What is holding video game graphics back?

[Jakez]

Is is the gaming system hardware or just technology itself?

Looking at 2011 sports games it still looks so obviously fake on the closeups. Why can't they just map a 360 view of the players face to use so it is actually realistic looking?

[Linguist]

1) Hardware
2) Human resources

Xbox 360 is now a 5-year old technology, computer gaming is not as hot as it used to be (more money in console games) and there's no way they'd be upgrading systems every year - the cost to buy would be a lot higher than the current $199 xbox price and companies wouldnt be able to keep up + you'd have a marketing clusterfuck (for example, a mid-high end pc gaming card costs $400 alone. good luck selling that to the masses).

And even if you had super awesome cards that are updated yearly, there's only so much detail that so many people can put into the game. To design an ultra-realistic "thing" that would render well, takes time..

[potter]

Because if they made a game that required a 6GB Graphics card. They wouldn't sell any copies.

[mynameisjim]

Well, video game images are rendered, meaning they are created on the fly. The stuff you see in movies is already rendered on super computers that spend thousands of hours crunching numbers to spit out the special effects you see.

Part of it is hardware, you can't get consumers to buy a new console every year. Second part is the software needs to learn how to get everything it can out of the hardware. Early games for the Xbox 360 do not look as good as newer games. Finally there is the time. The time it takes to make great graphics and textures is pretty intense. It's not profitable to invest 10 years in a game to get everything perfect. Even as it is, games are developed for sometimes as many as five years with budgets approaching 100 million dollars.

When you look at NBA 2K11, the graphics look pretty good considering that it's being rendered in real time on a $200 piece of hardware. IMHO

[garce]

I dunno. My three year old Core 2 Duo with a Radeon 4650HD video card destroys my PS3 graphically.

No one wants to play games on their PC anymore, so what you gonna do?

This PC works fine for the work I do, but I'll probably grab a new one whenever Diablo III is released. For now, though, this is fine.

[Seth Manson]

I hate console game controllers but I hate playing with the cheaters on Modern Warfare on my PC as well.

Solution? I just quit playing games.

Fix the cheating on the PC games or give me a mouse and keyboard for my console. Until then, its fuck those guys.

[ilnjscb]

There is a point of diminishing returns as well. To go from 30% realistic to 60% realistic is easy. To go from 85% to 90% is hard. Above that you get into the so-called uncanny valley and people don't know why things arean't right, etc. Shading and lighting are very hard to crunch at those levels. Rendering a photorealistic scene will require a massive physics engine and the chops to run it. Objects and surfaces will have to be created by teams and leased as content. I'm sure it will happen, but it will take a bit.

[Varius]

NHL 11 does do 360 player face modelling (I thought all EA Sports games did?) and I think it looks excellent on my PS3 in 120 inches of HD projection

[MrBottomTooth]

Xbox360 has 512 MB of RAM. There's your answer right there. They had to work with what was available at the time that would allow them to keep the price point feasible. They actually wanted to launch it with just 256 MB, but the team that made Gears of War basically told them it had to have 512 for them to get good graphics out of it.

If they could come up with some sort of way to make the consoles upgradeable, then you would see games advance in graphic capability more over time. Maybe a modular video card that could be replaced, ability to upgrade RAM, etc.

Oh wait, they already make that, it's called a PC!

[magicmike]

Yeah the hardware is really holding them back, and it seems they are going to wait another 4 or 5 years before the next consoles come out.

[bronco67]

Realtime graphics have really made great strides in the last couple of years(after the current gen consoles were released). I do 3D animation, and now I'm just beginning to use tools that leverage the GPU(instead of CPU) for rendering animation. GPU is much faster, but there are certain limitations.

Anyway, when the big game consoles come out, they have a pre-determined life cycle that the company sticks to. The PS3 is supposedly set to have a 10 year life span -- so we have another few years to go. The XBOX and PS3 are stuck with their outdated hardware, while the PC world makes incredible strides around them in whats capable to display with a CPU/GPU.

The next generation of consoles will have graphics that look almost like Avatar.

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/analyst...an-makes-sense

[dirtybaker1331]

I dont think anything is holding graphics back. Look how far it has progressed over the years. Gameplay is more important than anything anyway. Look at some of the awesome titles that have came out recently that relied mainly on gameplay. Super Meatboy, Trials HD, Limbo, Braid, Comic Jumper. There are a lot of games that have mind blowing graphics too. Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, Castlevania, Assassins Creed and Black Ops. We have come along way since Galaga and Pacman thats for sure.

[NaughtyVisions]

My son got a 360 for xmas (bundle w/Kinect). I've been hooked on the Universe mode (and Road to Wrestlemania modes) on WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 (lame, I know....I don't even really watch wrestling either.)

To me the graphics, while not perfect, are pretty damn good. But then, I also remember the days of "Pro Wrestling" on the old NES.



Starman FTW!

[camperjohn64]

I used to make video games for a living, and realistic, just isnt feasible because:

1) The video game industry attracts too many amatuers - "Yeah I can do that, hire ME". Think of all the guys that claim they can do porn...yeah...kinda like that.

2) "Amatuer" isn't just for programmers either. it's amatuer designers and managers that don't plan ahead, run into problems, don't know how to handle them and everything breaks down. Alot of time (read: money) is wasted on bug fixing, duplication, meetings, artwork and code that is tossed out. Only 1/4 video games actually ship. Imagine if 3/4 of the content you shoot, was thown away because it was shit (bad lighting, poor angles, newbie photographer, he forgot to save them in something other than 640x480 image size...or an ugly model...whatever).

[$5 submissions]

Hardware. Check the 1000 processor thread I posted earlier.

[nico-t]

ive wondered this over the years. Not much progress as in real life graphics instead of the too smooth/fake computer graphics.

i dont game at all the last several years. When a friend showed me the much anticipated and mentioned Alan Wake, i thought to myself, wow.... this looks like something from 5 years ago.

[GatorB]

Originally Posted by MrBottomTooth

Xbox360 has 512 MB of RAM. There's your answer right there. They had to work with what was available at the time that would allow them to keep the price point feasible. They actually wanted to launch it with just 256 MB, but the team that made Gears of War basically told them it had to have 512 for them to get good graphics out of it.

If they could come up with some sort of way to make the consoles upgradeable, then you would see games advance in graphic capability more over time. Maybe a modular video card that could be replaced, ability to upgrade RAM, etc.

Oh wait, they already make that, it's called a PC!

And most people don't want to play games on a PC on a tiny monitor. Oh yes I know you can hook a PC to a TV but MOST people do not want to do that. The gaming industry is going to cater to the MAJORITY because that is where the money is. Also most people do not want to upgrade their PC every year either. I know plenty of people that get PC and never upgrade then and keep them for years.

Also most people are perefectly happy with the graphics on the 360 and PS3. Unlike like previous gaming generations where after 5 years people were clamouring for better graphics there is no such outcry right now. Also game developers are in no way intersted in having to develop games for yet another generation of consoles.

So to break it down

A) Most people are happy with current gaming graphics

B) Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo are happy with sales of current consoles.

C) Game developers are perfectly happy developing games for the current generation of consoles.

So if you're looking for a XBOX 720 or PS4 before Christams 2013 you're shit out of luck. A Wii 2 will most certianly be out within 2 years but that'll just be the Wii catching up with the PS3 and XBOX 360.

[bronco67]

Originally Posted by GatorB

And most people don't want to play games on a PC on a tiny monitor. Oh yes I know you can hook a PC to a TV but MOST people do not want to do that. The gaming industry is going to cater to the MAJORITY because that is where the money is. Also most people do not want to upgrade their PC every year either. I know plenty of people that get PC and never upgrade then and keep them for years.

Also most people are perefectly happy with the graphics on the 360 and PS3. Unlike like previous gaming generations where after 5 years people were clamouring for better graphics there is no such outcry right now. Also game developers are in no way intersted in having to develop games for yet another generation of consoles.

So to break it down

A) Most people are happy with current gaming graphics

B) Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo are happy with sales of current consoles.

C) Game developers are perfectly happy developing games for the current generation of consoles.

So if you're looking for a XBOX 720 or PS4 before Christams 2013 you're shit out of luck. A Wii 2 will most certianly be out within 2 years but that'll just be the Wii catching up with the PS3 and XBOX 360.

I agree. There's much more to video games than good graphics. I'd rather play a great game with mediocre/crappy graphics, as opposed to something cutting edge that has sucky gameplay.

Also, there's the comfort factor. Many of us, including myself spend hours per day working at a computer. The last thing I want to do is spend another 4 playing a game at the end of the day.

The PS3 allows me to kick back on my couch with my 55 inch LED TV, a beer and a simple wireless controller.

[NaughtyVisions]

Originally Posted by bronco67

Also, there's the comfort factor. Many of us, including myself spend hours per day working at a computer. The last thing I want to do is spend another 4 playing a game at the end of the day.

[Phoenix]

i think to make it to the next level we need new technology and new displays and also better controls.

Say a nintendo game room instead of a game console, with a holographic or at least an amazing projector shining onto all 4 walls. Picture tiger woods golf, and anywhere you look, you are really there.

Motion sensors would be the best setup, say a much improved version of kinnect from xbox although for some games, its nice to have a device, golf for instance.You could also incorporate wind into the game and you could have fans to circulate air.

Im sure i dont have to point out true surround sound, so you indeed hear when someone is sneaking up on you in call of duty.

I wonder if you had a big enough room if you could actually walk around and move through the maps. So you always make a left turn or something when you get to close to a wall. Gameplay and speed might be an issue, as you wouldn't want to make someone run 100 yards to a location, and have to do 4-5 laps of their basement


the nintendo game room...virtual reality simulator...obviously expensive to buy, and expensive to have a large enough room you could dedicate to just game play, but hot damn