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Your earliest memory saying, "games can't look better than this!"
- Thread starter Deleted member 17402
- Start date
ive been amazed
dreamcast I think was the one where I was very surprised at what I was looking at.
I was also taken back by MGS2 and Spyro The dragon.
but never said it could never get better than something
dreamcast I think was the one where I was very surprised at what I was looking at.
I was also taken back by MGS2 and Spyro The dragon.
but never said it could never get better than something
Tekken 2. The CG. Good lord. I wasn't astute enough to understand that the split between real time and prerendered wasn't one that had to persist for all time. So I thought: the in game visuals are as good as they'll ever be. And the CG is practically photo realistic. So we're done here! Best looking game ever!
Re4 was a looker. But it felt rough enough to me that I knew we were going to get better.
Re4 was a looker. But it felt rough enough to me that I knew we were going to get better.
007: Everything or Nothing. Between some fantastic set pieces and using real actors for the character models I thought this was as cinematic as games could ever get.
I think Body Harvest (lulz) or Vigilante 8 probably got this reaction first, but I genuinely thought we peaked with EoN.
I think Body Harvest (lulz) or Vigilante 8 probably got this reaction first, but I genuinely thought we peaked with EoN.
Same! I remember having my mind blown by the concept of bump maps in general.
I look back at it now and jeez those are some wild faces, but at the time I was floored.
Tekken Tag Tournament / GT3 on PS2. Both of those games just floored my teenage mind. I remember seeing the first screens of TTT and then going to the arcade and being baffled that the PS2 looked BETTER than the arcade. I just couldn't see things getting better from there, lol.
One of us! One of us! One of us!
One of us! One of us! One of us!
Absolutely the likes of -
Daytona USA (Arcade)
Super Mario 64 (playing the import Japanese version in an indie shop at the time)
Spider-Man (on the OG PlayStation! I remember distinctly thinking that actual statement, that games can't get better)
Daytona USA (Arcade)
Super Mario 64 (playing the import Japanese version in an indie shop at the time)
Spider-Man (on the OG PlayStation! I remember distinctly thinking that actual statement, that games can't get better)
I don't think I ever said that, but some of the early PS360 leaks impressed the hell out of me back in the day. Stuff like Oblivion, MGS4, Heavy Rain, Lair, etc blew my mind. Remember that shot of the woman with the gun in Heavy Rain? With tears running down her face or something. Looked so good at the time.
Going from FFIX to FFX was also an eye-opening moment to me.
Going from FFIX to FFX was also an eye-opening moment to me.
Half-Life 2 and Oblivion for sure. Once I saw what normal-mapping could do, I thought that we had reached the pinnacle of graphics.
I'm pretty sure I've never thought that. I think this gen has been the first time I ever even thought "wow, things sure are starting to look pretty real." But even now we've still got ways to go before game visuals reach the near infinite detail we see in real life. I don't think games will stop improving visuals until they can display near infinite detail on a microlevel in real-time. Safe to say, that's not going to happen in our lifetimes. I've thought this way ever since I was a little kid.
When I played Sonic Adventure 2 and Resident Evil Code Veronica for the first time on a friend's Dreamcast.
They blew my fucking mind. I was only used to seeing PS1 and N64 games. I will never forget that moment.
He loaded a save file from Code Veronica from the part where you take the submarine to the underwater offices, and there's a camera shot from outside the window, looking inside from the water.
I was drooling. I could not believe how amazing and solid everything looked. Textures looked super sharp, not blurry like the N64 or pixelated like the PS1.
And those character models, my GOD. They were super realistic in my eyes. They even moved their lips while they spoke! And they had EYES.
Nothing would ever look better than that. It was impossible. Games had reached their graphical peak.
Then MGS2 came along and... Well...
They blew my fucking mind. I was only used to seeing PS1 and N64 games. I will never forget that moment.
He loaded a save file from Code Veronica from the part where you take the submarine to the underwater offices, and there's a camera shot from outside the window, looking inside from the water.
I was drooling. I could not believe how amazing and solid everything looked. Textures looked super sharp, not blurry like the N64 or pixelated like the PS1.
And those character models, my GOD. They were super realistic in my eyes. They even moved their lips while they spoke! And they had EYES.
Nothing would ever look better than that. It was impossible. Games had reached their graphical peak.
Then MGS2 came along and... Well...
Playing Bioshock Infinite when it launched was definitely a "put the controller down and appreciate how far we've come moment" also. Going from Resistance to that within a console generation.
I was dumb and young, had only a C64 at home. Dragon's Lair in the arcade blew my mind, I was unable to process its witchcraft.
Dragon's lair... and to be honest cartoon games don t look better several decades later, although some key few match (cuphead comes to mind). They sure play a lot better though.
arcade 83/84 (i think it was 84 for us)...
Dragon's Lair 2 time warp had more punch, but the first one was woah.
arcade 83/84 (i think it was 84 for us)...
Dragon's Lair 2 time warp had more punch, but the first one was woah.
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I don't know that this is the earliest I've had that thought, but the earliest I remember thinking it is with Starfox Adventures.
The textures looked amazing to me, and the fur on the characters actually stood up, like fur. It wasn't just painted on.
Sure, it wasn't going for photorealism, but even as a child I understood that stylized isn't inherently worse-looking than photorealistic. (Personally, I think stylized looks better in nearly every case, once you get past being amazed at the technical aspect of it.)
The textures looked amazing to me, and the fur on the characters actually stood up, like fur. It wasn't just painted on.
Sure, it wasn't going for photorealism, but even as a child I understood that stylized isn't inherently worse-looking than photorealistic. (Personally, I think stylized looks better in nearly every case, once you get past being amazed at the technical aspect of it.)
Never really had this experience. I'm not sure what the cultural inclination is or anything in the tech field or maybe it's the broadening net that Gaming started to cast as years went on but I never went "This game is the epitome of game. The games visuals are better than anything"
I've definitely stopped to smell the roses and take tons of screenshots in games, but I've never looked at a game and went "Yeah nothing can top this" because not only do the graphics have less to do with my enjoyment of the game than its art direction, but because it will always improve. But I'm also the guy who loves stylized games over realism so my opinion might be moot in that regard as those styles tend to age better.
I've definitely stopped to smell the roses and take tons of screenshots in games, but I've never looked at a game and went "Yeah nothing can top this" because not only do the graphics have less to do with my enjoyment of the game than its art direction, but because it will always improve. But I'm also the guy who loves stylized games over realism so my opinion might be moot in that regard as those styles tend to age better.
This is sort of cheating but.
Crysis 1. Came out more than 10 years ago and still looks better than some AAA games.
I think some environmental and finer effects can look MARGINALLY dated. But I have a hard time envisioning any game that will look significantly better than Crysis.
Crysis 1. Came out more than 10 years ago and still looks better than some AAA games.
I think some environmental and finer effects can look MARGINALLY dated. But I have a hard time envisioning any game that will look significantly better than Crysis.
This is a fun idea.
I had this moment late because I didn't get in to console gaming until late 1999 in to early 2000. This was a weird time to start gaming. It was the final years of the N64 and PlayStation after many people had already been wowed by the likes of Super Mario 64 and Metal Gear Solid. Arcades, once famous for showcasing the best graphics of the industry, were out of fashion and being rapidly converted to ticket-based.
I also bounced around between the Nintendo 64, the Super Nintendo, and the GameCube because they were all equally new to me. Because I was playing all three of these systems at once, I had no real sense of how much time had passed between the landmark releases on each machine. Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 were just two different Mario games. I didn't think of them in regards to the technology it took to make them or how much time passed from one to the other.
But finally I had a moment that made me think "wow, games have come so far, this is the best it will ever be." It was when I saw the seam on Mario's hat in the opening cutscene to Super Smash Bros Melee. I remember being amazed that games could show that level of detail now. No longer did they simply represent the world - they depicted it as it was! What a time to be alive.
I didn't have a thought like this again until I played The Last of Us on PS3. I didn't really think "games will never look better than this," but more like "I would be okay if games looked like this forever." This feeling was, rather humorously, erased when I played The Last of Us Remastered on PS4 and realized how much better that game could look just running on a newer machine.
I don't think I've had such a thought since then. I actually have begun to take graphics sort of for granted now. I've played a lot of amazing-looking games this generation and I am definitely consistently wowed at the visual fidelity of their universes. I think this is reflected in the widespread popularity of photo modes in so many games now. Games just look amazing and there is so much they can show and present and design that they couldn't before.
I doubt I will ever feel like "games will never look better than this" again. But it's amazing to always be able to say "games have never looked better."
I had this moment late because I didn't get in to console gaming until late 1999 in to early 2000. This was a weird time to start gaming. It was the final years of the N64 and PlayStation after many people had already been wowed by the likes of Super Mario 64 and Metal Gear Solid. Arcades, once famous for showcasing the best graphics of the industry, were out of fashion and being rapidly converted to ticket-based.
I also bounced around between the Nintendo 64, the Super Nintendo, and the GameCube because they were all equally new to me. Because I was playing all three of these systems at once, I had no real sense of how much time had passed between the landmark releases on each machine. Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 were just two different Mario games. I didn't think of them in regards to the technology it took to make them or how much time passed from one to the other.
But finally I had a moment that made me think "wow, games have come so far, this is the best it will ever be." It was when I saw the seam on Mario's hat in the opening cutscene to Super Smash Bros Melee. I remember being amazed that games could show that level of detail now. No longer did they simply represent the world - they depicted it as it was! What a time to be alive.
I didn't have a thought like this again until I played The Last of Us on PS3. I didn't really think "games will never look better than this," but more like "I would be okay if games looked like this forever." This feeling was, rather humorously, erased when I played The Last of Us Remastered on PS4 and realized how much better that game could look just running on a newer machine.
I don't think I've had such a thought since then. I actually have begun to take graphics sort of for granted now. I've played a lot of amazing-looking games this generation and I am definitely consistently wowed at the visual fidelity of their universes. I think this is reflected in the widespread popularity of photo modes in so many games now. Games just look amazing and there is so much they can show and present and design that they couldn't before.
I doubt I will ever feel like "games will never look better than this" again. But it's amazing to always be able to say "games have never looked better."
Seeing Madden go from this:
To this:
Blew my mind that the characters had individual fingers. I'll never forget that.
To this:
Blew my mind that the characters had individual fingers. I'll never forget that.
While I've never gone "Games can't look better than this!", throughout the years one of my biggest "This is the best games have ever looked" realization/feeling was the first time I played Jak and Daxter on the PS2?
The animations were smooth, the world was seamless, and it was 60 fps. It was insane at the time.
The animations were smooth, the world was seamless, and it was 60 fps. It was insane at the time.
I told myself, looking over a Rogue Leader magazine preview, that it wouldn't be next gen but the one after that which would be the peak.