Dear mainstream gaming magazines and Web sites,
When reviewing a Wii game, put on your console blinders and answer this simple question when “rating” the title on graphics.
Do the graphics in this Wii title:
A) Distract or take away from the game play experience.
B) Complement the game play adequately.
C) Enhance the game play.Graphics are meant to complement, not supersede game play or fun (see also: Clubhouse Games). This question can be applied to any system. And hey, have fun out there.
Sincerely,
The Nintendoptimist
Since when to graphics freaking matter! Geesh the media has the whole world brainwashed into believing that "better looking" = better. This cannot be farther from the truth. This is really one of my hot buttons and one that spills over into many realms of gaming. PC gaming is probably the hardest hit, as users can be pressured into an upgrade to make the games "better(looking)" on a continuous basis, not just with every generation of console. I don't know about you but on the PC I would rather play Doom 2 than that POS they called Doom 3. So much for graphics making a game better. There is also an element of hypocrisy in the reviews. Looking at gamespot.com, one of the sites that will continually bash the Wii for its "last gen" graphical capabilities, has SuperMario64 (VC) as one of the top rated games for the system. How can that game be good? It is a grand-gen game! It looks like crap! There are not particle or shader effects! It must suck.Geesh stick a fork in me.Chris in TN
I believe reviewers should just consider Wii game graphics as if it was a Gamecube game. Rewind your frame of mind back to 2001. Simple.
Graphics, without good gameplay are nothing. It of course doesn't truly, truly matter. I love my DS, I love my Wii. But, I just got a 40" LCD HDTV and my oh my is it pretty. However, whenever I play anything on Wii, I can't help but feel slightly jipped. Even with component cables it's just barely playable, anymore pixelated and I would have a hard time playing it. It's actually distracting. When I hook the Wii up to a small clunky SDTV from 10 years ago everything looks brilliant. I can't fault any game for that, but if the image was a bit clearer I would be a happier man. It just sucks that I just spent a lot of money on a new TV and my new favorite console looks like balls on it. Woe is me.
"Even with component cables it's just barely playable, anymore pixelated and I would have a hard time playing it.""Barely playable???" That's either an exaggeration, or something is wrong with your setup. I have a 57" HDTV (rear-projection CRT) with component cables and the Wii looks fine. Great, even. Sure, the jaggy edges are a letdown, but the visuals overall are still impressive. Would I confuse it with a 360 or PS3? Probably not. But I've had more fun playing the Wii than with any other console I've ever played, and "fun" is the reason most of us game.I've never watched a DVD (also 480p) and thought "this sucks, it's barely watchable," and the Wii should be equally adequate. Sure, we'd all like high-def graphics, but I can wait until it can be done more cheaply and with less heat and power (have you HEARD an Xbox 360's fans blowing??? Painful.).
So I would say for my Wii collection that:Wii Sports: EnhanceRayman: Distract/Enhance*Zelda: EnhanceTrauma Center: Complement*The cut/stadium scenes in Rayman feel like they distract, but the actual minigame graphics enhance the experience.
I agree with David on that one…But, guys, that is precisely why IGN and other reviewers isolate their ratings, so if you don't care about graphics, you can just skip that rating…I used to think that the overall rating of a game was kind of an "average" of all the broken-down ratings in the review. But an interesting thing I noticed on the Elebits review, is that its overall rating must be based on something like a "fun" factor, because it it much higher than its isolated ratings!By the way, one thing I did notice in my component-video-connected Wii vs. my component-video-connected GameCube is that apparently the GC games look MUCH better on the GC than on the Wii. If, of course, you got the component cable for the GC and one of the older models that had the output for it…On the other hand, Super Mario 64 on the Wii (via the VC) looks gorgeous through component video! So much for "older-gen" graphics!
man, theyre really squeezing the life out of that screenshot of the shitting on the floor minigame from warioware.
That's why I avoid game review sites like the plague. I only read their news and features, I listen to blogs and user comments for game opinions. Reviews are no longer useful, reviewers should stop pretending to be unbiased and just flat out admit they hate the machine. (or that they play like a toolbox as shown in a Penny Arcade comic).Maybe we should start lowering DS scores cuz its graphics don't stack up to the PSP. Oh wait, did I just read the DS is getting DQ9 instead of a Sony machine? Oh snap!
It's not about the style of the graphics, it's the graphics themselves. The style Elebits uses is befitting, but some sloppiness in the textures and polygons are noticeable. Should they just pretend it's not there? A) If it gets your attention, it's either because it distracts you with flaws or it's gorgeous. In this case, they distract or stand out at times. B) In Elebits they complement it well enough, but i like games that don't shoot for the bare minimum. It's a launch game, i know why it looks this way, but the system is capable of more, and that's the compliment the reviewer tried to express. C) Enhance the gameplay? The art style enhances the gameplay. But for this game, the graphics are just adequate, like you said in point B.If you're a conscious gamer, you know what turns you off, what doesn't, and take everything into account as you decide between what games you may want to get. Reviews point out noticeable pros and cons from a game because that's the purpose of a review. You then gauge that with your better judgment. Too bad if you don't like what you hear. Of course, some fan who likes the thing will praise it and talk it up, but the way to be unbiased in game reviews is to show the good and the bad to paint the best picture for the reader. That's why they isolate the reviews on IGN, they compare games to other games from the same system. Don't just throw a "they hate the machine!" tirade. Be smart. Stop being so defensive, we're barely in the launch period.