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It’s been nearly four years since the Xbox 360 helped consoles get their graphical groove back, which – of course – kicked off the current console generation. Time flies, doesn’t it? The Xbox 360, then -- if we’re going by Tech Standard Time (TST) -- should now be on its last legs. A dinosaur on its death bed, facing extinction by the meteoric approach of a new “next-gen” Microsoft console. But it’s not. In fact, if Microsoft and Sony have things their way, the current console generation will keep on chugging along for another five years.
Not long ago, for us PC gamers and our beefy, ever-evolving rigs, this would have been a moot point – or even a nice bit of superiority to hold over console gamers’ heads. “Our graphics are prettier than yours! Neener-neener-neener!” But times have changed. PC exclusives are few and far-between, and many are only one mediocre first week of sales away from being ported to consoles (*cough*Crysis*cough*). The large majority of games are unable to take full advantage of PC hardware, because consoles and their aging innards are holding everyone else back. Sorry state of affairs, ain’t it?
And I couldn’t be happier.
Why? Because we’ve finally reached a temporary cease-fire in the war over who can render the most realistic videogame graphics. And so, in order to differentiate their games from the bump-mapped masses, many developers are getting creative.
For instance, lately I’ve been wading through WET, an over-the-top action game from Bethesda and Artificial Mind and Movement. Unfortunate title aside, the game’s chock full of excellent ideas – the greatest of which, I’d say, is its aesthetic. Basically, WET’s a playable grindhouse/pulp film. As you sail through the air in slow-mo and pile up a body count of something around 6.7 billion, punk music blares and your character tosses out all sorts of B-movie-friendly one-liners. To top it off, all the action is wrapped in a film grain, and when your character kicks the bucket, the film reel tears and pops. In between gameplay sections, the game even airs old-timey film-style commercials, promoting things like church attendance, hotdogs, and something called a “Personality Pickle.”
Comments are closed on this article
UndeniablyPC
September 25, 2009 at 4:44am
Why are you supporting a console exclusive on a PC enthusiast website?
So pretty much, you would rather see the market for games go exclusively to consoles, because their developers have superior imaginations in regards to aesthetics.
And the fact remains that the PC started a lot of the major titles now on consoles, i.e. Farcry, Half-Life 2.
Also, wasn't World of Warcraft or some such thing create the standard now for RPG interfaces. So, please tell me how console developers are the latest and greatest in regards to aesthetics.
The fact of the matter is, is that regardless of the imaginations developers have on said equipment. Better graphics and better tools (which Direct X 10 and 11 both have) offer developers easier and better ways to bring their ideas into furition.
arkweld
September 24, 2009 at 8:10pm
so basically you are saying that because of the limitations of consoles forcing developers to add arty effects to games that's a benefit to PCs?
The grindhouse style of Wet doesn't making it any less of a generic 3rd person shooter just like Payne, Stranglehold etc. and it doesn't make PC games any better when they are ported over from consoles like the recent Red Faction:Guerrilla mess shows. It just makes poorly ported and limited console titles look like poorly ported limited console titles with a stylistic sheen.
And the grindhouse style of Wet isn't that unique either. House of the Dead:Overkill used the exact same treatment at the beginning of this year on the Wii. So Wet isn't taking gamers to "new places" it's just taking them to places they've seen before that are currently trendy. Which is the same situation every year. Graphically what consoles can't do is meaningless to PC games. A unique visual idea can come from anywhere, regardless of the technical limitations.
So consoles, do go changing. Get rid of your simplistic user interfaces and support more keyboards and mice so I don't have to look at menu screens with text so big it takes up all the visible space on a monitor. Oblivion, I'm looking at you.
lunchbox73
September 24, 2009 at 12:01pm
The other day my son downloaded the Dirt 2 demo for his 360. I was walking by while he was playing it and I had to stop and stare at the screen. I couldn't believe how gorgeous of a game it is. Absolutely stunning graphics and effects and smooth as silk. We don't even had a high def kit for our 720p 42" plasma but I couldn't even imagine it looking any better than that.
So yes, I'm glad the current gen consoles are here for a while. I don't think devs could have pulled off a beauty like Dirt 2 when the 360 came out years ago but the longer they have to to tinker with the current hardware specs the better the games.
Not to mention I'm not ready to shell out the dough for a new Xbox 361 or whatever it'll be called.
BaggerX
September 24, 2009 at 10:19am
I like the idea that developers will have to get more creative rather than simply chasing incremental graphics improvements. I hope that we'll see a lot more games released for both the PC and at least one console. I just hope that developers get a lot better about understanding the different expectations and conventions of PC games vs. console games. They still do a lot of dumb things on the PC versions that really make no sense.
I prefer to play the games on the PC for a few reasons:
1. They tend to be cheaper and the DLC is usually free or cheaper as well.2. I prefer mouse/keyboard over gamepad for most types of games.
3. I only have one TV in the house, so it's better for me to play on the PC and let my wife watch TV if she wants.
4. PC games are where the mods are at. Annoyances can often be fixed, and even games that are utterly mediocre at release can be transformed into awesome experiences through mods (e.g. Oblivion and Fallout 3).
The downsides are:
1. PC games tend to have little to no resale value, depending on how you purchase them and whether they require a key to play online.
2. They do require a decent PC to play them on. I have a good PC for a variety of reasons, including work, so this isn't much of an issue for me. Since you can build a gaming PC for not much more than a PS3, it's not nearly as much of an issue for most people now, and will be even less so over the next several years as the performance bar remains low due to aging consoles.
3. PC games tend to get less testing than console games, and have a vastly larger array of hardware they need to run on, so they may have more bugs at release. This doesn't affect me much either since I tend to read a lot of reviews before buying, so I know what games I should avoid, at least until they get patched up.
nekollx
September 24, 2009 at 9:59am
bravo, it nice to not have to get beiger and better GPU, it nice to have...you know...gameplay.
in games.
Who'd'thunk'it
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