Invalid characterset or character set not supported Exposition time





Exposition time
January 02, 2008

Sometimes I feel the need to explain myself.

I've occasionally been criticized for harping on about the whole Gameplay/Graphics dichotomy. You all know my stance, that the latter does not make or break the former in any sense of the term. This is partly why I chose Jetpack as my Alpha entry - the other part is because I couldn't think of another game that starts with J.

Pup mentioned in his comments "If old-school graphics don’t bother you, why even bring it up?" Indeed, this is a question I am often faced with. The answer is quite simple: Because there are some people who are bothered. Because there are some people to whom top-of-the-line graphics are a crucial prerequisite of a good game.

This is why my reviews constantly emphasize a game's content over its graphical niceties, why I constantly try to advocate the view that graphics should be one of the last priorities of a game developer. Because the industry is filled to the brim with game titles that have wonderful graphics, but nothing else.

While it's true that you can create a market for something by forcing it down your customers' throats long enough, it's far more common for a market to arise through demand of a thing. It is my belief that the glorified 3D picture books that pass as games these days have arisen because the consumer base wants them, on the misguided belief that graphics are all that's important. Thus, in order to scale this back, it is necessary to reduce demand.

This is why I bring it up, Pup, in Jetpack and all my other reviews. It is my hope that my reviews can help educate the unwashed masses and show them that it's possible to have an engaging, entertaining video game with craptastic graphics. This is why I write reviews.

That said, expect something similar from the review of SunAge, because it is very much MY kind of game. To both EmP and Lighthouse, I apologies for taking so bloody long. I've had an interesting week which included, among other things, driving my girlfriend to the ER. She's okay though, so don't worry too much.

Most recent blog posts from Will Roy...

Feedback
honestgamer honestgamer - January 02, 2008 (01:41 PM)
There's no need to apologize for including bits about graphics in your reviews. While it's true that a review must reflect your opinions of a game, that's only half of what you need to nail as a writer. Reviews that don't at least touch on the things most readers in your target audience will care about--such as graphics--are pretty much mastubatory. Graphics may be one of the last things a developer should focus on, but they are still going to have an obvious impact on the final product. A game with mediocre graphics will probably feel precisely that: mediocre. Graphics are about a lot more than just how sharp Mario's overalls look, after all. Things like atmosphere are obviously reliant on graphics and sound. Even your ease when telling units apart in an RTS is a graphical sort of point.

It's not even a question of technology, either; a perfectly beautiful game can exist on the Wii (inferior specs and all) and a nasty looking mess can exist quite easily on the Xbox 360. Visuals are important. When you think about it, 'video games' are games that look good. That's essentially their definition.

The thing about reviews for tournaments is that they're held to rather different rules. A tournament review isn't necessarily a useful game review as much as it is an interesting one. Some of the very things critical to a professional review actually can work against you when people are judging your review based on how much they liked it. The real challenge, of course--and what makes a truly great review--is covering all of those areas necessary for a professional review, but doing it with so much style that the reader (and theoretically, contest judges) don't notice until they stop to think about what your review actually contained. You'll notice that the reviews capable of doing that also tend to score highest in competitions, as well.

Anyway, that's my perspective on it all. I think that the path to being a good reviewer is to first master organization and the art of supporting your points, THEN to start looking at the things that elevate reviews to the next level (word economy, trimming out cliches and so forth).
daff daff - January 02, 2008 (04:31 PM)
It always used to piss me off when an awesome RPG would get a so so score because it had 2-D graphics. Almost all of my favorite RPGs were on Super Nintendo, Genesis, or PS1. They didn't have cool looking CG, but they had great characters and plots.
pup pup - January 02, 2008 (06:44 PM)
I did't have a problem with talking about graphics, so much as I had a problem with the length you went on about them. Given the system, release date, and artwork, I already had a very good idea of what to expect from the game visually. Instead of spending a paragraph trying to convince people that gameplay trumps graphics, spend that paragraph showing them how great the gameplay is. Think about like shopping for a car. You could spend the next hour debating the pros and cons of Hondas versus Fords, but getting behind the wheel is so much more effective.

Also, if you want people to believe in gameplay over graphics, you probably shouldn't say, "If this puts you off, stop reading this review right now." Get the graphic-whores interested and maybe, just maybe, you'll get a few willing to set their standards aside to experience a great game.
WilltheGreat WilltheGreat - January 03, 2008 (12:25 AM)
Yeah, don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to rant about how much I hated your feedback and think you should die in a fire (cause I didn't and I don't :D). It just gave me an excuse to write a little about something.

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998-2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.