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[-Pyromaniac-]

 

[Skiesofwonder]

have you ever played GOW3?

p.s. loved sotc when it came out and still love it today

Me too.

I was speaking graphically though; it is hard not to call Shadow of the Colossus stunning, and it could easily be done on Wii.

 

[AceBandage]

Man, Uncharted is exactly what Retro should be aiming for when they make a new Star Tropics.

Me too.

I was speaking graphically though; it is hard not to call that game stunning, and it could easily be done on Wii.

Better, actually, since it shouldn't suffer the slow downs.

 

[BY2K]

That might look artistically uninteresting to you, Ace, but goddamn, technologically, it's gorgeous.

 

[EDarkness]

Better. Well we will agree to disagree then, but I imagine you are In a very small minority that thinks GOW3 is not a stunning game graphically. In my opinion that is really the only thing the series has/had going for it, but that is a whole other discussion.

My roommate owns the game and I have played it. I agree with Ace on this one. Just a boring game artistically. I thought that fighting

Spoiler

Zeus

was totally ridiculous looking. That said, the production values were pretty good and it's obvious that they spent a lot of time crafting the game, but the style of it wasn't very interesting at all.

 

[GameplayWhore]

*IF* the bird demo was in real time (not having a go at Nintendo here but i take all new console 'tech demos' with a bucket of salt) then it was far, far better looking than any PS3 or 360 game i have ever played and i have completed every major PS3 / 360 exclusive.

It was interactive, which strongly insinuates that it is rendered in real time. Rotating the controller controlled the camera on the subscreen. However, Nintendo's "street view" demo worked in a similar fashion, and it was not rendered in real time. I'll take a closer look at the floor videos to see if the interactivity is limited to camera control or if there's more to it.

Same goes for the Zelda tech demo, graphics with that kind of texture detail, lighting, water / fire effects and smoothness just aren't possible on PS3 or 360.

That goes along with what BG says about it having around 500 gigaFLOPs of GPU grunt (thats twice the power of the 360 GPU).

Well, a lot of the difference in looks can be obtained not by increased computational speed but by the addition of features like global illumination. Others can handle this much better than I can, but you could have a gpu that has the exact same grunt factor as the Xbox 360 but looks nicer due to those additions.

That's why I've been careful to avoid exaggerating the gpu's capability. It could simply have a really amazing feature set but not an astoundingly higher amount of oomph (though rendering simultaneously to two screens is potentially pretty telling).

How many gigaFLOPs was the PS3 GPU if the 360's was 240 and the Wii's 12 ?.

400.4 GFLOPS, apparently. However, I recall it being said that Sony originally wanted the Cell (cpu) to handle the graphics part entirely, and that the RSX was hastily bolted on when they realized that this would be an unworkable solution. So there may be some balance issues in the final product which prevent it from achieving the peak performance of the gpu.

Oh look, we have a new village idiot.

Ad Hominem attacks are exactly what we do not want to do here to assuage the concerns of those who have a more pessimistic perspective of Nintendo and/or their systems.

 

[Krev]

Hey, business-savvy folks, I have a question: if Sony wanted to go movies and gaming-only and jettison most of their other divisions, how long can they go on like this before it's too late? There's gotta be a point of no return, right?

There's a good chance they'll actually sell their film business. It's only tenuously connected to their consumer electronics devices and so it makes a lot of sense to axe it if they want to slim down and refocus as a company. Plus, its potential for growth is limited by US media ownership laws. For example, Sony Pictures Entertainment can't be extended into a cable channel.

 

[DavieC726]

I just have a basic question, considering Wii U will have nearly one year or more alone, will we have a taste from it of new gen graphics ?

Pikmin 3, Killer Freaks from Outer Space, Lego City Stories for starters.

 

[AceBandage]

That might look artistically uninteresting to you, Ace, but goddamn, technologically, it's gorgeous.

Like I said. Big production values and scale, but completely uninteresting.

Meanwhile, you have Uncharted 3 with as big, if not bigger, production values and scale, that puts such a huge focus on making the environments lush and living and vibrant and detailed.

 

[lordfroakie]

Man, Uncharted is exactly what Retro should be aiming for when they make a new Star Tropics.




Better, actually, since it shouldn't suffer the slow downs.

Should they age the main character?

 

[AceBandage]

Should they age the main character?

What was he in the first? 14?
I think 16 would be a good age. Cocky teenager with a yo-yo.

 

[BD1]

Considering how much of its life was spent as a Wii game, it might not be as gorgeous as it could be.

Ugh, I know. HD Pikmin could really be a beautiful showcase for Wii U's graphical muscle, but the cold fact that this was almost finished as a Wii game makes it less likely. Here's hoping, though.

 

[Krev]

Man, Uncharted is exactly what Retro should be aiming for when they make a new Star Tropics.

Oh you.

 

[HylianTom]

Man, Uncharted is exactly what Retro should be aiming for when they make a new Star Tropics.

Agree 110%. One part Zelda, one part Uncharted, one part Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade..

And, please.. for the love of Farore: keep a lot of the gameplay elements/mechanics/humor that made us adore StarTropics 1. I mean, I loved Kid Icarus Uprising for what it is, but there's a part of me that's sad that the gameplay seems so far-removed from the series' origins.

 

[Hot Coldman]

God of War 3 reminds me of Harryhausen films. Jason and the Argonauts and all that. It's a good looking game. Bit too dark, that's its only problem.

 

[MYE]

God of War 3 can be breathtaking at times. Believe me.

First time i saw the intro areas i couldnt believe my eyes. Then it was followed by some pretty bland and unfinished looking areas by comparison :/

Reminds me of GT5 in that regard.

Still, absolutely gorgeous game when its at its best.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

If Pikmin 3 isn't a visual showcase for wii U, it'll be considered one of the biggest missed opportunities ever. There's so much you can do graphically with dirt, water, mud, grass, leaves, rain, etc.

The thing is, people seem to be expecting photorealism or things of that nature.

I expect something more along the lines of the past games, just much more lush and detailed.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

Me too.

I was speaking graphically though; it is hard not to call Shadow of the Colossus stunning, and it could easily be done on Wii.

maybe the issue is using "stunning" because there aren't many games i have ever played that i would call literally stunning.... where i looked at them and was stunned at how good it looked. if you want to call sotc or kirby yarn or call of duty or xenoblade or whatever stunning then more power to you!

and me insulting nintendo it was actually to the contrary! nintendo (as a first party) has some of the best franchises around and i just think its a shame that they were handicapped because of the wii. that is why i'm pretty excited about the possibility of an HD zelda/metroid/mario

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

God of War 3 reminds me of Harryhausen films. Jason and the Argonauts and all that. It's a good looking game. Bit too dark, that's its only problem.

It's not a problem. God of War is goddamn GORGEOUS. It is what it is stylistically. Some people prefer more vibrant stuff but it doesn't make God of War 3 less graphically impressive. It's top tier.

Anyway if Star Tropics were ever made we'd be lucky if it looked half as good as uncharted 2 and 3 (relatively speaking of course).

 

[BurntPork]

We are going to get a big leak this week. That is my prediction.

 

[AceBandage]

It's not a problem. God of War is goddamn GORGEOUS. It is what it is stylistically. Some people prefer more vibrant stuff but it doesn't make God of War 3 less graphically impressive. It's top tier.

Anyway if Star Tropics were ever made we'd be lucky if it looked half as good as uncharted 2 and 3 (relatively speaking of course).

Why do you say that?
Nintendo puts out amazing looking games. Why couldn't they get a game that looks as good, if not better?

 

[Emitan]

Wow, that really does look stunning.

looks like a dreamcast game

Spoiler

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

It's not a problem. God of War is goddamn GORGEOUS. It is what it is stylistically. Some people prefer more vibrant stuff but it doesn't make God of War 3 less graphically impressive. It's top tier.

Anyway if Star Tropics were ever made we'd be lucky if it looked half as good as uncharted 2 and 3 (relatively speaking of course).

agreed. GOW is one of the best looking games around. i get that some people dont like drab environments but the dude is climbing out of hell.... there aren't going to be dandelions and sunflowers sprinkled about

 

[Dreamwriter]

Looks like a good art style for The Legend of Zelda: Ganon's Journey

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Considering how much of its life was spent as a Wii game, it might not be as gorgeous as it could be.

But they never once showed it which i feel makes that point moot. It might have still been in the prototyping/finding the fun stage for most of that time without any significant resources thrown at it yet which means it could have been built for this hardware.

Who knows, it might have even been the testing ground for a new engine.

BELIEVE DAMMIT.

 

[AceBandage]

Looks like a good art style for The Legend of Zelda: Ganon's Journey

Oh you.

 

[BY2K]

We are going to get a big leak this week. That is my prediction.

We're gonna get one on June 2nd. It's called Tales of.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Why do you say that?
Nintendo puts out amazing looking games. Why couldn't they get a game that looks as good, if not better?

I believe they could, I don't know if they will for some reason. I'm still in that stage where I can't imagine nintendo + hd lol.

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

EDIT: Woah, my autopage extension stopped working and thought we were still a few pages back. Ignore this post.

 

[AceBandage]

We're gonna get one on June 2nd. It's called Tales of.

Revealing it just before E3 seems a bit odd.
I'm betting it's 3DS or Vita, though.

I believe they could, I don't know if they will for some reason. I'm still in that stage where I can't imagine nintendo + hd lol.

Well, it's not like Nintendo has been sitting on their thumbs the past 5 years in this regard. They've been training their studios for HD development and putting massive R&D behind it.

I think Ace is saying that yes, the God of War series has some amazing graphics on a purely technical level, but that the game is not visually appealing in the broader sense of the word. I tend to agree, although the first section of God of War 3 was stunning. Most of the game, though, seems pretty bland.

Exactly. Technical marvel. Artistically dead.
I get that that is the theme, but you know what? So was Darksiders. And that had some incredibly amazing environments.

 

[MYE]

Pimin 3 will look like a buffed up wii game in HD and these boards will crash and burn in a sea of bans and tears

 

[Chet Rippo]

Am I doing it right guys?

 

[Hot Coldman]

It's not a problem. God of War is goddamn GORGEOUS. It is what it is stylistically. Some people prefer more vibrant stuff but it doesn't make God of War 3 less graphically impressive. It's top tier.

I didn't deny that, duder. Just saying the one thing I'm not mad about. I think if we lived in a world of Sega blue blue skies in every game and your CODs and Killzones or whatever looked like a pack of Crayola, it wouldn't even be a problem, but dark, dingy-ass games can grate a bit given their prevalence.

That said, given my general ability as a human being to distinguish things from other things properly, I can put aside GoW3's overly familiar palette and love it for its fantastic character designs, generally brilliant gruesomeness and the myriad of technical achievements. Hell, GoW3's technical stuff is my kind of system pushing- get some fucking massive giants in there, yeah! Weather effects, wonderful! That's what I like to see. Fucking awesome looking game.

 

[Krev]

Pimin 3 will look like a buffed up wii game in HD and these boards will crash and burn in a sea of bans and tears

I think it's very possible.
Either way, I'll still buy it and in all likelihood love it.

 

[abasm]

I was typing something up for the "Best E3 Conference" thread, and it sort of got away from me, turning into this analysis of Nintendo's direction based on their arc of focus through the past few E3 conferences:

Nintendo 2006 was pretty promising. They hadn't hit the casual gold-mine yet, so most of their focus for the Wii was on stuff like Super Mario Galaxy, MP3, and Brawl. Much of what would make the Wii popular was an afterthought at the time.

Nintendo 2007-2008 were astronomically out of touch--in hindsight, they're pretty funny, but at the time, they were just profoundly sad. Nintendo made most of their Wii money during that time but burned nearly all of their good will with the hardcore crowd. They're still trying to recover from that.

2009 was kind of a transition year, where you had SMG2 and Other M up against shit like the Vitality Sensor. It's pretty clear that Nintendo's "Blue Ocean" dried up around then, because it's plain to see which path they chose from there.

2010 was awesome. The 3DS came out swinging, and nobody doubted that it would raise Nintendo to even greater heights. Not only that, but the conference was effectively the Wii's second coming--much of the "other half" of the Wii's library was announced then. It was just one amazing announcement after another.

2011 was sort of a hit and miss. The 3DS had languished for a couple of months without any compelling software in sight, and the hype deflated pretty quickly as a result. The doom and gloom of the iOS bogeyman loomed high over the conference, and the Wii U couldn't help but invite comparisons to the iPad. Nintendo's continued existence had gone unquestioned up until now as a result of their unassailable monopoly on portable gaming, but with serious competition from all sides (360/PS3/Kinect/iOS) Nintendo's 2011 conference exhibited more desperation than confidence.

...so we come to 2012, where the 3DS has assumed a far more comfortable position in the market, albeit at Nintendo's expense. (They supposedly won't turn a profit on hardware until 2013.) Nintendo has spent a year sitting on the Wii U, so one can only hope that they've armed themselves with an impressive showcase of games in that time. Not only that, but Nintendo's plans for the 3DS beyond May (in the U.S.) are currently unclear, suggesting that Nintendo has been saving summer/holiday announcements there as well. Software will be where Nintendo will make money this year, so we can expect to see a lot of it. Given their gradual return to a more "core" focus, I'd wager that this E3 will be on par with 2010 in terms of game announcements.

 

[friskykillface]

Pimin 3 will look like a buffed up wii game in HD and these boards will crash and burn in a sea of bans and tears

sadly i am starting to think it will happen.



still gonna get it and be D: D: B^) when its shown at E3, i want to seeeeeeeeee

 

[Emitan]

Am I doing it right guys?

Holy shit is that a Wii U game? PS4 is doomed. LOOK AT THE GRAFFICS

 

[HylianTom]

Pimin 3 will look like a buffed up wii game in HD and these boards will crash and burn in a sea of bans and tears

Wouldn't surprise me very much, as much as I'd love to see it become one of the U's showcase titles.

I'd love to see how it uses the pad. Maybe we'll discover tiny little ant-sized pikmin that can eat through certain obstacles or enemies (think: like hyperactive termites in old cartoons buzzsawing through wood), and we'll be able to see them via the subscreen. That'd be pretty neat, eh?

 

[AceBandage]

Holy shit is that a Wii U game? PS4 is doomed. LOOK AT THE GRAFFICS

The AA in that shot is unbelievable.
Bullshot?

 

[Hot Coldman]

Pikmin 3 could be late 2013 for all we know. I'm sure it'll look fine.

 

[methodman]

I personally think pikmin 3 is gonna look amazing

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Pikmin 3 could be late 2013 for all we know. I'm sure it'll look fine.

Maybe 2013 but late 2013???

I highly doubt it.

If it needs the time though, it needs the time.

I'm still looking ofrward to that New Super Mario Brothers game(think launch) despite many being ho-hum about it.

Design trumps flash when it's from the masters.

 

[lednerg]

Just because Pikmin 3 started it's life on the Wii doesn't really guarantee anything about its graphics on the Wii U. All they'd have to do is treat the old models and textures as stand-ins, replacing them with higher-quality versions.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Watch the 'best looking' Wii U game will be some downloadable proof of concept Nintendo has been cooking for 6 years

 

[Linkhero1]

Just because Pikmin 3 started it's life on the Wii doesn't really guarantee anything about its graphics on the Wii U. All they'd have to do is treat the old models and textures as stand-ins, replacing them with higher-quality versions.

I thought that Nintendo always developed their gaming assets in HD for all their Wii games before scaling them down or have I been misinformed?

 

[RedSwirl]

I'm waiting to see what the next 3D Mario is gonna look like on Wii U. I'm continually amazed at how much Galaxy and 3D Land pump out of their respective machines. I have a feeling whatever's on the Wii U is gonna look absolutely sick.

 

[TheCongressman1]

Just because Pikmin 3 started it's life on the Wii doesn't really guarantee anything about its graphics on the Wii U.

I'm glad someone said it.

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

I'm waiting to see what the next 3D Mario is gonna look like on Wii U. I'm continually amazed at how much Galaxy and 3D Land pump out of their respective machines. I have a feeling whatever's on the Wii U is gonna look absolutely sick.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who thinks that 3D Land is the most bland 3D mario ever made.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I thought that Nintendo always developed their gaming assets in HD for all their Wii games before scaling them down or have I been misinformed?

I feel like i heard that too, but it seems more like most of their games use such clean and simple textures for artistic reasons, that they just look great in HD.

 

[volpone]

Why do you say that?
Nintendo puts out amazing looking games. Why couldn't they get a game that looks as good, if not better?

While I believe NoJ will produce some pretty sweet looking games I remain constant in belief that they will struggle to produce titles anywhere near as efficiently as teams like Naughty Dog have.

Japanese management man. It just doesn't work on HD development. Even Capcom, one of the exceptions, takes upwards of 3 years to develop titles that aren't Monster Hunter or fighters.

Let's hope Nintendo outsource like cray.