Are Cutting Edge Graphics a Double-Edged Sword?

With development costs higher than ever and games like Minecraft and League of Legends proving that gamers don't need flashy graphics, is it worth it for studios to prioritize state of the art graphics?

[oODEADPOOLOo]

I think at devs should look at graphically intense games as a car... at best you make one franchise or game standalone as the flagship or prototype to show what your studio can do then bring it down to something more realistic, because obviously it costs too much to make every production car exactly like the prototype.

But, they should really just divide their time across different games with smaller budgets with more creative freedom and a more flexible time table to make sure its done right.

will get rid of alot of this: "companies are investing millions of dollars into single games, just to get it to the high levels of standards that are being held against them. The high budgets of these games mean the company can’t afford to take risks, and so they resort to tried and tested formulae to produce a blockbuster game."

[Barnaby-Jones]

In my opinion, the problem occurs when devs focus too much time on graphics when they could use it to make sure gameplay is fun and varied. We can have both fun and graphically amazing games if a lot of time is put into both areas but that could take many years. I also believe that 60% graphics stat is based on developer choice and shows Crytek cares more about graphics.

[SpazldRust]

As the graphical improvements get higher the money needed to improve further get exponentially higher and the graphical improvement get less. So devs and publishers are shooting themselves in the feet many times striving for always being better. I would much prefer a good art style which stands the test of time, like Wind Waker, out Mario 64.

[SaveFerris]

AAA Games like Ryse, Uncharted and Quantum Break with their more cinematic, realistic look will certainly prioritise high end graphics with mo-cap, but I can also see games like Ni-no Kuni requiring a lot of power to match the look of high quality animation.

Of course graphics aren't everything, but for AAA big budget titles like Assassin's Creed Unity, the first thing that you notice is the graphics.

[Sy_Wolf]

Cutting edge graphics are great, no one is going to deny that. However, if the game isn't fun because all their time and money went to making it shiny who cares? It's a game, being fun is the whole point.

[etownone]

This gem so far, Ryse and Call of Duty had amazing graphics.

I woukd throw Last of Us... But that was a remastered game.

Havent played Unity yet... But I'm sure that's up there too

[BC_Master_Haze]

CoD has had like 5 remasters! Wait those are just sequels /s (joke, the new one is actually quite good)

However graphically it's not a true gem I would say, unless you count prerendered cutscenes.

[etownone]

I thought the new COD looked amazing.

So what woukd you say is best graphics?

Oh, and Driveclub is up there too if your into racing.

[BC_Master_Haze]

Far Cry did pretty good, the fur and lighting effects are spectacular.

Initially Driveclub impressed me, but not over the top, but that weather man :0

Ryse comes out on top graphically though. Also I have to give lots of credit to sledgehammer, they made a gorgeous multiplat game, I would say graphically CoD rivals far cry due to superior textures, but far cry has the edge on effects

[Kumomeme]

not really actually...its more depend on the developers..
but what main issues is now for biggest publisher ...

its more issue quantity vs quality
when technology become advance time to time,the demand increase,the budget increase,the franchise reputation increase,people often demand for bigger things,either fans or devs or publisher

than the result if the world getting bigger,the town was bigger,they push the graphics,more polygon in characters,more monster,more npc,but these more than quantity than quality...we can see few example on previous rpg or recent ubisoft games..the attention to graphics and assests more than gameplay and game design itself...
and all those take years to develops,which is consume time and money,and the result of it devs might not have enough required time to put another elements that can improve or fix gameplay to the game
one of example is final fantasy xiii..the game take 4 years to finished,with focused on graphics,even affected the game to be linear,and due to time constraint,devs itself acknowledge it will take more years if they want to include town and more open world aspect there

compare to small studios which is doesnt have much budget,they focused on quality itself..we can see few games from this type studios are usually more creative and innovative gameplay...for example xenoblade on wii(i not sure they have budget or not,but the game develop on weak hardware with limited resource,wii,which is not much graphics capabilities)another example is indie games and we can look back at ps2 era as example too

i understand this also one of reason hironobu sakaguchi intentionaly making the last story on wii,focused on gameplay and to prove that gameplay more important than visual fidelity solely,he had stated this as one of problems in industry in an interview before

demon souls and dark souls also another very good example

maybe publisher or uppermanagement issues too ,they demand things goes bigger,like before crytek ceo boldly stated games was about 60% graphics and 40% gameplay,and we can see what the main complaint about ryse,people always complaint about the gameplay the resulf of focused on visual

when visual aspect and assets being focused,they consume lot of money and time,and the devs might not have enough 'resource' to added more gameplay easpects,and after deadline,they release the games,all these due quantity vs quality issue

nintendo first party doing pretty good actually,and its kind of worried for big budget AAA games with cutting edge graphics scheduled to release after this...buts its not like that it was impossible..and although not many,but not all recent games like that too

i prefer more great gameplay and better graphics,but the devs atleast must have least bug and fixed framerate so the player experience wont screw as exchange ..its not impossible,we have see dark soul,xenoblade chronicles,the last story,zelda and others good example out there