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I hate it when people, speaking of a game review, say, "Well, they wouldn't have scored it so high if it weren't for the graphics." Like it or not, humans interpret the world around them predominately through sight, so graphics are an integral part of any gaming experience -- just as special effects, lighting, and set pieces are to film.
That does not, however, mean I'll contemptuously scoff at any game without eye-popping bump maps or heroes lacking meticulously detailed stubble, however. In fact, with the advent of gaming's current generation, I have to wonder: is game development so focused on pleasuring our eyes that it's neglecting our gray matter?
What ever happened to promises of emergent worlds and truly life-like A.I.? Sure, games like Rainbow Six: Vegas draw us into their worlds like never before, but the moment we see an A.I. partner attempt to take cover on the wrong side of a bullet-ridden pillar, the illusion is blown into bloody chunks. For once, I'd like to see a dev team throw themselves headlong into crafting a believable world -- even if that means serving up graphical sloppy seconds. Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear what you think.
Today's Roundup features one title that gives me some hope for a more balanced, less graphics-intensive future, yet by virtue of its existence, in a way, proves my earlier point. Speaking of hope, Nintendo fans might have reason to strip out of their mourning garb, although it's kind of a long shot. And we also have Aerosmith! See it all after the break.
Morroblivion - You Got Your Morrowind In My Oblivion
Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Morrowind's sprawling world combined with Oblivion's state-of-the-art graphics engine -- with their powers combined, this could very well be the ultimate Elder Scrolls experience. Taken by itself, this is completely, irrevocably awesome.
But this news started my gears a churnin', and I realized why the mod is so exciting: Morrowind had a better world than Oblivion. Morrowind was bigger, more-involved, and -- in my opinion -- more memorable than Oblivion. Sure, it wasn't the prettiest girl at the prom, but it had personality to spare. The question then, is whether Oblivion's world could have rivaled Morrowind's if Bethesda had spent more resources on world-building and less on creating the perfect fence texture.
“'As many of you probably noticed this year we cut back on our PC sports games, but only for a year,' Moore continued. He said that EA was 're-tooling these titles' to take advantage of online connectivity in 'a bigger, more meaningful way,' and to stay tuned for more. He added that the company was working on subscription programs that will provide consumers with 'great value for their loyalty.'”
EA's earnings call also officially delayed Tiberium from its Fall 2008 ship date, into the vast unknown of fiscal 2010 (beginning April 1, 2009). Additionally, EA CFO Eric Brown took home Maximum PC's first ever "Vaguest Statement of All Time" award while talking about Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic MMO. "[It will] launch in a future year," he said, presumably planning to continue with "Or will it?" but instead getting cut-off.
3.42 million. That's how many Wii Fit Balance Boards are crowding people's living rooms. Proof positive that Nintendo's step off the beaten path leads to mounds of treasure? Not quite. With 6.42 million copies of Mario Kart Wii sold -- and an equal number of Wii Wheels in the hands on Nintendo faithful -- Nintendo's "core" user base is still a source of ample cash. Maybe this will give Nintendo cause to reconsider their conquest of the Oprah generation.
Sometimes, promotions just make sense. Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott will soon venture into space, so why not bring a piece of his game with him? Players of the sci-fi themed MMO will be able to upload their player data into an "Immortality Drive," ensuring that their nerdy habits will long outlive their natural life span -- and probably anything they actually accomplish in life!
And on the Wii, no less! For those of you who played Jet Grind Radio or Jet Set Radio Future, this is excellent news. Or a really mean joke, but what other hope do we have?
Is this a sign of gaming's total media dominance, or that it's time for Aerosmith to throw in the towel? I'm thinking a little of both.
Comments are closed on this article
austin
July 31, 2008 at 10:30am
I like good graphics. I don't think we should have to compromise on either graphics or gameplay. Give me both.
TheUltimateGamer2006
July 30, 2008 at 9:43pm
I really can't seem to get into the MMO world, it all seems so pointless to spend that much time on something that only benefits your virtual character. MMO's can become so serious that it really isn't fun anymore staying up till the wee hours of the morning to reach that next level, and the reason I play games is for the enjoyment and sort of care-free experience. I think it's sad to see so many new games that are just more MMO's or RPG's, I'd really like to see some innovation in areas that really need it (Yes, I'm talking to you Mr. First-Person Shooter). I feel like the gaming industry is stagnating (especially on the PC), and it needs a boost from an innovative company.
Am I right? Or should I be taken behind the shed and shot for herecy?
austin
July 31, 2008 at 10:26am
I can't get into MMO's because I'm not going to pay $200 a year to play a game when I can play Team Fortress 2 all year long for free.
Vahn16
July 31, 2008 at 1:32am
I'd say it's a matter of taste. Take me, for instance: I hate games that are frustratingly difficult. Call me what you will, but I just don't like getting my ass beaten by a game because, as you said, I play games for enjoyment. And when my controller is firmly embedded in the wall, it's not the only one that isn't having fun anymore.
But other people love themselves some masochistic, er, "fun" and that's how they get their jollies. In a similar manner, MMOs and RPGs, for a certain group of people that, according to recent numbers, is 10 million strong, are great fun. Yes, even when they're raiding until the early birds start chirping, they'll still whoop and holler with glee when their guild finally downs that brutal boss.
Not that I had two years of personal experience or anything.
atomaweapon
July 30, 2008 at 8:27pm
I guess your web developer is one of those snotty douches who thinks that firefox is the only browser on the planet and that you don't care if your site looks garbled on IE whatsoever. For the past week the entire top portion of the nav is in huge h1 tags and is messed the F up. The bottom also doesn't display horizontally, but vertically and is also comepletly messed up. It's cool - only about 90% of the population use it but I guess we should all convert over to firefox to view max pc.
brianm.cc
jwalch.hawk
July 31, 2008 at 7:40am
Yeah, I also use Firefox 3 and experienced more or less the same issue you're describing for a little while. In addition to Will's suggestion of a "hard refresh" or clearing your cache, you could also try playing with the text size - change it from whatever you have it set on to something else and then back again. I'm not an expert on IE, but I think this would have the effect of forcing it to look at the newest version of the stylesheet. Anywho...
Lol @ the last bit about Aerosmith.
lostcause64
July 31, 2008 at 7:07am
Get over your hate for all things "not part of the 90% norm" and unwind a bit. My Firefox 3 had the same issue as well for a couple days. I just accepted it and moved on, knowing it didn't affect the balance of the universe or the air speed of the yellow tailed swallow...
John
Try to be smarter than the object you're working with! It will make things easier, and might just save your life...
willsmith
July 30, 2008 at 11:02pm
They made some sort of stylesheet tweak the other day, which Firefox knew to reload since the stylesheet changed. IE7 apparently doesn't check as frequently. If you clear your cache, or do a shift or ctrl+ reload (not sure what it is on IE), it will fix the problem.
Getting IE7 to stop using cached stylesheets is one of the problems that plagued the browser since like version 5.
Vahn16
July 30, 2008 at 8:57pm
It was doing that to me on Firefox yesterday, so it's not just IE. Seems to be fixed now, though.
whisp
July 30, 2008 at 7:18pm
never played morrowind but I'm extremely fond of Oblivion, it was my first real rpg since ff7 since i flat out refuse to ever try a game like WoW. Excellent game, wish it had an mmo counterpart.
"we Plan for Tomorrow, but we Live for Today"
