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As this year's E3 expo has drawn to a close and I have picked up a few recently released RPGs for the consoles of this generation, it has become apparent to me that most of the graphical innovation in recently released games has largely focused on the depiction of subtle details rather than wholly transforming graphical presentation. This focus, this priority on attention to even the most subtle of details, seems somewhat different than the trends of graphical innovation of times past. The games featured at this year's E3 seem to indicate that this focus will be present in future games as well. What affect will this trend have on RPGs? While the immediate response to this question would likely involve the claim that it will help to make games seem more realistic, this attention to detail can also help enhance an RPG's surreal themes, thus making a world based completely in fantasy more engrossing and more believable.
The creation of most new video game consoles has usually led to a dramatic increase in the quality of graphics of video games. 16 bit systems revolutionized graphics by adding a wealth of new colors to game designers' palettes. The 32 and 64 bit era likewise substantially changed how graphics appeared to gamers by making the integration of full motion video and 3D graphics feasible. The current generation of consoles has demonstrated significant graphical improvements over the consoles of the 32 and 64 bit era. However, the consoles of the next generation seem to exemplify a different sort of improvement over current consoles, and the games that have been released in these last days of the consoles of this generation illustrate the gradual transition that comprises this improvement as well. Whereas the transitions from the 8 bit to 16 bit systems, 16 bit to 32 and 64 bit systems, and 32 and 64 bit systems to our current generation's systems demonstrated significant alterations in graphical presentation and capability, the transition that I am describing focuses more on tweaks and slight improvements to a formula that's already been well tested with the current lineup of consoles. Rather than bringing about a sweeping technological change that revolutionizes graphics and presentation, this transition seems to refine and tailor what has already been created in the most subtle of ways. Look at current games that are heralded now as being graphical masterpieces. Namco's Baten Kaitos earns its praise by demonstrating its focus on subtle details; individual leaves of a tree flutter about, spiders scuttle down walls, and the slightest bit of sunlight produces beautiful lens flares. Outside of RPGs, Half Life 2, Gran Turismo 4, and Doom 3 all similarly pride themselves on their depiction of the most subtle of details in their environments; distorted views through magnifying glasses that rest on desks, cracks in pavement, and visible scars on enemies are all intentionally rendered in these games. Many of E3's featured games show this focus as well.
It might be tempting to note that this attention to detail in graphics, insofar as it can help capture every movement, every change in an environment that occurs, may allow for games to look extremely realistic. And indeed, this focus has done exactly that. Games are starting to resemble movies that come out of Hollywood more and more, and the line between in-game cinematics and actual gameplay is being blurred. There's no doubting this, but this increased attention to detail has also had another interesting effect on a game's presentation.
A focus on the capturing of the most subtle of details allows game designers to present players with the world they've created in a most indirect way. For RPGs, this has significant importance. Take the example I've already mentioned, Baten Kaitos. In this game, fish with wings "swim" through the sky in the background of the game's ambient environments, rivers of water trickle down clouds, and mountain ranges spring out of the clouds. Each of these details is presented in a way that makes them seem less fantastic then they really are; no one seems to question them, and they only become apparent if the gamer chooses to stand still for a moment and look for them. Because of this, attention to detail employed in this way can help draw gamers into a fantasy-based environment. Since these details, which help illustrate the mystic and fantasy-based themes of a game, are offered to the gamer implicitly, it becomes harder to notice them as even being the products of fantasy. Attention to detail can thus aid creators of RPGs in drawing gamers into their world; the seemingly unimportant and subtle details produced by this focus are actually extremely helpful in producing the fantasy.
As I've already mentioned, technological advancement in graphics seems to be traveling at a somewhat slower rate than the rates of those advancements made during earlier console wars. The games I've mentioned so far attempt to push current technology to its limits; however, a few exceptions to my argument that there's been little wholesale innovation do exist. The increased use of cel shading engines and other similar ventures proves that there are those that will innovate for the sake of developing a new style of gameplay. However, even this technology has been around for quite some time, and future games are only improving upon the same general formula. Cel shading certainly does stand as one exception to what I've argued so far, and I'm glad that it does; it proves to me that innovation and the stylistic preferences of game creators can and will take center stage during the development of a game.
Graphical innovation over the past years has largely focused on maintaining previously unprecedented levels of attention to detail, either to make games more realistic, or to help draw gamers in. Since technological advancement in the field of graphics has reached a plateau to a certain extent (in comparison to the advancement of times past), the focus of this advancement has been to develop this attention to detail in an attempt to prioritize artistic style over simple technological advancement. Consoles are no longer solely described by how many bits they process; the gamers of today and tomorrow demand innovative and stylistic games that push available technology to its absolute limits. Should we be asking for more? Should we be asking for sweeping technological changes that would be comparable to the revolutionary shift from 2D to 3D graphics? Has technological innovation stagnated for too long? Some may complain that a lack of technological innovation will end up hurting games; however, I've been satisfied with recently released games that have been infused with creators' style and personality. I find the current situation slightly preferable to the race to create the most technologically advanced game, the game with the most sophisticated engine. While this race is and always will be a necessary part of the process of creating new games, at least the slower pace at which it is occurring now will make companies find more creative ways to market their products.
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