Why Do People Care So Much About Graphics These Days?

[Tails 6,692]

I mean seriously, everyone these days only care about graphics. Especially PC gamers who thinks graphics makes a game super good. I mean yeah they make things look more detailed and realistic but graphics aren't the core part of a video game. All graphics really do is raise the budget of a game by a large amount  and make things look pretty. it literally doesn't do anything to be quite honest. Doesn't make the gamelay smoother, doesn't make the game any better either. It does nothing too add any depth or emotion to the game except make things look much more detailed and realistic as I said before. I seriously hate how PC gamers think the PC is "the best gaming console in the world" just because of how the graphics make the game look when graphics don't really matter.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Tails

[Demyx. 10,064]

I dunno. Graphics are cool and all. But it isn't the main selling point for me.

[MyDixieRect 2,061]

Because they are ignorant.

[Hei 3,233]

Sometimes graphics do make a big impact (Journey), but gameplay is the most important aspect

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

People are very judgmental on how things look right before them. While yes, good graphics should earn plenty of respect, as it takes months just to render simple cars and buildings, people should focus more on what really drives the game.

 

Like for example, sure, some shooters are pretty, but I'm not sitting through 6-20 hours of poorly written dialogue just because the games looks 'nice'.

[Weiss 8,279]

I never cared about graphics in games. 8bit is still amazing graphics to me.

[Noby Raghavan 168]

Ehh, graphics don't matter, design does. Even if the game is in Standard Definition and looks like it's from the PS2 or even PS1 era, if it has good design, that's what matters. Graphics....are nice? But don't really in the end matter too much. Look at games like Okami, Zelda,(Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess),KH, or even Fire Emblem- the graphics aren't always top notch, but the design is- and that is what makes them beautiful. 

[Caity 3,946]

I LIKE PRETTY COLOURS

 

While Graphics shouldn't be the selling point of a game, because the technology is available and being used by companies who are making the games it's simply become a factor of competition.  Furthermore those who aren't buying the games for themselves/aren't informed on games/don't game a lot/don't game don't really know much about them before buying, and a good looking game is going to attract their attention.

This is all fine and dandy.

Until companies start focusing too much on the graphics than the story-telling.  Then the games likely to be purchased by many but loved by none.

 

Also I firmly stand on my belief that PCs should not be compared to home consoles.  Nintendo, Microsoft and Sonys machines are home consoles, easy to compare as they're all in the same market.  Gaming PC's are not.  They should be compared against other gaming PCs, not a line of consoles that are in a different league.  

[Oishii 3,987]

I wouldn't over-generalize PC gamers like that.  PC gaming is great for indie games because games can be easily made for PC and can be easily distributed.  Yet, most indie games don't have all that money to make amazing graphics, so they focus on other areas.  There are plenty of other games as well that aren't too graphic intense because, if they were, it wouldn't work on most computers because not everyone has the best graphic card and 50gb of RAM.  My impression is that PC gaming is about having freedom to play what games you want without being limited to what Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo wants to publish.  Maybe some PC gamers are being obnoxious right now because of the console war going on, but I wouldn't judge them all by the loudest minority.

[Rob 5,571]

Give those graphic-whores a time machine to when games were first created. They'll see games as something more than graphics.

[J. Severe 1,137]

cuz is purdy

[xxClouDxxmoon 901]

Graphics still play an important role. For instance when a company demonstrates a new engine, the graphics is what most are concentrating on. Also Fanboys love their graphics.

[Dracozombie 4,554]

Graphics are an important part of constructing the game's atmosphere.  As we rely primarily on our vision, it'll be one of the first things we notice about a game.  But, in regards to the hyper-emphasis placed on a game's graphics these days, you got me.  Maybe it's because we have the technology to pull it off some amazing feats, so awesomely realistic graphics will cause people to (incorrectly) assume that if there was so much effort placed into the graphics alone, imagine what the rest of the game will be like.  Oh, the disappointment such a mindset causes.

 

Honestly, graphics-wise, the inferior technology made games more memorable.  After all, game designers back then had to try harder to make their games stand out among the technical limitations for the time.  The efforts they made to work around those limitations wound up creating graphics that, while not gorgeous compared to today's standards, still stand out more in my mind than most modern games.  Even if you take away the characters on the screen, from the colors and overall style alone, I can identify Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, Spyro, Pokemon, and most of the Final Fantasies at a glance.  The only way I can tell it's World of Warcraft is from the orcs.

 

I guess it's because game designers are able to pull of some gorgeous things, and because video games are now mainstream so they don't have to try as hard to have, y'know, good gameplay because they know a lot of people will buy them anyway.

[Sora96 17,256]

Graphics aren't that much of a big deal to me, most PS3 games are perfectly fine to me. 

[dusk 910]

Of course I rather look at beautiful graphics than chunk of textures that resemble me of vomit. 

Graphics don't necessarily need to look realistic to look good, but they need to look cool, original, detailed and not lag like shit and it is quite annoying to wait for textures to load for 10 seconds (Dead Island, I am looking at you) 

 

Also I bet that when you were kid and saw new generation consoles coming up you were like: "Oh those graphics look super cool!" 

At least that is what I thought when I first saw PS2 games when I had played like NES and PS1 games before that. And there is nothing wrong with it. That is like complaining why people like good music in their games. That is part of the game and of course it matters if it is badly made. 

 

I can understand if today's kids (god this makes me sound like some 50 years old, no offence) don't like older games because graphics aren't as good as they are today. They are used to newer graphics, they have grown up with them. Probably they as well complain how some people only care about new graphics when we have something like PS5 and graphics have evolved even more and say: "We were just fine with our graphics back then, now you only care about graphics) 

 

I mean seriously, everyone these days only care about graphics. Especially PC gamers who thinks graphics makes a game super good. I mean yeah they make things look more detailed and realistic but graphics aren't the core part of a video game. All graphics really do is raise the budget of a game by a large amount  and make things look pretty. it literally doesn't do anything to be quite honest. Doesn't make the gamelay smoother, doesn't make the game any better either. It does nothing too add any depth or emotion to the game except make things look much more detailed and realistic as I said before. I seriously hate how PC gamers think the PC is "the best gaming console in the world" just because of how the graphics make the game look when graphics don't really matter.

 

I don't know why you try to complain about PC gamers and I can see that you don't know too much about PC gaming if you think that it is just about graphics. Also it really keeps new technology down and puts PC gamers to wait for better looking games because they have to wait until new console generation comes out that is powerful enough to handle those games.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

I mean seriously, everyone these days only care about graphics. Especially PC gamers who thinks graphics makes a game super good. I mean yeah they make things look more detailed and realistic but graphics aren't the core part of a video game. All graphics really do is raise the budget of a game by a large amount  and make things look pretty. it literally doesn't do anything to be quite honest. Doesn't make the gamelay smoother, doesn't make the game any better either. It does nothing too add any depth or emotion to the game except make things look much more detailed and realistic as I said before. I seriously hate how PC gamers think the PC is "the best gaming console in the world" just because of how the graphics make the game look when graphics don't really matter.

THIS

 

this really sums up what I feel about current generation of gamers and what I feel about next-gen consoles

 

I absolutely hate it when people measure how good a game is just by it's graphics or that a certain console sucks just because it's not as graphicly strong as the others.

 

As for the complain about PC gamers,this also apply strongly on Ps3 and Xbox 360 gamers who constantly fight each other over which console is better

[JJForever 75]

I like feeling the sense of being awestruck when you see something in a video game that is downright beautiful.

 

The last game I felt like this with was Skyrim. Reaching a high point and gazing over the beautifully designed land was to me just as good as the actual gameplay.

 

It does not make you ignorant to like good graphics. That's the most ignorant statement i've ever heard.

 

I grew up on the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Genesis. Seeing how the video game world has evolved since then is amazing to me. It's a art form that continues to evolve with each year that goes by.

 

Fans of Kingdom Hearts should especially appreciate the concept of good graphics. Since day one KH has had superb visuals, colors, and in other words eye candy. (For it's day and console/handheld ability) COME ON, you can't deny that playing a Kingdom Hearts that looks like one of the secret movies would be AMAZING.

 

Or would you rather play Kingdom Hearts where you ran around as a little pixel Sora with a little pixel Keyblade killing little pixel Heartless?

 

Point made.

Edited May 31, 2013 by JJForever

[darklunatic 81]

I mean seriously, everyone these days only care about graphics. Especially PC gamers who thinks graphics makes a game super good. I mean yeah they make things look more detailed and realistic but graphics aren't the core part of a video game. All graphics really do is raise the budget of a game by a large amount  and make things look pretty. it literally doesn't do anything to be quite honest. Doesn't make the gamelay smoother, doesn't make the game any better either. It does nothing too add any depth or emotion to the game except make things look much more detailed and realistic as I said before. I seriously hate how PC gamers think the PC is "the best gaming console in the world" just because of how the graphics make the game look when graphics don't really matter.

danm no affence but the titel of the theard should be changed to something about pc's  ranting, but being a person raised on 8-bit and seeing gameing evolve over time i can say this

 

graphics do play and increasing role in game engines now a days with out the want for increased graphics gameing wouldnt evolve in general some games the graphics do play a hug role and others they dont, for say fighting games each time the character models get better the backgrounds increases and the mech become more indepth, some parts of that depends on graphics when your character model's and background are a big part of the main attraction. that go hand in hand with your fighting mech.

 

but for say a anime rpg, theres only so much you can do with the graphics so that doesnt need to be realist but colorfull,smooth and nice thos games all main in there story, cause no affence most of them have a simple hack n' slash gameplay or beat em up not very in depth but i still injoy them

 

so yeah in general it all comes down to the type of game and the increas the company is trying to manage cause in truth its good when a game plays great and looks great it complaments it but the pc thing pc's are in there own area let them remain there.

 

and even now i still love 8-bits so ehh

Edited May 31, 2013 by darklunatic

[Isaix 924]

Graphics don't make good games at all,I totally agree with that.Final Fantasy VII had terrible graphics in my opinion and I loved it to death,in fact they were so terrible to me that I went and buy Crisis Core first then I hesitated a long time,but I ended up buying it anyway.

[Dave 5,715]

I firmly believe that story is what matters first, gameplay second, and then graphics (make me care, make it fun, and then make it look good). My favorite system is still the N64, so that should tell you how much graphics mean to me. 

 

Having said that, graphics aren't the end-all be-all of games, but they shouldn't be neglected all together. The example that comes to mind isn't a video game, but a movie. Lord of the Rings had the best animation and CG I've ever seen to the point where you're not even thinking about the fact that the creatures you're seeing are fake, and that's no small feat. The use of graphics embellished an already great story and helped to make it even better on the screen. The same thing flies with games: the game's whole selling point shouldn't be that it's pretty, but it's no crime to be looking aesthetically pleasing.

 

But story first.

[Amon 4,279]

Personally I'm a little freaked out by the guy that did the Grand Tourismo expo at the PS4 reveal. I think he was getting turned on by the graphics. 

[Shulk 8,623]

I don't care how advanced the graphics are in a game. Story and gameplay are much more important, which is why I love a lot of older games more than I do newer games. If I want to look at something pretty, I'll go watch a high budget movie or something.

 

By the way, you're stereotyping the PC gaming community by saying all that they care about are the graphics. I play a lot of PC games too, and as I said above, graphics are the least important part of a game to me. While I usually try to get the graphics settings as high as I can so I can experience a game the way it was meant to be experienced, I'm fine with lowering them so that I can properly experience gameplay without lagging.

[sj4724209@gmail.com 0]

They care about graphics because they are hypocritical dumbasses.

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

Honestly, I'm not much of a graphics man myself!  As long as a game gets me hooked on a good story and good gameplay, I could care less how it looks!  Granted though, games nowadays have some pretty badass graphics, and that is something that me likey!  A mercenary's gotta have varied tastes, ya know?  Just look at my game! I destroyed the budget on that one constantly!

 

But yeah, some people just care about graphics and nothing else, ya know?

[Aile 273]

I do like it when a game has amazing graphics, but I'm not that kind of person that goes apeshit when a game doesn't have mind-blowing graphics or if it gets a slight downgrade later on, because the main reason why I play videogames is because of the gameplay and story, and not graphics.