Iwata Talks Graphics On Wii U, Disparity Between Improvements In Visual Quality Shrinking

I would like to paraphrase something Yahtzee said. "We've been aiming for perfection and realism in our games, but now that we are getting there, the results are left to be desired."


I agree with Iwata that pushing graphical powers can only go so far. Just imagine having the most realistic looking characters on the screen, only for the immersion to break because the animations are jerky or how the AI still acts like a derp. Graphics are fine for the most part, it's the AI and other fine touch features that need to be improved.

Regardless of whether the WiiU has reached a barrier on graphical quality, I think that it will have the same problem with multiplatform games that the Wii had: maybe it can run any 360 or PS3 level game just fine, but if/when the next xbox or ps3 come out, they will likely be substantially more powerful than the WiiU, and even if the graphical quality is not higher, developers will still manage to come up with games that use up all of that computational power. I expect the result will be that the WiiU would soon find that any port from those systems to itself would either be substantially reduced in quality, or nonexistant, just as they are with the Wii.

Iwata is right. The closer you get to photo-realism, the less improvement you can get from any given power increase. We're simply not going to see another Wii-to-PS360 gap, even if the gap in actual computing power is still that wide. The actual graphical improvements will be so small as to be barely noticeable to the naked eye.

Also, massive graphical improvement has an equally massive downside. It makes game development hideously expensive. We're already seeing the effects, with games gone up to $60 but developers still not getting enough profit to stay in business. Unless we start managing our expectations more rationally, we're going to see games at $80 or $100 before long. Game purchases are already on a downward trend, and prices that high would cause a game crash to rival the one from 1983.

Once in-game graphics look like movie CGI...that's pretty much it. But it's gonna be pretty awful when every games tries to look "real".

Killzone 3 did it right, Battlefield 3 just tossed blue over everything and I think MoH is using orange.

I think what me and many other people are worried about is developers are trying extremely hard to push the boundaries of graphical powers and little else. Better graphics are never a bad thing, but there is so much more to a game than the visuals. I don't think developers should wait until the graphics hit their peak before focusing on gameplay. It's 2012 and I can still exploit AI weaknesses in some games that probably would act the same 10 years earlier.

i do believe the wiiU will get shafted hard when it comes to ports due to it lagging behind ps4/720. however i found the most damning aspect of the wii was a lack of HD. i think having weaker graphics but being in HD will give gamers some amount of solace. i truly believe that if we could have played mario galaxy or skyward sword in HD it would have made a world of difference (case in point: the dolphin mod of wind waker).

["i do believe the wiiU will get shafted hard when it comes to ports due to it lagging behind ps4/720."]

Not a chance. The next Sony and MS consoles won't beat the WiiU by much, if at all. If they try to make serious powerhouses, then it will just be a repeat of the PS3 launch, where being cutting-edge priced it right out of the market. Sony definitely can't risk another debacle like that, because they're in pretty bad financial trouble right now. And MS' game division is pretty deep in the red also, a situation they really need to turn around.

This next generation of consoles is going to be a battle of features, not power. Sony and MS are going to fight for a piece of the larger market Nintendo were able to open up with the Wii. That's what things like Wonderbook and Smart Glass are all about.

i agree that pricing a system at the ps3 launch price is sales-suicide. however launching at 399.99 and not having a significant portion of manufacturing costs going into the controller will lead to a much more powerful system than wiiU. if the ps4/720 games are able to look anything like watch dogs, which i think most would agree they will, then i honestly can't see the wiiU keeping pace at least as far as legitimate third party ports go.

"The next Sony and MS consoles won't beat the WiiU by much, if at all." Come on man, you have to be pretty naive to think they won't beat it by much, if at all.

Is this dude high? The gap between my PC and my 360 alone is about as dramatic as the jump from PS2 to PS3, and my PC isn't even top of the line.

I agree with quite a few comments in this thread as far as losing gaming depth over graphical increases, costs, etc, but THIS.

Dear god this. Some "next gen" screens GR had a couple of weeks ago looked like sh!t my PC ran when I built it in 08...

Pc will always dominant and oc will always have a dramatic difference In cost