Realism in mid-90's games

[RCBH928]

Away from my other Perfect Dark thread, as I played this game I noticed that some sort of realism was being pushed for in this game being a spy with different gadget.

I didn't have a critical mind back then since I was younger, but if any one was a bit older were games like 007, Perfect Dark, and MGS taken seriously as realistic? Or are they taken in as a cartoony game?

Some games today are giving you the realistic feel, like LA noire maybe, where you get immersed in the game and feel "WOW! This is the real deal" . Did you get this feeling, or were developers aim for this feeling? I know its not fair, but when I look back at them today no way I am convinced this is real, it too cartoony given the old graphics capabilities.

Were any games taken in as "realistic"? I can be wrong but I remember MGS praised for being real life like. I dunno, its so long ago.

Please no one bring the issue of PD with the tiny alien blowing realism out of the way, other parts looked realistic with the institute, skedar aliens, and trying to save the president from the airplane .

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Graphics have come a long way since the days of Spacewar! but a new game is still completely distinguishable from reality. You can still look at a game and say, "Oh, that's a video game." And I don't really have a problem with that - new consoles can render some really pretty things - but the most believable worlds, for me at least, have been the fantastical ones. Like you said, it's easier to swallow aliens and ray-sheilds than James Bond, even when rendered exactly the same way. Although you could say 007 was the more realistic game, Oricana was more believable. Its world was consistent and usually made sense, and we weren't concerned with comparing it to ours.

Realism in a game comes from physics, atmosphere, consistent world-building, logical patterns of interaction, and so on - not the visuals. For example, Microsoft Flight Simulator '92 is a lot more realistic than Dark Souls.

[harper]

I think he is referring specifically to graphics though. But I've wondered this too when playing Goldeneye and other games that were supposed to be percieved as realistic back in the day. To someone who had never played a realistic "3D" game before, were these graphics as cartoony as they seem today or did they seem like the real deal? I was also too young to really notice or care and I was mostly into games like Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart which obviously didn't really aim for realism although my young mind definitely thought they looked awesome. haha

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Only 3D games I played in the mid-90s were Need for Speed III and old flightsims, so I don't have much to say about that I never thought NFS was realistic, but at the same time I was really impressed by the details and reflections on the car and the driving sounds. Impressive, but not realistic.

[flojocabron]

our expectations changed with the advent of computer technology.

Remember Lawnmower Man, and Toy Story, and Tron?

Early CGI animation made people think of what was possible. but home technology hadn't yet caught up. Computers fast enough to copy said images from the movies just didnt exist at home.

Toy story the first famous CGI movie had an snes game. People saw the movie and wondered when this was going to be avialable in a home console. But you cant compare the snes to a first rate CGI movie.

Only untill newer advaned games came out on pc and 5th gen games were graphics and realism really pushed forward. And Its been non stop ever since.

Its just a matter of technology catching up.

[J T]

When Metal Gear Solid was released, it was largely exciting because it felt more like a movie than many games before it. The graphics were considered fairly realistic for the time, but it was really the soap-opera nature of the story and the cinematic presentation that impressed.

I remember with Golden Eye, what really impressed me back then was that enemies responded to where they were shot. In games like Doom or Wolfenstein, your enemies died the same way no matter where you shot them. It was such an amazing novelty at the time to shoot a guy in the knee and actually have him react to being hit in the knee specifically. That made it seem very realistic.

But the standard has changed dramatically over the years for what is considered realistic. I remember sitting and staring at the title screen for Batman when I was a kid because I was just blown away at how realistic the image was and that it really looked like Michael Keaton.



By the time MGS and Goldeneye were released though, we also had seen a lot of FMV games, which was as real as it could get. At that time period, it was clear that The 7th Guest looked more realistic than 007 Goldeneye, but we were still impressed by what Goldeneye could achieve in realtime while under the player's control.

[Nintendork666]

Rise of the Robots (SNES) had me in sheer awe as a tot. I remember specifically thinking, "this looks just like real life!"

[RCBH928]

@Valkyrie-Favor

Yea I didn't mean realism as in another dimension where I can't differentiate between the game and reality. I meant what the other guys were thinking, that graphics looked serious and not cartoony. For example, maybe someone playing 007 too much into the feeling that he is "the spy" , while we look today and see its like a cartoony game, its not serious.

@J T @Nintendork666
I know EXACTLY what you mean , and I am not shy to say that those graphics still look pretty awesome to me. I shared same feelings with Need For Speed that looked pretty real to me and Mortal Kombat. I saw Mortal Kombat screenshots lately and I am pretty upset they look this bad,maybe its because the console version not the arcade.

@flojocabron
Someone here said that graphics in games today didn't reach as good as the original Toy Story, am not sure if he meant PC or console or both

[Erik_Twice]

Something to ponder about. Look to any portrait or famous painting and see how realistic the people are in it. Then google photorrealistic paintings and see the difference.

[J T]

@flojocabron
Someone here said that graphics in games today didn't reach as good as the original Toy Story, am not sure if he meant PC or console or both

I would say that games can now do realtime 3D modeling and lighting effects on about the same level as the original Toy Story. However, we fall far behind in accurate facial expression and animation.

Here's the Toy Story trailer for reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYz2wyBy3kc