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Why aren't there more AAA "cartoony" style games? For movies there's a huge market, why not for games?

Yan

Yan

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,507
EDIT: There might be some confusion. I'm not only talking about just the stylised/cartoony visuals. There are a lot of games like that.
I'm talking about well written story, characters and cinematic presentation as well. The combination of all those things is very sparse compared to "mature" games.


Since some years the quality in writing in games has been taken more serious, attracting more talent as the medium and technology matures and developers are getting better at the cinematic presentation in their games. But most of the time this experience and budget is used to make mature and dark content with realistic violence. On Nintendo consoles it's different but usually they are very light on story. I'm talking about this style of games but with a compelling written story and characters.
Why aren't there more developers using their technology and experienced writers to make quality written "cartoonish" style games like we see in the movie industry with modern animated movies?

(I'm going to use an older post of mine here )
Pixar/Disney, Dreamworks animated movies are HUGE and part that is that they are made with lots of talented people and budget behind them.
So why can't more devs do the same for games where a more cartoony game can have AAA production and appeal to a very broad audience?
I think if done right it could be something truly unique.
If a more stylised game with the quality and polish of a Naughty Dog game regarding visuals and storytelling was made I'm sure it would get worldwide appeal and be a massive hit. How many "cartoonish" games with that kinda quality are being made today? Ratchet and Clank comes close and the last one was Insomniacs most succesful title, at least until Spider-Man.
Can you imagine Naughty Dog's level of animation in a new Jak and Daxter game (Or another cartoonish IP for that matter)? It would be incredible to see that kind of world come alive like that.
 
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vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,684
We had that with Telltale and they went under last year

Photorealism is easier to sell to the mass market than stylized visuals
 
Opa-Pa

Opa-Pa

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,810
Because cartoons aren't Art®. The industry is obsessed with graphical fidelity but it wants to be taken Seriously as well.
 
Platy

Platy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,763
Brazil
Game writing means to think a lot about what you do and how it affects history.
Gameplay of most AAA games is basically killing stuff.
If you are going to have a lot of thinking about killing stuff you end up with mario having a moral dillema about killing goombas.

I mean you can have your Spider-verse ... but not your rattatoie or walle or monsters inc
 
Vegeta'sKakarot

Vegeta'sKakarot

Alt-account.
Banned
Apr 11, 2019
49
Nintendo has it on lockdown.

Though yeah I'd love to see more AAA companies try this out. Ubisoft did it with Mario Rabbids and it was an astounding technical achievement on top of apparantly being really damn fun and charming too!
 
Bhonar

Bhonar

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
6,066
Legitimate question OP, but a simple answer:

Because video game players are more mature overall than movie goers. So a lot less game players would be interested in that cartoony stuff for AAA
 
ItWasMeantToBe19

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
20,440
vestan said:
Literally where in my post did I state that Telltale games were graphically impressive

Who are you quoting chief
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............................................................................






What is happening here.

The thread title is "AAA cartoony"

The content of the OP is talking about Pixar and Dreamworks, two companies about extremely impressive visuals.
 

Deleted member 1413

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,617
There aren't a lot of massive AAA cartoon-y movies, i feel?
There's like Pixar and Disney and every few years a bigger dreamworks film I think that's mostly it?

There are probably more cartoon-y games than movies in that regard.
 
Jezz

Jezz

Member
Apr 9, 2019
90
Casual players used to buy photorealistic games because they only care about graphics
 

HyperDimension

Member
Mar 18, 2019
631
Nintendo is the Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks of gaming. They already have that market cornered. And it's a market that mostly just doesn't care much about storytelling or AAA graphics, but they just want fun gameplay.
 
Akita One

Akita One

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,632
What is the obsession with AAA on here? I don't see anything in the OP that has to do with a good videogame. It's so weird how EA/UbiSoft/Activision/Take-Two are expected to be the end-all-be-all, and must do everything well that every other dev is doing.

Outside of kids movies, there isn't a "huge" market for cartoony movies either.
 
TheRulingRing

TheRulingRing

Banned
Apr 6, 2018
5,713
People don't want to spend $60 on something that will briefly occupy their kids (yes I know it's not just kids that like cartoony games, but they rely on a higher proportion being kids than other games).
 
Khanimus

Khanimus

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
40,335
Greater Vancouver
The mentality that most consumers with disposable income are adults, and therefore "cartoony stuff is for kids! And I, a mature adult, am too refined for such childish things. Anyway, I'm going to play this shallow loot-grind shooter that requires a fourth grade reading-comprehension level and the thematic/dramatic weight of a Franklin episode."
 
azeke

azeke

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,220
Astana, Kazakhstan
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Spaltazar

Spaltazar

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,105
Triple AYYY game with wakfu style when?



such a shame ankamas games are kinda meeeeh
 
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Vegeta'sKakarot

Vegeta'sKakarot

Alt-account.
Banned
Apr 11, 2019
49
People saying it 'wouldn't sell' are being silly. Nintendo games sell an absolute shit ton. That's clearly not the issue lol

It's more that companies are too hard-committed now. They're aiming for the highest fidelity because that's all they know.
Games with actual artstyles would actually be far more cost-efficient and odds are, be far more profitable as a result too.

AAA is a market ready to implode on itself due to infinitely rising budgets due to intense focus on hyper-realism, and having a cartoony artstyle would actually solve that problem, like it has for Nintendo.
 
SaintBowWow

SaintBowWow

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,088
The largest market for cartoony games would be children, who aren't buying games themselves. Parents willing to buy $60 video games for their kids probably already bought them a Switch, so now this cartoony game has to compete with Mario/Zelda/Kart/Smash. The rest of the kids are playing mobile games and Minecraft.

Then there's pre-teens/teenagers who would either not want to play a cartoon game, or are exclusively playing Fortnite (which, hey, is pretty cartoony!).

And then we have adults, some of which would buy a game like this based on review scores but many of which won't, or are buying it to play with their kids, which takes up back to the Switch and competition with Nintendo games.

Vegeta'sKakarot said:
People saying it 'wouldn't sell' are being silly. Nintendo games sell an absolute shit ton. That's clearly not the issue lol

It's more that companies are too hard-committed now. They're aiming for the highest fidelity because that's all they know.
Games with actual artstyles would actually be far more cost-efficient and odds are, be far more profitable as a result too.

AAA is a market ready to implode on itself due to infinitely rising budgets due to intense focus on hyper-realism, and having a cartoony artstyle would actually solve that problem, like it has for Nintendo.
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Nintendo also has some of the most well known gaming IPs, and certainly the most well known games that are family friendly. Just because Nintendo can sell a Mario game doesn't mean anyone making a good kid-friendly platformer will see the same success.
 
ChaserX

ChaserX

Member
Nov 1, 2017
2,425
Miami, FL
PSqueak said:
Did you miss Kingdom Hearts 3 and basically every flag ship nintendo game?
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KH3 as an example is kinda cheating IMO as it uses preexisting Disney characters and models. It's still visually great in that aspect though. Even brought up discussions of whether or not we actually reached Toy Story levels of quality when it comes to ingame rendering.
 
Vegeta'sKakarot

Vegeta'sKakarot

Alt-account.
Banned
Apr 11, 2019
49
SaintBowWow said:
The largest market for cartoony games would be children, who aren't buying games themselves. Parents willing to buy $60 video games for their kids probably already bought them a Switch, so now this cartoony game has to compete with Mario/Zelda/Kart/Smash. The rest of the kids are playing mobile games and Minecraft.

Then there's pre-teens/teenagers who would either not want to play a cartoon game, or are exclusively playing Fortnite (which, hey, is pretty cartoony!).

And then we have adults, some of which would buy a game like this based on review scores but many of which won't, or are buying it to play with their kids, which takes up back to the Switch and competition with Nintendo games.
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Isn't like 80+% of Switch's playerbase 18+? From their own metrics?
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Photorealism is probably much easier to portray coherently among artistic teams of tens of people. With a "cartoony" style, you'd probably need one person (or at least fewer people) to fully oversee all the visual aspects of the game for consistency; as it's difficult for several artists to create visuals in the same style.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,806
Most AAA's are about killing stuff.

At least indies are great in this regard.
 
Sumio Mondo

Sumio Mondo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,952
United Kingdom
They are all remakes now: Ratchet and Clank, Crash remakes, Spyro remakes, Crash Tag Team Racing.
Plus SEGA still put out Sonic games frequently enough. Cuphead is a big thing.

If you want to return to the 16 bit/early PS1/N64 days that unfortunately isn't happening. Those kind of games get Kickstarters or picked up by the mid tier publishers (Yooka Laylee, A Hat in Time, Snake Pass). Nintendo are really the last bastion for these big budget "cartoony" games.
 
SaintBowWow

SaintBowWow

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,088
More_Badass said:
Why does "not-realistic/cartoon-esque" aesthetic become "something for kids"?
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Because the market will assume it is and if I'm financing a AAA game with a cartoony artstyle I'm not going to target it at adults.

Vegeta'sKakarot said:
Isn't like 80+% of Switch's playerbase 18+? From their own metrics?
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Which either means that kids in general aren't on consoles at all and are all gaming on hand-me-down iPhones/iPads or that the majority of Switch owners are adults who want to play first-party Nintendo titles. I don't think that this means that adults want to play cartoony games so much as it means that they want to play Nintendo games.
 

Deleted member 51789

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 9, 2019
3,705
I think the aesthetic exists in the AAA space, but I really would like to see more of it. Unfortunately as in film, less people appreciate more cartoony-looking films as anything but something for children - it's the reason there's only been an animated film up for Best Picture at the Oscars three times in 90+ years.

TheRulingRing said:
People don't want to spend $60 on something that will briefly occupy their kids (yes I know it's not just kids that like cartoony games, but they rely on a higher proportion being kids than other games).
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Looking specifically at the kids' market, given the success of Nintendo's first party games on Switch at the moment, I think they *are* more than happy to pay that money. The problem other companies have in this regard is having their less-adult looking games compared unfavourably to Nintendo's, even if they aim for different things (e.g. story over gameplay) because everyone knows Nintendo

SaintBowWow said:
Because the market will assume it is and if I'm financing a AAA game with a cartoony artstyle I'm not going to target it at adults.



Which either means that kids in general aren't on consoles at all and are all gaming on hand-me-down iPhones/iPads or that the majority of Switch owners are adults who want to play first-party Nintendo titles. I don't think that this means that adults want to play cartoony games so much as it means that they want to play Nintendo games.
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Nothing against Nintendo when I say this, but their first party output is pretty much this style and aesthetic so there *is* an audience for it.
 
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