http://www.thewiire.com/features/149/1/The_Uncanny_Valley_and_Wii
My take on this is if the power of the play station three is unable to create realistic life-like models, what the article touched on makes alot of sense...lifeless manikins ARE pretty creepy...
Very interesting article, talks about how Wii having the least amount of horsepower could be a good thing...for us. They brought up an interesting example of the 2 pics here:Humans find realistic-looking puppets creepy and unappealing.
"The time when horsepower alone made an important difference is over."
But what if I told you Wii was better off graphically than the competitor machines? Don't believe me? Look to the Uncanny Valley.
Take this still image from a PlayStation 3 game titled Heavy Rain. The woman character is called Mary Smith (quite the original name); the screen is produced in real time. This picture displays just how utterly powerful Sony's next-generation console is, with an almost lifelike woman aiming a cinematically out-of-focus gun before our eyes. The problem is she's a puppet without soul. Her tears, they seem so metallic; her eyes, too firm and unmoving, even for a still image; her face, too clean and without fearful scrunch. Some indescribable quality escapes this woman that makes her not entirely human; she is trapped in the Uncanny Valley.
For comparison's sake, let's contrast Mary Smith with Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Both Mary Smith and Link seem to be in a state of shock. Human tears flow on Mary's face; nature's tears engulf Link's figure.
Mary is very photo-realistic; Link is not. My subconscious mind is not attached to the woman, since she is not an extension of me, but another person entirely. Link, on the other hand, is not me, yet we are one and the same; I shoot the arrow as he does, I swing the sword as he does, I travel the world as he does.
Mary is a puppet trying to find her own soul; Link is a puppet that takes on mine. Link's fantasy nature prevents my mind from over-scrutinizing his realism, which works to make him more an extension of myself.
All in all, Mary's realism creeps me out too much to notice her emotions. But Link's lack of total photo-realism allows me to focus on his emotional response, which heightens my own emotional response, which enforces the bond between player and character.
My take on this is if the power of the play station three is unable to create realistic life-like models, what the article touched on makes alot of sense...lifeless manikins ARE pretty creepy...