Graphically Speaking: A Positive Prespective on Where We’re Headed

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The Xbox 360 and PS3 are the two most powerful gaming consoles on the market today. In actuality, they really aren’t much different from a computer. Both have a CPU, a GPU, some RAM, and a hard drive, just like a PC, yet most computers are replaced every three to five years with upgraded models. Despite being about five years old already, the PS3 and 360 both have a planned life-cycle extending through 2015.

These old systems are leading to stagnation in the gaming industry. Every year, people flock to buy the new Halo or Modern Warfare, but all we get is a bit of new game content; graphics overhauls are out of the question. PC games - and gamers - are suffering for it. In order to make games cross-platform compatible developers have to cater to the significantly weaker hardware in consoles. Epic Games has already produced a tech demo of its latest Unreal Engine 3 running on current generation PC hardware, pushing hard for next-gen consoles to get here faster.

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Paul Escallier of Maximum PC



Let’s focus on a key statement in the above quote:

These old systems are leading to stagnation in the gaming industry. Every year, people flock to buy the new Halo or Modern Warfare, but all we get is a bit of new game content; graphics overhauls are out of the question. PC games - and gamers - are suffering for it.

Paul shares his opinion with many other games, I’m sure - and this opinion of graphical innovation being the main driver of the industry is very valid. In my experience of talking with peers, and co-workers, most would agree that graphics are very important to them and they often refuse to play great games with primitive or childish graphics.

Obviously some of the most popular games in the industry have a heavy focus on realism and graphics, such as Call of Duty, but the other big driver is robust multiplayer systems. Both of these features have been implanted from PC gaming into console gaming. The Xbox Live platform has been heavily successful with it’s PC-like gaming and online functionality so for games to maximize their profits it is obvious that they need great graphics and great online re-playability.

The downside to this is I think a lot of gamers like me get frustrated with the direction of gaming, and they curse people who obsess over graphics and online play, and toss aside lower end and single play experiences. While the consoles do seem to increasingly become less adventurous with disk releases, I think independent gaming has never been more successful with the LIVE Arcade and the Playstation Store. While the majority of Xbox 360 and PS3 owners probably do not buy indie games for their system, it’s a big thing to take note of if you’re becoming jaded about today’s gaming scene.

To highlight one of the even more important advancements for gaming with an emphasis on game play over technological aesthetics is the rise and popularity of the iOS App Store. This however brings up another issues certain gamers have with mobile and browser gaming and that is this hatred for casual gaming which is essentially the same kind of disdain gamers have for core graphical gaming, but the opposite end of the spectrum of course.

This kind of worry and hatred of a certain body of gaming again is pointless as games that still cater to everyone’s and anyone’s preferences are still being created. Of course on the surface it may seem like Call of Duty and Angry Birds is where gaming is going, but that is mostly untrue, because that is a slice of where of gaming is going. Admitedly it’s a large slice, but in no way is it a true indicator that you’ll never see the kind of gaming you love ever again.

I think gaming is more popular than ever and I think that can truly only be a good thing for the industry, and for us as gamers.

Could you imagine if society as a whole didn’t care about gaming? Where would be now? I don’t think we’d have the creativity and quality of titles that we see across the entire gaming medium. From the AAA titles to the $1 App Store gems, gaming would not be where it is today if it wasn’t a mass producing money making machine that caters to the whole rather than it’s individual parts.

The wonderful thing is that those niche individual parts are in no way being left behind in today’s market - in fact they’re being catered to more than ever.

- Kyle