• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Which was the first game you (embarassingly) called "photo realistic"

I guess Mortal Kombat. Because it was literally photo realistic, that doesn't mean it can't get any better. It just fits the description.
 
I remember thinking the PS2 NHL game looked indistinguishable from the real thing. Tried to convince my dad it was an actual game, but he obviously wasn't fooled for a second. Lol.
 
I remember seeing the first screenshots of Oblivion and saying to a friend how this is the ceiling, games wont look better than this and how the screenshots are indistinguishable from real life.
I'll never forget that hilarious statement.

400px-OB-prerelease-67.jpg
 
I'm not sure off hand, but one that bothers me that should be "photo realistic" but is not is NBA2K21.....even the next gen version, why to they still look like a cartoon???
 
Got me it was GT3. Since then, nothing.

Although not "photoreal", the upcoming Ratchet & Clank looks pretty damn close to Pixar.
 
Last edited:
I convinced my little brother to ask my Dad to buy a PS1, because of Tekken looks so "realistic", to replace the old broken SNES.
 
Last edited:
There's a lot of good early examples but for me the "damn that looks real" moment came from the trailer for Kane & Lynch 2, the way IOI were able to mimick the effects of early cheap HD Cams and stylised YouTube compression was just crazy to see:

 
dottme said:
Rogue Squadron. I remember they were comparing the game to the movie:
Rogue-Squadron.jpg
Click to expand...

I remember an article on Newsweek back in 2001 about the upcoming new generation of consoles. They were talking about this game on GameCube saying that the developers "had to degrate the textures intentionally as the game graphics looked better than the original film"....
 
Sega's Time Traveler arcade game in the early 90's.

Time Traveler (video game) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
One historian called Time Traveler the "World's First Holographic Video Game". The game uses a special arcade cabinet that projects the game's characters using reflection, making them appear free-standing. The "holographic" effect is an optical illusion using a large curved mirror and a CRT television set. Characters appear to stand in mid-air as tiny images about five inches (12.7 cm) tall.

Time Traveler has a non-standard shape for an upright arcade cabinet. Though the game is played standing up the cabinet is larger and shorter resembling an oversized cocktail design (50"H x 43"W x 45"D) (127 cm x 109.2 cm x 114.3 cm). It doesn't have a monitor but instead uses a flat, dark stage called the "Micro-theater", which was invented by engineers Steve Zuloff and Barry Benjamin. The Micro-theater is composed of a big concave mirror that lies underneath the stage. This holographic mirror-like optical device was invented by the Japanese firm Dentsu.[2] Along with it, a 20-inch (50.8 cm) Sony TV sits in front of the mirror. The player controls are located on top of the TV equipment. A couple of neon colored geometric blocks placed at the back of the stage serves as the only background for the game. It is decorated with white formica all around and with a tall "SEGA Hologram Time Traveler" sign on its back.
Click to expand...

DrJujBF.png


sISSMIx.jpg
 
The first game that made me go '' wow that's pretty '' was Jedi Outcast, and the second I can think of was Halo 3 but after that I haven't been impressed again by graphical fidelity.
I just feel like these AAA realistic games kinda look the same, usually when people think it looks impressive it's just fancy lighting and has more to do with art direction.

Edit: Actually Cyperpunk 2077 had moments when I thought it looked really cool which is very rare for these games to me nowadays.
The city has moments when it really feels very alive and does it better than any other game.
I feel like usually it's just pretty environments, but Cyberpunk also packed it with people which made it feel more real.
It's probably the most real feeling city in a game imo.
 
Last edited:
I used to think the water looked super realistic in Mario Sunshine. Don't get me wrong.... The water still looks amazing in that game, but the best I've now seen is sea of theives (just the water).

I've seen screenshots and gifs recently of some racing games that have actually tricked me into thinking it was a real video (think it was Forza or project cars).
 
Was also GT for me like many posted above. Slightly off topic I think even back then most have seen actual photos and can acknowledge how far behind games were, what really wow-ed people was how close they were from the old low resolution tv/pre-dvd footages with dated visual effects.
 
Its was Black.
I remember playing through the demo on PS2 and being amazed at how good everything looked and sounded.
It will forever look better in my mind.
A great game still.
blackImage2.png
 
Gran Turismo, Mortal Kombat, Max Payne. Especially MK which still has that somewhat realistic look to it given it's van actually recorded actors
 
Fun thing I remembered from back in 1999, while looking through a PC gaming magazine.

There are reaction to the PS2 screenshots being displayed in the media, and how "WOW!" it all was. On the letters page, there were a few views from the readers expressing how they though that graphics had now peaked and couldn't get better, and also one (very amusingly now) who was terrified that PCs would never be able to catch the PS2's graphical prowess, as it was simply mindblowing.

I look forward to in 20 years revisiting the trailers for Ratchet and Clank, Horizon, etc., and smirking at how bad and dated they now appear :)
 
Also, Elder Scrolls 4 was one of the most mindblowing things I had ever seen (back in 2007). I used to just stare at the world:

MGE7cfnbZe8KmbVrrgeDBE-1024-80.jpg.webp
 
Gran Turismo. But I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed by it. It did look photo realistic so long as the photo was taken with a crappy low-res camera.
 
Let's just say every generation since the 5th (PlayStation, Saturn, Nintendo 64) I have pointed to some games and thought they looked real. It started with CG cutscenes back then. I was amazed at how they looked. Though that's easy to be impressed when those cutscenes blew away anything the consoles could actually render back then. The older I got the less sensational to things my reactions became and I started being more critical but I still find myself marveling at how much closer we're getting. I think about 10 years ago I stopped saying "it looks photorealistic" and I started pointing out how much closer a game was to being that way instead.
 
How, HOW has no one mentioned Shenmue? The word "photo realistic" was plastered all around its advertising.


de8254038b8c296fc41aa7e39e97e7c1.jpg
 
Gran Tursimo on a CRT looked pretty real in the replays
I remember seeing it in EB games on the kiosks.
Looked unbelievable
 
Actually scrub my earlier post, I remember thinking the cutscenes in NES Batman were as good as graphics could get.

bm01.png


Followed by Ecco a few years later...

ecco-the-dolphin-mega-drive-770x481.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
Which is the best game in the "Metro" series?
Social 
19
254
Kenpachii replied
Which game has the coolest animations - in your personal opinion?
2
73
422
Danjin44 replied
What’s your favorite video game console unboxing memory, and what was the very first game you played on it?
2
89
978
GreatnessRD replied
What was the last "perfect" game you played and how old were you?
2 3 4
157
968
MrCunningham replied
The Instant You Started The Game You Knew It Was A GOAT/GOTY
2 3 4
154
879
Lightbreak replied
Top Bottom