Polygons, Pixels, Graphics don't matter.

[ShadowDancer]

Cast a vote

[ShadowDancer]

I know it really does depend on a whole lot of things and hopefully you will take this topic to unfound new levels of depth, but for me, I am getting so fed up with near realism that I remember what I grew up with and would sooner look at pixels.

I also prefer the Wii..not for its sell out majority software library, but the cel shaded look, stuff like Okami, Madworld, No more Heroes and punchout..I can get off on that look, but the more I think about it, Killzone2 or SonSon II, SonSonII, whilst being the better game, just looks a damn site better to me.

This is a choice, a preference and much more. I know you guys will decipher everything

[kernow]

Polygons are usually made out of pixels.

This is interesting actually because someone might say 'omg 3rd strike or DOJ BL on 360' when thats even made out of polygons on the home console ports.

[NeoStuey]

Yep it's all subjective, but I voted pixels.

It's what I too grew up with and for me gaming has always been an escape and modern gaming just doesn't do that for me. Pixels and a bit of my own imagination over gritty realism every time.

[sj33]

Whichever best suits the game. Resident Evil 5 with pixels would be a silly thing, for example.

[ShadowDancer]

Fine, wrap the thread up in 5 posts!

I wasn't being terribly indepth, I know...sorry. I also know that a lot of you will have better knowledge as Kern pointed out. And as Jakey said, what suits the game.

I remember looking at Riddick and thinking, Christ, not another load of 'Sci Fi' Stuff that looks brown..I think Famidude picks up on this brown tinge too, with Gears of War.

I'd sooner look at pixels, not 32bit PS1 and Saturn Pixalated messes like Tomb Raider, stuff like Super Mario on the nes, streets of rage on Megadrive, stuff where you can actually see where it was put together...

[kryss]

Pixels. With polygons behind them. I love the 2D on 3D that games like FFXII: Revenant Wings and Tales of Hearts have.

[merf]

they matter more in certain types of games, sports and racing games really benefit from hyper realistic high end graphic tech, but then also benefit from overtly cartoony unrealistic looks took.

for every Tiger Woods, Fight Night & Forza there is Everybody Golf, Street FIghter & Mario Kart.

in general though for me its all about gameplay as without it what are you left with ? games that try to sell themselves solely on graphical beauty often fall flat on their face, whatever the techniques used.

[Nighteyes]

I chose polygons even though there are several genres where pixels are far better used, (like the recent re-make of Monkey Island, which I hope will spawn 2D remakes of all their back catalogue). However, some games meld polygonal graphics with pixelesque gameplay; Street Fighter IV does this superbly. SF IV is, as you all know, a 2D game that could have been accomplished, for the most part, with pixels. But the use of polygons allowed Capcom to take the game into the third dimension and utilise that for the Ultra Combos, some of which look spectacular; Ken's and Cammy's Ultras in particular look fantastic.

Other great examples are the superb Live Arcade games Shadow Complex and Trials HD. The metroid/Flashback references in many of the reviews of Shadow Complex weren't just floated about whimsically, and the Unreal Engine was put to superb use for that game to give it that something different.

So that's why, despite my complete and utter despair when Monkey Island went 3D all those years ago, that I will always maintain that polygonal 3D graphics, when done right, help make a better game.

And now I'm gonna be a total hypocrit and say I want the Dizzy games re-made in 2D with pixels, and that if they do them in 3D my head will explode.

[sj33]

Pixels. With polygons behind them. I love the 2D on 3D that games like FFXII: Revenant Wings and Tales of Hearts have.

I actually find this to be quite jarring in most cases, unless done properly. I've not played the games you mention, though.

[abigsmurf]

No love for voxels?

[eastyy]

pixels for me i always thought 2d does not age as badly as 3d i mean i looked at super mario 3 and didnt think it looked to Bad ....but then played chrono cross for the psone and thought my god thats aged

[NekoFever]

Polygons or sprites might be more accurate

I went for polygons from a gameplay perspective simply because there's very little that sprites can do that polygons can't, but the inverse isn't true. You can still do 2D gameplay with 3D graphics - see Street Fighter IV, Shadow Complex, etc.

That's not to say that sprites are bad, of course. Sprites tend to get art across very well, so games like Chrono Trigger and Yoshi's Island just wouldn't be able to come off as well in 3D. They're almost flawless IMO, and 3D is always improving so quickly that that just doesn't happen and won't until computers get so powerful that there's not really a bottleneck. Even really old 2D stuff like the Spectrum has a certain charm, and I love seeing what people can do within such tight limits. Super Mario 64 looks pretty bad now, but Yoshi's Island is still beautiful. Also see Street Fighter EX versus Street Fighter III.

And gameplay is always the most important thing, but that's not to say that graphics don't have a bearing on the quality because it can directly affect the gameplay. Would anyone argue if I said that the gameplay of Shadow of the Colossus wasn't negatively affected by the frame rate and that it wouldn't play better on more powerful hardware?

[Matt]

Yeah, took me a minute to work out WTF the poll was for. Pixels??

Impossible to really vote, as it depends on the game and genre.

While side-on platformers were once definitely best as sprites, titles the last year or 2 have shown 3D can work just as well. What was the last decent sprite based FPS? Duke? Wouldn't work these days, needs to be polys.

Great shout to Smurf for nominating Voxels. I keep expecting them to make a come back....