Where do graphics go from here?

The story can make a game. Its not as important as gameplay but its kind of silly to trivialise it. If it was as insignificant as you are trying to make it out, then it makes you wonder what all the fuss about ME3's ending was about.

Obviously the industry as a whole isn't on par with film in terms of writing, but its certainly improving all the time.

hooradiation wrote: »

Perhaps you should try books or films or some of the other passive story telling mediums then, because that seems to be the thing you're confusing with games.

Why would I limit myself to passive entertainment when there are so many video games that tell great stories? Zelda Wind Waker would have made for a terrible book or film but it's a game I will never forget. Portal would have been a crappy book, brilliant game though. Mass Effect wouldn't have worked anywhere else either. I could go on but I'm sure you get the point.

When films first came out over 100 years ago, they were largely a novelty which existed to basically amuse people by showing them moving pictures. I'm sure back then there were people like you who poured derision on DW Griffith or Sergei Eisenstein and said "I just want a moving picture. If you want a story then go read a book".

Saying story in a videogame is pointless and that you should just read a book instead is like saying watching the Sopranos over Big Brother is pointless because if you wanted great acting, script and direction you should be watching a film.

I don't know why you're so vehemently anti-story. Is it harming you in some way? We're all gamers here too and judging by the replies in the thread, it seems like a lot of people value story in games.

hooradiation wrote: »

Basically, playing a game for the story is like eating soup because you like the spoon

Can you elaborate on this one because I'm quite baffled by it I would have thought it was more like eating a mushroom soup because you like mushrooms i.e. you eat/play it because you enjoy a part of it but want it in a new form with some other bits mixed in too.

hooradiation wrote: »

Might a different way of putting that be that what you do in the game is what matters and the 'plot' is just superficial window dressing?

Not entirely. To me, plot and gameplay will both influence the gamer's experience in combination. That is, in a storytelling adventure type game. Plenty of classic games have never needed any great plot because they were an addicting puzzle game like tetris or a racing game like Mario Kart.

For me, a good game plot is just a compelling world that succinctly sets up the premise and gives a sense of purpose to the player to push the story forward by playing the game. From there, the best of this type will allow a player to feel like they've had their own particular experience and not just one laid out for them if that means going back and finding every secret, blazing through the thing as fast as possible, dying every 5 steps, conversation trees, sidequests, highscores etc.

Even "Mainstream" games like Red Dead, Mass Effect, The Witcher etc would be much lesser games if they hadn't got a decent plot. I know i wouldn't have played/enjoyed any of them if it was just an MMO styled set of objectives with no attachment to characters within the story.

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I don't know about the others but the plot in portal is practically non–existent and pretty superfluous. The game play is what made portal brilliant.

Portal is probably the one I'd be most likely to play sans plot, but I would still say the plot adds a lot fun in the game, especially in the second half. Do you think Portal would still have been as good if it had no Glados? You go through the same puzzles, but no story to direct you. At the end, no closure?

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I don't know about the others but the plot in portal is practically non–existent and pretty superfluous. The game play is what made portal brilliant.

The plot in Portal is far from non-existent. Sure, it doesn't pile on with cutscenes likes Metal Gear Solid but there is still plenty of story and atmosphere going on as you advance and see Glados' insanity becoming more evident. It's closer to a short story than a novel (at least for Portal 1) but it's still deeply ingrained in the game

I really don't think Portal or Portal 2 would have achieved anything like their popularity without their story. If you remove Glados, Wheatly, Cave Johnsons writing on the wall from previous victims etc. and have just a barebones puzzler, it would probably be moderately popular on merit but it wouldn't have gained the legendary status it has.

hooradiation wrote: »

People seem to be confusing "the plot is just window dressing and doesn't really matter" with "NO PLOT EVAR".
I have no idea why that is.....

Well that's because you're basically saying that you could entirely remove the plot from any game with negligible difference in how much you enjoy it. That might be true in your case but not for most of us.

Take some of the most popular series/games of this generation; Assassins Creed, Skyrim, Uncharted, Batman, Mass Effect. Take away all dialogue, plot, setting etc and boil them down to their raw gameplay mechanics with an old fashioned "Levels 1-99" approach. They've all just become fairly forgettable and people would be far less attached to them, even in ones where the story is pretty weak (like Uncharted).

Here comes my annual long post on boards.

I use to be obsessed with graphics but as I got older I realised fun and gameplay are more important. Saying that, graphics are still important. I am very worried that the new consoles are not going to push the limits of technology in terms of graphics. This will limit what the developers can achieve. It will slow down progress. I rarely have to upgrade my pc these days because the consoles have held back the pc market so much.

I have been delighted to see what some of the devs have managed on the limited current gen consoles. Games like uncharted 2 & 3 etc are astonishing looking. But imagine what they could do with 10x or 20x the processing power.

With products these days coming out with high bandwidth connections like thunderbolt, it would be feasible for microsoft or sony to add this connection or a similar connection to their future consoles. The consoles periodically could be upgraded with faster graphics etc. The important thing would be to make sure the games still work on the base system. The addon graphic card or apu or cpus should just optionally increase graphics fidelity for those who can A) afford it want it. Making the addon a requirement would not work well. It has failed in the past.

If either of the big console manufacturers go for "upgradeable console" idea. I said it first, ask Retr0gamer. I have been saying it for years!

Regarding VR. Several people high up in the games industry that I totally respect have said that Carmacks VR hardware is pretty amazing. I believe he has given up further )development and is now backing the Oculus. But that guy (Palmer) could be just in it for a quick buck, and who knows what he will do with the $1,000,000 he has raised . AR and VR are coming big time. Will they succeed? Possibly not (again).

Holodeck sort of visuals will be possible in my lifetime. But being able to touch the stuff is not likely.