• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

When is Nintendo going to stop releasing revolting screenshots?

R

Rocked

Member
I haven't played Metroid Prime 3 yet (it's not out in Europe) but I'm shocked at how good the graphics are looking on screens people have made since it's release. Nintendo's own pre-release screens made it looks like a pixelated mess that was more ugly than the GameCube games.

When the GameCube was launched I remember the screens Nintendo always put out always looked nice (especially Luigi's Mansion) but it seems since Mario Sunshine (where they put out screens like the one below) they often attemp to use the most hideous shots possibly! Oddly the exception to the rule seems to be with Smash Brothers Brawl.

2002-02-21sunshine1.jpg
 
T

TheGreatDave

Banned
When they think it matters, I guess. It baffles me too, but apparently it's something to do with the hardware as well. "buffers" and all that.
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Gosh, it seems like yesterday when those Sunshine screenshots hit GAF. It's the first time I can remember the term "placeholder texture" being employed. I remember there being all sorts of theories as to the gameplay mechanics also, borne out of those shots.
 
E

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
yeah, MP3 looked like a complete mess on stills. I dunno if it's because the game doesn't lend itself that well to pictures or something.
 
R

Rocked

Member
TheGreatDave said:
When they think it matters, I guess. It baffles me too, but apparently it's something to do with the hardware as well. "buffers" and all that.
Click to expand...

Ah, it could be a hardware thing. I noticed some NiGHTS screens look really nice, while others look like a totally different game too.
 
Randy Lanzarote

Randy Lanzarote

Member
I often ask myself this, but its not just Nintendo. Its seems it is impossible to find a screenshot that isn't;

a) a photo from a TV running the game
b) A horribly compressed JPG
c) a picture that has been cropped from its original 480p framegrab.

Same goes for their videos too. Why not show off a proper grab of Mario Galaxy in action, rather than a 2MB 320x240 video. I know it's all about the "Gameplay > Graphics", but throw us a bone at least.
 
S

Sharp

Member
MP3 doesn't look that great in stills, that's why (except artistically). 60 fps makes a huge difference. Also what Sakurai does on his blog is an entirely seperate story as (a) he's not technically a Nintendo employee and (b) his viewpoint is a lot more old-school Nintendo than most of its other developers. Who else on Nintendo's staff would publically recommend using a Gamecube controller for their new Wii game?
 
T

TheHeretic

Banned
If you look up close MP3 doesn't look all too crash hot. It is very fluid, however.

Screenshot's rarely represent games properly. They are circumstantial and are easily manipulated one way (bullshots) or another (compression).

Use them to get a feel for a games art style, as thats all they are good for, really.
 
MaddenNFL64

MaddenNFL64

Member
z-buffer 3mb something something.

Actually, who knows why screens always suck. Nintendo doesn't like to use their workstations for bullshots maybe?
 
P

pswii60

Member
I think it is related to the frame-buffer. Hopefully developers will work out another way of taking screenshots soon that look more like the actual game will look on your TV.
 
N

NotWii

Banned
Error said:
yeah, MP3 looked like a complete mess on stills. I dunno if it's because the game doesn't lend itself that well to pictures or something.
Click to expand...
Twilight Princess looked really bad in screenshots too...
Might be because of stretching 640x480 to 848x480 for anamorphic widescreen.

MaddenNFL64 said:
z-buffer 3mb something something.
Click to expand...
Sorry, nothing to do with the z-buffer
 
J

JoshuaJSlone

Member
MaddenNFL64 said:
Actually, who knows why screens always suck. Nintendo doesn't like to use their workstations for bullshots maybe?
Click to expand...
Oh, but they occasionally do. I remember some giant Twilight Princess bullshots (maybe even from 2005?) and Battalion Wars 2 at least.
 
R

Rolf NB

Member
Nintendo somehow doesn't seem to have any way to produce direct-feed shots. None of their material looks cleaner than the stuff people like me can pull out of our analog capture cards.
And there's another issue at work here: the shots are incorrectly resized. Sunshine, like the vast majority of Gamecube games, doesn't output 480 lines of signal, but gets a little more aggressive on the overscan. You usually get 448 active lines in an NTSC or PAL60 signal, hence all of these screenshots are of the wrong dimensions. Resizing shots is a lossy process, it's particularly destructive to texture detail. Sounds familiar?
 
C

Crushed

Fry Daddy
This subject has bugged me to no end. You get these horrible looking screens of Wii games that look so much worse than the actual game on the TV.
 
R

Rlan

Member
Speaking of.. the UK Nintendo media Site is finally back online, with bigger pics of Smash Bros. and Galaxy images from the site:

supersmashbrosb32386.png

supersmashbrosb32383.png

supersmashbrosb32381.png

supersmashbrosb32376.png

supersmashbrosb32332.png

supersmashbrosb32330.png

supersmashbrosb30939.png

supermariogalax32068.png

supermariogalax32062.png

supermariogalax32050.png

supermariogalax32047.png

supermariogalax32040.png



Why can't ALL games look that good? Why can't US developers get good caps? I don't think ANY of the Prime games ever gave good screenshots.
 
N

NotWii

Banned
Rlan said:
Speaking of.. the UK Nintendo media Site is finally back online, with bigger pics of Smash Bros. and Galaxy images from the site:
Click to expand...
Whoa, good find!

Prime 2 had some nice crisp screenshots released, can't find the originals though, only IGN's slightly compressed ones...
I don't remember any nice Prime 1 or 3 screens though.

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041015070545680.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041014045633127.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041021102518829.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041015070543180.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041014045631159.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041015070544024.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041022113326607.jpg

metroid-prime-2-echoes-20041022113319936.jpg
 
D

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
hey -- never let it be said that i scorn the obvious

would you have preferred 'when they develop a photoshop filter that simulates the nostalgia, ignorance, and self-deceit through which their fans see their games'

i'm guessing not
 
G

Gattsu25

Banned
I dunno, I think their screens for Super Smash Bros, Mario Galaxy, and TP are/were fucking great looking.

edit: then again, I wasn't bothered much by the IQ of last-gen games. If your issues are purely based on the aliasing in these screens, then I look past that when I view game screens
 
R

Raiden

Banned
I honestly can never tell the difference between Prime 2 and 3 in screenshots. To me Metroid Prime 1 is still the best looking, but thats probally because i dont have a Wii ...yet.
 
G

Gwanatu T

Junior Member
I don't really mind much, case in point nearly every one of their games looks better than anything else released on the system, especially games like MP3, Mario galaxy and Mario Sunshine. I'm not sure what the deal with the framebuffer is, but it's better than those terrible quality composite fed shots that IGN used to post to their site last-gen.
 
S

StevieP

Banned
drohne said:
would you have preferred 'when they develop a photoshop filter that simulates the nostalgia, ignorance, and self-deceit through which their fans see their games'
Click to expand...

Shouldn't you be playing Lair?

Mario Galaxy would look INCREDIBLE in HD. Or at least anti-aliased...
Click to expand...

What? The majority (overwhelming majority) of all games on ALL platforms do not/dit not have any AA. Last gen and this gen.

Just because we're all used to bullshots, doesn't mean Nintendo should do the same thing, too. Joshua is correct in that I've only remember seeing 2 examples of Nintendo-made bullshots, and they are BWii (not a Nintendo first party) and the Zelda magazine bullshots from late 2K5. Nintendo seems to be one of the few developers that shy away from bullshots, so what you see is what you get. I would prefer if all studios did the same. Every time I see an Epic game, for instance, I automatically know it nowhere near represents the final product.

The Metroid shots that were officially released, however, introduced extra aliasing because they weren't proper resolution (I think they were stretched a few pixels vertically).
 
L

Lobster

Banned
Wii said:
the-legend-of-zelda-twilight-princess-20061110104836696.jpg

Revolting image quality compared to those SSBB/SMG screens.
Why Nintendo?! WHY?!
Click to expand...

Wow. Talk about one of the finest looking areas in the game ruined.

Isn't it something to do with the hardware anyways?
 
A

AniHawk

Member
BrodiemanTTR said:
When you play 3 the difference becomes readily apparent.
Click to expand...

Or like in my case, it won't.

The only differences I've seen were in that Gamespot thing from yesterday or earlier. And even then, the differences are nowhere near "readily apparent."
 
R

RiskyChris

Banned
Wii said:
[ig]http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/745/745389/the-legend-of-zelda-twilight-princess-20061110104836696.jpg[/img]
Revolting image quality compared to those SSBB/SMG screens.
Why Nintendo?! WHY?!
Click to expand...

That's a symptom of poor art direction in TP compared to previous Zeldas. Zelda games don't scale towards realistic graphics very well -- the nature of the series needs to remain light-hearted.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
I don't know, but it's pissing me off. :(


I still can't believe drohne is taking its time to click on all these threads he actually has no interest in (aside from trolling, I mean).
 
M

MasterMFauli

Banned
AniHawk said:
Or like in my case, it won't.

The only differences I've seen were in that Gamespot thing from yesterday or earlier. And even then, the differences are nowhere near "readily apparent."
Click to expand...

Even in videos, MP3 looks far better than MP2.
Stop hating MP1 and MP2.
 
T

TheGreatDave

Banned
RiskyChris said:
That's a symptom of poor art direction in TP compared to previous Zeldas. Zelda games don't scale towards realistic graphics very well -- the nature of the series needs to remain light-hearted.
Click to expand...

Except in this case that was a good looking area that looks much better on your TV.
 
E

E-phonk

Banned
drohne said:
hey -- never let it be said that i scorn the obvious

would you have preferred 'when they develop a photoshop filter that simulates the nostalgia, ignorance, and self-deceit through which their fans see their games'

i'm guessing not
Click to expand...

6g8km50.jpg
 
N

NotWii

Banned
RiskyChris said:
That's a symptom of poor art direction in TP compared to previous Zeldas. Zelda games don't scale towards realistic graphics very well -- the nature of the series needs to remain light-hearted.
Click to expand...
I'm not talking about the badly mapped textures, I'm talking about the overall fuzziness of the screenshot.

It's not crisp at all, it's like a composite capture.

Awntawn said:
The answer to that question can be found in the bottom-right corner of the picture.
Click to expand...
These shots were provided to IGN and others by Nintendo, even the MP2 shots above look better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Would you agree that Nintendo has always been better as a portable platform holder vs. a home console one?
Opinion Platform 2
52
3K
SirTerry-T replied
The GameCube Nearly Had An Official LCD Monitor
Opinion Trailer Hardware
10
1K
flying_sq replied
Is Nintendo getting ready to release a game they KNOW is terrible?
48
4K
Gudji replied
Don’t Listen to the Naysayers Switch 2 release is NEAR
2 3 4
197
14K
WhiteWaterM00se replied
Why did we ever stop using octagonal analog notches?
19
2K
poodaddy replied
Top Bottom