Video games today are produced with multi-million dollar budgets, closing in on some movie productions costs. Development studios now have teams dedicated to each component of a game: design, artificial intelligence, audio, music, graphics, etc. In the early days of the industry, games were developed by very small groups, sometimes one person would even be handling several roles! The technologies and tools were also less advanced, requiring studios to pretty much develop many things from scratch. Studios today have the option of licensing tool kits from other companies to cut the development time.
Some people judge the success of games based on the graphical element, as it is the first thing we would take notice when we start playing. If we applied this line of thinking to games in the past, the industry wouldn't have grown to the size and success it is today. Graphics then were limited to 2D and pixel art, and in the case of the PC during its early years, limited to just green-colored pixels due to the technology of the time. And, in some cases, the programmer and artist were the same guy, so the objects depicted in the games wouldn't look sophisticated or realistic.
Due to the simplicity of graphics at the time, game designers focused their efforts on making games that could generate attention through:
Some people judge the success of games based on the graphical element, as it is the first thing we would take notice when we start playing. If we applied this line of thinking to games in the past, the industry wouldn't have grown to the size and success it is today. Graphics then were limited to 2D and pixel art, and in the case of the PC during its early years, limited to just green-colored pixels due to the technology of the time. And, in some cases, the programmer and artist were the same guy, so the objects depicted in the games wouldn't look sophisticated or realistic.
Due to the simplicity of graphics at the time, game designers focused their efforts on making games that could generate attention through:
- an immersive gameplay
- good replay value even after completing the game
- a good storyline
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| Don't you recognize me? It's a-me, Mario! |
Many early successful games tended to have attributes 1 and 2, but not so much on 3. Great console classics like Super Mario Bros had simple graphics, but a gameplay that was instantly likeable to many gamers, as well as bringing in some very difficult challenges in later levels.
PC classics like Ultima 4, from the role playing game genre, had even simpler graphics as illustrated here, but is considered one of the definitive RPG games that would influence future designers. Undoubtedly the storyline, about the protagonist's journey to achieve 8 virtues of Good, was attributed to the success of the game.
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| Ultima 4: Your father's video game |
Another all-time classic, Wolfenstein 3D, which used pseudo-3D graphics had a rather quirky storyline taking liberty with World War 2 history, but had a very fun gameplay (it was one of the pioneers of the First Person Shooter genre).
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| Wolfenstein Pseudo-3D |
Each of the titles I mentioned above continued to spawn sequels, with each one showing improvements over graphics, but not necessarily bringing the same success as the predecessors. Wolfenstein's most recent title in 2009 showed very sophisticated graphics, but its retail sales figures were below expectations.
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| Wolfenstein: Bling 3D! |
Of course, I am not saying that today's game are worse compared to the 'Golden Age' of the 1990's. There have been many games showing off very good graphics and special effects, combined with creative gameplay, and cinematic storylines to bring video games to the acceptance of the masses. One game that I have seen, but not played, is L.A. Noire. The facial scan technology used to render character faces is nothing short of amazing, and may set the standard for future games. The storyline is well written, but the gameplay doesn't bring anything new.
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| You have the right to like the graphics! |
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