And then they go on to pick a game that people specifically calling out for looking amazing: HZD.
In fact, the problem seems to be:
> But all of them feel videogamey and none of them would pass for a film or a photograph.
To which I would reply: because they are video games. A photograph doesn't pass as film, and film doesn't pass as a photograph (though the nature of the two, film essentially being a lot of photographs). A video game must serve a different purpose than a photograph or a film. The players interact with the game, and therefore the intent and purpose is different. Glares on the screen aren't just there to add lens flare, but to make it harder to see because that's part of the challenge. It is harder to see, and you have to deal with that to overcome the challenge. That can be offset by keeping the sun to your back. Same with grime in the screen, or other such things. You want to highlight the things players need to react to, and in such a way that allow them to react quickly.
There is so much more, and yet so far this article is only referencing the pure look and seems to ignore the goals of the medium. I'll reserve judgement until I read the next parts of the articles, but until then, I can't help but wonder if this really matters.
Most games attempt to look realistic, and they fail. They definitely try to look like film, so comparing them to film is perfectly fair: it is an impossible standard that masochist, mannerist or hopeless game art directors have freely chosen for their projects and by which they deserve and demand to be judged.
Failure at realistic game graphics is so common, so taken for granted, that the scale of artistic accomplishment shifts downwards: if HZD looks only slightly bad, not constantly, and without disgusting the player too much, it's considered to have "amazing" graphics.
> So why the heck do most games look so bad?
And then they go on to pick a game that people specifically calling out for looking amazing: HZD.
In fact, the problem seems to be:
> But all of them feel videogamey and none of them would pass for a film or a photograph.
To which I would reply: because they are video games. A photograph doesn't pass as film, and film doesn't pass as a photograph (though the nature of the two, film essentially being a lot of photographs). A video game must serve a different purpose than a photograph or a film. The players interact with the game, and therefore the intent and purpose is different. Glares on the screen aren't just there to add lens flare, but to make it harder to see because that's part of the challenge. It is harder to see, and you have to deal with that to overcome the challenge. That can be offset by keeping the sun to your back. Same with grime in the screen, or other such things. You want to highlight the things players need to react to, and in such a way that allow them to react quickly.
There is so much more, and yet so far this article is only referencing the pure look and seems to ignore the goals of the medium. I'll reserve judgement until I read the next parts of the articles, but until then, I can't help but wonder if this really matters.