For those unaware of the condition, prosopagnosia is a cognitive disability that impairs the function of an individual to recognize either faces in associative manner or imaginative. For example, I need to rely on my friends' haircuts to recognize them, but when they end up getting a makeover I'm rendered completely lost. Although I can eventually get a sense of familiarity with others' faces, this usually requires years of being around them. For years I thought people were messing with me when they could see faces in clouds. Don't even get me started bald people and crowds. Dunkirk was an absolute nightmare to watch.
Early on in my life I was diagnosed with NVLD (Nonverbal Learning Disorder), another cognitive impairment, but one that makes it exceptionally difficult for me to read body cues. Subtle facial expressions just pass me by. I need someone to be outright crying for me to tell whether they're sad. Total mess. What I really want to discuss though is the impact of increasing graphic fidelity paired with motion capture technology and how that affects my experience with AAA gaming.
Until about 2013/2014 games relied on exaggerated movement to convey emotion and stylized, distinctive models in order to separate characters from one another. This I could follow. Much like Silver Age comics, a great deal was needed to communicate very little. However, with the advent of eighth-generation consoles, companies were able to expand their technology with a leap and bound. Take Wolfenstein: The New Order as an example. BJ's small, quiet smiles were lost on me and side characters became a jumble with their matching clothes and haircuts. I became hopelessly lost.
As the generation went on, these problems became more pronounced. When I finally played Hellblade last year, I was incredibly unnerved. Sesuna was unknown to me, the realistic face unreadable. Graphic prowess had finally become too much to grasp. The same situation occurred in RDR2 and The Last of Us 2 footage. In the rush to capture realism, I have been left behind, unable to follow the characters.
Yes, I know this is mainly just a "me issue" and I don't want to take away from what others are excited by. However, I wanted to share my experience and apprehension of where the next generation will go for me. I predict by the end of the nineth-generation I will be no longer able to play AAA games with their rapidly advancing tech.
Early on in my life I was diagnosed with NVLD (Nonverbal Learning Disorder), another cognitive impairment, but one that makes it exceptionally difficult for me to read body cues. Subtle facial expressions just pass me by. I need someone to be outright crying for me to tell whether they're sad. Total mess. What I really want to discuss though is the impact of increasing graphic fidelity paired with motion capture technology and how that affects my experience with AAA gaming.
Until about 2013/2014 games relied on exaggerated movement to convey emotion and stylized, distinctive models in order to separate characters from one another. This I could follow. Much like Silver Age comics, a great deal was needed to communicate very little. However, with the advent of eighth-generation consoles, companies were able to expand their technology with a leap and bound. Take Wolfenstein: The New Order as an example. BJ's small, quiet smiles were lost on me and side characters became a jumble with their matching clothes and haircuts. I became hopelessly lost.
As the generation went on, these problems became more pronounced. When I finally played Hellblade last year, I was incredibly unnerved. Sesuna was unknown to me, the realistic face unreadable. Graphic prowess had finally become too much to grasp. The same situation occurred in RDR2 and The Last of Us 2 footage. In the rush to capture realism, I have been left behind, unable to follow the characters.
Yes, I know this is mainly just a "me issue" and I don't want to take away from what others are excited by. However, I wanted to share my experience and apprehension of where the next generation will go for me. I predict by the end of the nineth-generation I will be no longer able to play AAA games with their rapidly advancing tech.
