The Prerendered Paradox
Has this ever happened to you: You see a teaser for a video game on Machima.com or Youtube. It's stunning with its photo-realistic graphics and epic game play. Case in point: Dragon Age or the upcoming MMORPG The Secret World. As a gamer you sit back and revel in it. Is this what your gaming experience is going to be like? My friends we have finally reached the future. Forget the Wii and motion sensing, you want your characters to look that stunning in a world that realistic. So what happens when you get the game? Are you disappointed when the graphics are up to snuff to their prerendered cutscenes or their teaser trailer?
I've been battling this problem. Often the first thing out of my mouth (and my friends can vouch for this) when watching a trailer is "Wow! Lookit those graphics!!" Immediatly I'm reminded that, yes they're great graphics... but they're prerendered. So this blog entry is dedicated to all of you who sit back and remind your easily impressed friend not to be so guillable. This is straight from the mouth of the graphically impressionable! So I'd say I'm a pretty good source of info!
YES!! YES!! I know those graphics on the screen are prerendered! Of course their hair won't have individual strands that flow in the breeze! Of course their clothes won't flow over skin with a realistic weight and fold in individual, unique ways at their joints! We may have advanced in leaps and bounds since the original Tomb Raider graphics, but I know we aren't to this level yet! Still, do I really give a crap? No.
When it comes to a teaser trailer for a game I want it to be stunning. I want it to introduce the characters, the plot and be drop dead gorgeous while doing it! I don't want in game graphics showing me what my character can do. I want them running, jumping, affecting their enviroment in ways impossible it the game. I want them fighting and brawling with moves that are simply impossible to program. The point is, it should look pretty. Game companies who prerender their teasers and trailers know that the average gamer isn't gonna expect perfect graphics. They just wanna see something to get them psyched for the game. It's there to give you just a taste, and they need to make it as awesome as possible. A lackluster "taste" will leave you entirely unimpressed. Later we'll get the trailer showing cutscenes mixed with actual gameplay, but these prerendered beauties are meant to just be a hint.
NO, I don't automatically judge a game on the teaser trailer, but it should be good enough I'll remember the name and later do some research. Maybe get my hands on it if it lives up to the hype. The way I see it a game company has got to put some love into their game if they go and produce beautiful trailers. Graphics like those aren't cheap and I appreciate them putting enough work into an original trailer meant to keep the gamer's interest.
That's the important thing to remember. While the scenes in the teaser might show up in game, it doesn't mean I expect them to look or function like those teasers. Case in point: Dragon Age. The teaser Bioware gave us showed a scene from the Quest for the Sacred Ashes that your charcter eventually goes on. Does it look like the game? NO. do you fight a giant dragon? NOT unless you call it with a horn or bang the gong. Do you fight of legions upon legions of dark spawn with acrobatic grace? AGAIN NO. It's just there to be stunning, get you excited and get you to look it up and start hoarding your money like freaking Smeagol to be able to preorder it.
And what's so wrong with prerenderd graphics? They're pretty and the artist in me appreciates the attention to detail. Final Fantasy games have long lived on this sort of thing. Mediocre to GOOD graphics in game, with mind blowingly detailed cut scenes. Not all games can do this, for obvious reasons. If you have a customizable player character then this is nearly impossible with the technology we have today, so we get the next best thing, like what you see in Dragon Age or Mass Effect. But when a game company can, I appreciate when they do. I adore Final Fantasy and Devil May Cry for their cutscenes and why shouldn't I? The company put alot of love into make the game look slick and stunning.
Is it wrong of me to love the graphics of a game's teaser? Of its cutscenes? I think not. One day when we can have realistic graphics constantly I won't have to complain, but for now all I have to say is... chill. CHILL out. All of us impressionable sods of gamers know the game won't be that pretty in real life... but we can enjoy it for its cinematic worth.
That's all for now, be seeing you
-KinReynard
I've been battling this problem. Often the first thing out of my mouth (and my friends can vouch for this) when watching a trailer is "Wow! Lookit those graphics!!" Immediatly I'm reminded that, yes they're great graphics... but they're prerendered. So this blog entry is dedicated to all of you who sit back and remind your easily impressed friend not to be so guillable. This is straight from the mouth of the graphically impressionable! So I'd say I'm a pretty good source of info!
YES!! YES!! I know those graphics on the screen are prerendered! Of course their hair won't have individual strands that flow in the breeze! Of course their clothes won't flow over skin with a realistic weight and fold in individual, unique ways at their joints! We may have advanced in leaps and bounds since the original Tomb Raider graphics, but I know we aren't to this level yet! Still, do I really give a crap? No.
When it comes to a teaser trailer for a game I want it to be stunning. I want it to introduce the characters, the plot and be drop dead gorgeous while doing it! I don't want in game graphics showing me what my character can do. I want them running, jumping, affecting their enviroment in ways impossible it the game. I want them fighting and brawling with moves that are simply impossible to program. The point is, it should look pretty. Game companies who prerender their teasers and trailers know that the average gamer isn't gonna expect perfect graphics. They just wanna see something to get them psyched for the game. It's there to give you just a taste, and they need to make it as awesome as possible. A lackluster "taste" will leave you entirely unimpressed. Later we'll get the trailer showing cutscenes mixed with actual gameplay, but these prerendered beauties are meant to just be a hint.
NO, I don't automatically judge a game on the teaser trailer, but it should be good enough I'll remember the name and later do some research. Maybe get my hands on it if it lives up to the hype. The way I see it a game company has got to put some love into their game if they go and produce beautiful trailers. Graphics like those aren't cheap and I appreciate them putting enough work into an original trailer meant to keep the gamer's interest.
That's the important thing to remember. While the scenes in the teaser might show up in game, it doesn't mean I expect them to look or function like those teasers. Case in point: Dragon Age. The teaser Bioware gave us showed a scene from the Quest for the Sacred Ashes that your charcter eventually goes on. Does it look like the game? NO. do you fight a giant dragon? NOT unless you call it with a horn or bang the gong. Do you fight of legions upon legions of dark spawn with acrobatic grace? AGAIN NO. It's just there to be stunning, get you excited and get you to look it up and start hoarding your money like freaking Smeagol to be able to preorder it.
And what's so wrong with prerenderd graphics? They're pretty and the artist in me appreciates the attention to detail. Final Fantasy games have long lived on this sort of thing. Mediocre to GOOD graphics in game, with mind blowingly detailed cut scenes. Not all games can do this, for obvious reasons. If you have a customizable player character then this is nearly impossible with the technology we have today, so we get the next best thing, like what you see in Dragon Age or Mass Effect. But when a game company can, I appreciate when they do. I adore Final Fantasy and Devil May Cry for their cutscenes and why shouldn't I? The company put alot of love into make the game look slick and stunning.
Is it wrong of me to love the graphics of a game's teaser? Of its cutscenes? I think not. One day when we can have realistic graphics constantly I won't have to complain, but for now all I have to say is... chill. CHILL out. All of us impressionable sods of gamers know the game won't be that pretty in real life... but we can enjoy it for its cinematic worth.
That's all for now, be seeing you
-KinReynard