of its predecessor. This alone makes it a much faster system than its predecessor, and whether PC gamers will admit it or not, big or small, this is a significantly sized leap forward from the previous generation.
The PS4 will not overpower gaming PCs like the quote suggested, but it hardly needs to. It will still be enough of that leap that everyone is looking for, with games becoming more detailed, more well animated and obviously with enough power to sustain more interesting games. It will have better textures, greater details, stronger online features, better animations. The games will look better, regardless of by how much. The PS4, despite its current issues (such as its negative press over the lack of a console, or lack of backwards compatibility) is shaping up to be an appropriate step forward from its fumbled predecessor and overall a pretty good looking console (even without seeing the actual box). I don't believe with certainty that the PS4 will be amazing, but I am most certainly enthusiastic. I see no reason why PC gamers cannot be just as excited to see game development moving forward and why those few overly excited fans of the upcoming console cannot keep that enthusiasm within reason.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
I know that this isn't the main point of your article but I just want to say - Sonic Adventure 2 is a good choice. And whilst it wasn't necessarily graphically revolutionary in all cases, I think that the likes of the Green Forest stage might as well be regarded like that in its detail and how the screen moves around the different levels of the stage.