Development costs for a typical fighter?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

My experience with cel-shaded games is likely outdated by now (JSRF, Afro Samurai, Robotech, Futurama, NMH, Okami..) so I originally thought cel-shading was used to make 3D objects look flat. So when I see something like Prince of Persia (2008) being mentioned and seeing this, I'm not sure what cel-shading is any more.

This is the definition I've always held FWIW.

[pakopako]

It looks like Prince of Persia is being described as Cel shaded because it has the black border. However, it doesn't have the simplified blocks of shading and lighting that are the true indicators of the style, and what give it that 'flat' look, so I would say that no, it's not really cel-shaded.

So what would SF4 be? Much like comparing DBZ:RB2 to DBZ-RB1, RB2 looks too detailed. To the point where it looks surreal instead of cartoonish (flat) or polished (realistic).

[isiolia]

It looks like Prince of Persia is being described as Cel shaded because it has the black border. However, it doesn't have the simplified blocks of shading and lighting that are the true indicators of the style, and what give it that 'flat' look, so I would say that no, it's not really cel-shaded.

So what would SF4 be? Much like comparing DBZ:RB2 to DBZ-RB1, RB2 looks too detailed. To the point where it looks surreal instead of cartoonish (flat) or polished (realistic).

I think by strict definition cel shading is just an attempt to make 3D graphics look hand-drawn. It's applied more to the very flat style of cartoons/anime, but is probably at least half-correct when applied to styles n' shaders that are going for other looks too.

Prince of Persia, if I recall, was said to be trying to maintain the look of a watercolor painting. Not the anime/cartoon look more typically associated with cel shading, but also not realistic. You could have something that's doing a little of both too, like Valkyria Chronicles - not simply flat-shaded, but obviously going out of its way to look hand-drawn (granted, the actual character art/etc in that was 110% typical anime too).

To me, SFIV isn't going so much for a hand-drawn look (save for some of the PC shaders). It's more trying to update the stylized sprite graphics into 3D, with some influence from the Udon/etc art over the years.