End of Gen Slickness

[EvilBoris]

Has anybody else noticed how the image quality of games has suddenly taken a few steps forwards in the last 6 months or so. Are we now in the golden years where we see the best looking games start to emerge?

I thought Gears of War 3 was just another Gears game, but on investigation it's noticeably better, the jaggies are smoother and the framerate is more consistant and there is lots of lovely lighting all over.
Same with Assasin's Creed Revalations, it's just overall slicker, the cutscenes with characters are incredible and look almost as good as the FMV at times.

Uncharted 3, Who'd of thought you could improve over 2, but onces more everything is just slicker and smoother and more beautiful.

Even the Darkness 2 demo looks just incredible. I hadn't noticed from videos or screenshots just how much of an upgrade over older games it is. Barely a jaggy in sight, no tearing to speak of and subtle , accurate depth of field affect that adds another layer of slicnkess.

Seen any other shining examples of beautiful or impressive graphical upgrades?

[Dogg Thang]

I'm playing Uncharted 1 on and off at the moment and it really brings home how far they have come with Uncharted 3. The first looked great at the time, and still does in many ways, but on technicalities it almost seems like a whole generation apart. Well I suppose it almost is. Uncharted 3 sets a real visual benchmark, I think.

Yes, Gears 3 made a big leap too. Like Uncharted, after playing that one I went back to the first and the difference in frame rate alone is huge. Oddly, with Gears 1, I feel it still holds its own because it has such a strong sense of its own style. Uncharted 3 is like an amazing looking Uncharted 1 - there is nothing to miss. Whereas the change of look in the Gears games meant that the first one wasn't made visually redundant. It has a feel of its own that still feels pretty strong.

[EvilBoris]

I guess that the art and the tech are a lot more cohesive, I remember thinking that the Uncharted 1 looked incredible at the time, a little plasticky I suppose but the animation was super impressive. The in game animation became much more in line with the cutscenes in 2 and 3 so it didn't feel quite so much like you were controlling a lanky gears of war.

[JSR]

Battlefield 3 begs to differ.

[Matt]

It's refinements of techniques. These games are built on existing engines, with enhancements both technically and artistically; plus of course the programmers and artists get more of an understanding what techniques to use to maximise efficiency.

All of these techniques will be transferred to the next gen and in time improved again Progression is wonderful

[dataDave]

By slickness I always think of that as 60fps with v-sync. Both of which you'd be lucky to find on a console.

[EvilBoris]

Asuras Wrath is another one, who'd of thought you'd have a game made in Japan that uses the unreal engine and looks that good?

[Neon Ignition]

Happens pretty much every gen, especially when a machine is given enough lifespan to maximise it's output. The likes of Battletoads on Nes, DKC on Snes etc. The air war siege section on ZOE2 was a mindblowing for me at a time when the 360 had yet to impress. These days the start of a new gen is so incremental and 'safe' that it's always visually disappointing compared to the great visuals the previous gen is putting out at the same time. Another reason why I'm never in a big rush for new machines.

[Brad]

By slickness I always think of that as 60fps with v-sync. Both of which you'd be lucky to find on a console.

They should hold off creating any new consoles until they can do this. Most devs can't even do this at 720p at the moment. Really the next batch should be doing 1080p 60fps v-sync if they want their new console to look impressive otherwise they're going to struggle to convince those that have played Gears 3 or UC3 of why they should upgrade.

[Flabio]

Correction: loads of devs can do it at the moment, but the actual art won't look as good as you're expecting having played stuff like Uncharted and Gears.

If there'd been a requirement from the platform holders for 60fps from day one, then noone would really know that it could do much better art at a lower framerate.

[EvilBoris]

Flabio, Do you think there will be a push for 30+ framerates in future? I'd imagine that the publishers would rather choose the better art 60FPS doesn't make for good posters or trailers or screenshots.

I presume that Sony/TV manufacturers are to have a push on 48fps (240hz?) 3D tvs and the like once the first wave of those films hit the cinemas at the end of the year. So I'm half expecting that to be a feature of the next Sony console at the very least

[kryss]

I would worry about the 3DS then, judging by how awesome MH3G looks and the fact that the console hasn't even been out a year.

[Flabio]

It's hard to say without knowing what spec the new machines are. If they're not a massive leap from what we have now, then I can see more of a push for framerate as there won't be a lot of extra gain in the visuals themselves.

[Brad]

Yes, I didn't mean to diss developers. I'd take FPS over graphical detail every time but I realise not everyone feels the same. I think a major reason for the success of Modern Warfare is 60fps but it seems that nobody else agrees otherwise all the FPS makers would try to get 60fps too but none of them do, favouring - as Flabio says - increased detail and settling for 30fps.

[nakamura]

I think the PS2 his home late gen slickness more than anything. Early in life it really struggled but late on games like FFXII, Okami, God of War and others pushed it much further than I think any other machine.

It's funny you mention FPS FSW, I showed a couple of mates who are not tech minded the difference between 30fps and 60 and it blew them away. Now they are looking forward to more games running at high framerates as it not only feels better, it is much easier on the eye for fast paced games.