Comments on: I want ugly Pixel art is rare in AAA titles (even AAA indie), but if you visit indie games blog or the tigsource forums you'll find no shortage of pixel art. If you follow games in general, I'd say pixel art is the most popular art style after "photorealistic" 3D, and arguably there are MORE pixel art games being made than any other art style. Pixel art is rare in AAA titles (even AAA indie), but if you visit indie games blog or the tigsource forums you’ll find no shortage of pixel art. If you follow games in general, I’d say pixel art is the most popular art style after “photorealistic” 3D, and arguably there are MORE pixel art games being made than any other art style.

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By: Eddie Cameron/2011/04/25/i-want-ugly/#comment-3222 Eddie Cameron Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:07:29 +0000 How about Prince of Persia (2008)? Little Big Planet (2008)? Mirror's Edge (2008)? How about Splinter Cell Conviction (2010), with its in-world 3D text overlays? How about Super Mario Galaxy (or indeed, almost any Nintendo first-party title)? How about every Blizzard Entertainment game ever made? There are plenty of examples of AAA games that don't try to emulate photo-realism. How about Prince of Persia (2008)? Little Big Planet (2008)? Mirror’s Edge (2008)?

How about Splinter Cell Conviction (2010), with its in-world 3D text overlays?

How about Super Mario Galaxy (or indeed, almost any Nintendo first-party title)?

How about every Blizzard Entertainment game ever made?

There are plenty of examples of AAA games that don’t try to emulate photo-realism.

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By: Deano Calver/2011/04/25/i-want-ugly/#comment-3211 Deano Calver Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:47:31 +0000 I completely agree with your view on rendering, but I think that at least a few (very few) AAA games used stylized art: I think the Zelda and Mario titles are good examples of AAA games with expressive, non-photorealistic graphics, as with The Last Guardian - although the scenes are realistic, the character is kind of cartoonish. WoW could also be considered a AAA title, given its budget. I am not sure if the recent Sonic game qualifies as AAA, but it definitely has (as with all Sonics) bright, expressive graphics. I actually mentioned this in my last article about fun, I made the claim (perhaps invalid) that games are not as fun if they do not use stylized graphics and broad palettes. I think this has to do with visual stimulus. I have been desensitized to realistic graphics...all of the realistic engines look the same to me, and rarely are impressive anymore (perhaps this is because progress has been slowed by consoles). On the other hand, stylized graphics (particularly pixel art, in my case) are so rare that I get excited when I see them, even if the game sucks, and they often invoke a sense of nostalgia on top of it. I completely agree with your view on rendering, but I think that at least a few (very few) AAA games used stylized art: I think the Zelda and Mario titles are good examples of AAA games with expressive, non-photorealistic graphics, as with The Last Guardian – although the scenes are realistic, the character is kind of cartoonish. WoW could also be considered a AAA title, given its budget. I am not sure if the recent Sonic game qualifies as AAA, but it definitely has (as with all Sonics) bright, expressive graphics.

I actually mentioned this in my last article about fun, I made the claim (perhaps invalid) that games are not as fun if they do not use stylized graphics and broad palettes.

I think this has to do with visual stimulus. I have been desensitized to realistic graphics…all of the realistic engines look the same to me, and rarely are impressive anymore (perhaps this is because progress has been slowed by consoles). On the other hand, stylized graphics (particularly pixel art, in my case) are so rare that I get excited when I see them, even if the game sucks, and they often invoke a sense of nostalgia on top of it.

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By: Eddie Cameron/2011/04/25/i-want-ugly/#comment-3190 Eddie Cameron Mon, 25 Apr 2011 05:14:09 +0000 Specific rant is specific. I suppose because you've only mentioned (and illustrated) the Oblivion example, that it's easy to generalize. I don't share the opinion though. There's an impossibly wide myriad of game art styles out there that don't try for photo-realism, and many of them are what you'd call AAA. I believe that studios spend the requisite amount of time and money in the pre-production phase hammering out their distinctive styles, and when the question of going abstract or realistic comes up, a lot of people put their creative heads together and make hard choices. Would Call of Duty be better as an 8-bit game? I doubt it. Or what about the upcoming L.A. Noire? The field is wide enough to allow those with the money to push the envelope just as far as they want to if it serves the creative purpose of the games. After all, that's what their multi-million-dollar budgets are for. And if you look at those two screens, you would have a hard time arguing that they're anything OTHER than current generation Elder Scrolls titles. Bethesda has achieved their style and improved upon it, while not really looking like any other fantasy RPG out there. It's certainly nothing like the latest Final Fantasy. It's interesting how many of these tunnel-vision observations we get these days, and it makes me wonder if many of the blogging pundits out there are only sampling from a narrow range of the available digital entertainment, both past and present, before coming to their conclusions. Specific rant is specific.

I suppose because you’ve only mentioned (and illustrated) the Oblivion example, that it’s easy to generalize.

I don’t share the opinion though. There’s an impossibly wide myriad of game art styles out there that don’t try for photo-realism, and many of them are what you’d call AAA.

I believe that studios spend the requisite amount of time and money in the pre-production phase hammering out their distinctive styles, and when the question of going abstract or realistic comes up, a lot of people put their creative heads together and make hard choices.

Would Call of Duty be better as an 8-bit game? I doubt it. Or what about the upcoming L.A. Noire?

The field is wide enough to allow those with the money to push the envelope just as far as they want to if it serves the creative purpose of the games. After all, that’s what their multi-million-dollar budgets are for.

And if you look at those two screens, you would have a hard time arguing that they’re anything OTHER than current generation Elder Scrolls titles. Bethesda has achieved their style and improved upon it, while not really looking like any other fantasy RPG out there. It’s certainly nothing like the latest Final Fantasy.

It’s interesting how many of these tunnel-vision observations we get these days, and it makes me wonder if many of the blogging pundits out there are only sampling from a narrow range of the available digital entertainment, both past and present, before coming to their conclusions.

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By: Ian Schmidt/2011/04/25/i-want-ugly/#comment-3185 Ian Schmidt Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:44:29 +0000 I completely disagree, you need to get a nice HDMI tv to see that great GFX rule and we need them hot! :D The GFX. I completely disagree, you need to get a nice HDMI tv to see that great GFX rule and we need them hot! :D The GFX.

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By: Erwin Coumans/2011/04/25/i-want-ugly/#comment-3183 Erwin Coumans Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:24:12 +0000 Well said! But I do not think that this will change soon! Its "easier" to do something that people (developers also) can understand immediately than to study a new art form and put into games. Not to mention the fear of not having the same or any acceptance by the public. This problem is not exclusive to art, as programming (same mechanic) and writing (similar stories) are all in the same boat. One thing though, last month i've spent hours playing games in one of those flash game portals and is really amazing the diversity and different things you can find there (Search for the top ranked). Maybe, because risks are less to these developers, they take more chances while developing their games. Here are some examples of games i found interesting: <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/Mikengreg/solipskier?sfa=permalink&referrer=Gamemut" title="Solipskier" rel="nofollow">Solipskier </a> <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/Lutgames/straw-hat-samurai" title="Straw-hat-samurai" rel="nofollow">Straw hat samurai</a> <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/gamezhero/tentacle-wars-the-purple-menace?sfa=permalink&referrer=Gamemut" rel="nofollow"> Tentacle wars: purple menace - this one really got me </a> Well said! But I do not think that this will change soon! Its “easier” to do something that people (developers also) can understand immediately than to study a new art form and put into games. Not to mention the fear of not having the same or any acceptance by the public. This problem is not exclusive to art, as programming (same mechanic) and writing (similar stories) are all in the same boat. One thing though, last month i’ve spent hours playing games in one of those flash game portals and is really amazing the diversity and different things you can find there (Search for the top ranked). Maybe, because risks are less to these developers, they take more chances while developing their games.

Here are some examples of games i found interesting:

Solipskier
Straw hat samurai
Tentacle wars: purple menace – this one really got me

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