GRRRRRAAAAAAPHICS ;__;

[DMKA]

I've come to discover something about myself I really don't like...

I...I can't play through all the old games I loved growing up because I can't stand the graphics.

I thought the only people who had this problem were spoiled 13 year olds but really, I find it so hard to play anything pre-PS2 era because it all looks so bad in comparison to what I'm used to playing now (and on modern televisions, even PS2-era games look pretty awful).

Does anyone else have this problem? How does one overcome it? I would love to play a lot of my PS1 library again someday if I could bear to look at the visuals.

So yeah, how do you react to the graphics of old games now?

[Elskidor]

I don't mind the sprites, but oddly enough the playstation era irks me now to some degree. Might be because I found IX's battle load time is tedious, but it's really makes me not want to replay VII or VIII. SNES is fast running, smooth game play and the graphics are what they always have been, and they've never bugged me. The playstation era were such a boost in graphics from the nes/snes era, but the load time drags some because of it. And now comparing ps to the ps2 era the playstation guys kinda look odd since they are suppose to look more realistic, but VII looks more like legos, VIII is closest and IX has the big ole' bubble heads. As for pre-Playstation, I never really minded the little tiny sprites fighting imps, bunnies and bats that appear as large as the main characters are in a random encounter. It's funny when seeing them fight another human soldier that should be their size, but instead he/she is about four times their size.

[kotora]

what bothers me the most is lack of anti aliasing. Then again that's also the issue with modern console games. Graphics are not an issue for old games that are good.

[Jessweeee♪]

The more MS Painty something looks, the harder it is for me to suspend disbelief and get absorbed into a game's story. Other than that, the issue isn't just with the graphics, but other limitations. Space Invaders. Not much to do there. You shoot guys, they move faster, you shoot them. Repeat until death. I'm sure it was fun back in the day, but churning butter used to be fun too.

[Vermachtnis]

I don't have that problem. In fact I have the opposite problem. The more realistic something looks, the more bored I am with it and more prone to call it out on stuff. Just had this conversation earlier this week, I spent more time making one character on Dragon Quest IX then I did on Fallout 3 and Oblivion combined. Even though those latter games have more options; the chibi Dragonball characters are more fun to make.

But I digress, I have no problem digging out my Nes and SNes and Genesis and playing those. And I don't know what you mean by

(and on modern televisions, even PS2-era games look pretty awful).
cause speaking Genesis, playing many of the Genesis collections for the PS2 on Modern Televisions don't really change anything. Although I think I'm just blind to it, cause my friends all point out how much clearer something is and it all looks the same to me.

[Shattered Dreamer]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

[Depression Moon]

Eh, it doesn't bother me any in fact I find some older games to look better than some of the newer ones I've played like Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG.

[Yar]

If it's something like Atari I can't stand it.

NES and SNES I love though. Sprites are awesome.

And sometimes I really hate on the PSX graphics, particularly when I was just playing PS2 for a while. But honestly, graphics is far outranked by actual gameplay in my opinion. New games have flashy amazing graphics, but often they are terribly boring.

[Elskidor]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?

[DMKA]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?

Nope. And why would they? It's awesome. :D

[Vyk]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!


Eh, it doesn't bother me any in fact I find some older games to look better than some of the newer ones I've played like Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG.

These

And DMKA you have my sympathies lol I guess just hope for some remakes with prettier graphics?

[Shadowdust]

I would probably be more bothered by graphics of pre-PS2 era games if it wasn't for the lovely emulators available out there that really help improve image quality and upscale the resolution a little bit. That statement especially applies to old PSX titles. Old PSX games just look horrid in their native resolution, especially on modern televisions. Emulators just do wonders to keep old games looking good.

I used to keep up with playing my favorite old school games annually but now I barely have any time to even finish the modern games out there. I really do miss playing through my old SNES/PSX games.

[Loony BoB]

I can understand to some degree. I mean, there are some old games I loved that I can definitely see the bad graphics for what they are, but I still love them. However at the same time, there are some games that I've never played until recently - such as FFIX - that when I started up, I struggled to actually make out the characters. In my head, it feels as though FFVII & VIII were both better in graphical quality than FFIX - even though I know that's probably not the case. :p I can still play through them though. I understand they look better in PSP due to the small screen - here's hoping, as I got a PSP for Christmas. :D

[Markus. D]

Like, I don't see myself replaying Spyro. But I sit for hours playing FFIX.

[Meat Puppet]

A lot of old games that I enjoy have outdated graphics. Doom, Marathon, Daggerfall, and a few others, all have gameplay that make them worth more to me than just the visuals.
Though, to be fair, these games were graphically advanced for their time. I can remember playing Doom back in the day and thinking how realistic it looked... my god.

Though I am not against graphic upgrades or HDing, or whatever. I loved Perfect Dark, and the XBLA release was just as good; the updated textures did not make any significant impact on the nostalgia of that game.
Now if only all those businessmen would stop squabbling and let Goldeneye 007 experience a similiar release...

[kotora]

I can understand to some degree. I mean, there are some old games I loved that I can definitely see the bad graphics for what they are, but I still love them. However at the same time, there are some games that I've never played until recently - such as FFIX - that when I started up, I struggled to actually make out the characters. In my head, it feels as though FFVII & VIII were both better in graphical quality than FFIX - even though I know that's probably not the case. :p

the reason it's so hard to make out characters in FF9 is because it's super pixely. They crammed a lot of detailed textures in a game that runs on a too low native resolution. That's why FF7 and 8 look better on a tv screen while 9 would look better running on an emulator in a higher resolution.

[blackmage_nuke]

I still enjoy the pixelated 3d graphics of PS1 era and dont actually like the emulator "enhancements" that make it "clearer". I find that actually makes it look out of place.

[Shattered Dreamer]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?

FFXIII is a pretty big offender & pretty much every FPS made in the last couple of years too

[Dignified Pauper]

I have this problem with some. I'd like to replay FFVII, but I just can't because it looks terrible, that and knowing what is going on, I can't get into. I know that Chrono Trigger I go back to often, or FFVI, but that's because those graphics don't look bad. I can make out everything on everyone, but they look good. I suppose it depends on the game then, because old games with terrible graphics are bad to play.

[Yeargdribble]

The only era I have a problem with is 5th gen . The PS1 is the greatest offender. While most N64 games accepted the idea of low textures on large polygons and use of a bright, limited color palette, the PS1 tried too hard to make realistic looking 3D stuff long before the tech was there. Being as this is EoFF I'll cite FFVIII. It was so much worse than VII or IX just because it tried to hard to make realistic characters. It was far from the only one though.

I understand why gaming made the push to 3D before it was technically ready, but I still rue the decision. The SNES looks fantastic and the graphics have aged very well. Even a lot of NES games have aged very well in comparison to PS1 titles.

I've been trying to catch up on the MGS franchise, but FML when I try to play MGS1. It looks and controls terribly.

That's another issue of that generation (once again worse on the PS1). This is before people had figured out how to optimize twin-stick control of 3D worlds. A lot of games ended up with tank controls or worse.

[Depression Moon]

Like, I don't see myself replaying Spyro. But I sit for hours playing FFIX.

Is that because of graphics or gameplay? I had got Spyro on PSN a while ago and was trying to beat it, but I got bored of it because it started to get repetitive. I'll finish it someday, maybe I'll get back on it today.

[DMKA]

I should also probably clarify that this doesn't include 2D sprite based games of the 16-bit era. For some reason I actually really dig those graphics today.

Also this really sucks because, in my humble opinion, far more fun to play games came out during the pre-PS2 era than the last five years.

[ljkkjlcm9]

The middle generation, ps1 type stuff can annoy me, but mostly due to load times, one of the main reasons i have yet to play much of ffix. However i love the 2-d snes type graphic

THE JACKEL

[Elskidor]

I should also probably clarify that this doesn't include 2D sprite based games of the 16-bit era. For some reason I actually really dig those graphics today.




And I thought this was about sprite hate.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I really don't have a problem with them. :confused:

In fact, I just started playing Banjo-Kazooie a couple of days ago on my computer after finally beating Mario 64. Before that I beat Xenogears and FFVIII.

[Madame Adequate]

Sprites age much better than early polygons.

[Jessweeee♪]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?

FFXIII is a pretty big offender & pretty much every FPS made in the last couple of years too

FFXIII was at least nice enough to always give you vibrant, gorgeous scenery to look at. Several FPS games will have so much effort put into making high quality graphics with an end result of lots of gray, brown, and too many crates. What's the point?!

[Shattered Dreamer]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?


FFXIII is a pretty big offender & pretty much every FPS made in the last couple of years too

FFXIII was at least nice enough to always give you vibrant, gorgeous scenery to look at. Several FPS games will have so much effort put into making high quality graphics with an end result of lots of gray, brown, and too many crates. What's the point?!


Yeah true, FFXIII for all it's faults looks amazing, well on PS3 it does :P

[Vermachtnis]

Yea, even after all the stuff I've heard about it, I still wanna play FFXIII. I'm just a sucker for scenery porn, it's one of the reasons I love YKK so much.

[Dr.M]

yeah i know what you mean. i tried playing the first lara croft on ps1 and its horrible game play (not having an annilog stick is just crewl) but playing anniversary was so much easier. though N64 games still are much more fun to play than their wii remakes and im not sure why, growing up with them i think its just more comfortable. i think you just have to play it for the story if you cant stand the graphs..*shrugs*

[Shiny]

I remember playing FF IX back in 2000 and thinking, "Wow these are really amazing graphics!" The best I had seen for Playstation. And recently then six years later, I went back to play it and I was like, "Wow what was I thinking." I still think the in-game graphics are much better than the in-game graphics for FF8 and FF7. The former is pixelated like mad and the size of things is abusrd. Like why is a character bigger than a town? The later is all polygon-like. I can't play most PS1 games anymore because they're just that horrible on the eyes. My eyes are not used to that anymore. The only exceptions are games with really old graphics like FF6 and Twisted Metal.






I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?


FFXIII is a pretty big offender & pretty much every FPS made in the last couple of years too

FFXIII was at least nice enough to always give you vibrant, gorgeous scenery to look at. Several FPS games will have so much effort put into making high quality graphics with an end result of lots of gray, brown, and too many crates. What's the point?!


Yeah true, FFXIII for all it's faults looks amazing, well on PS3 it does :P
It looks fantastic on Xbox 360 as well, but I have HDTV with a 1080i output so that has a lot to do with it.

[Jessweeee♪]

I can't say the graphics of older games ever bothered me that much! If a game is fun to play its fun to play. The fact that current gen games rely very heavy on graphics & end up sucking a$$ bothers me alot more!

Did someone say FFXIII?


FFXIII is a pretty big offender & pretty much every FPS made in the last couple of years too

FFXIII was at least nice enough to always give you vibrant, gorgeous scenery to look at. Several FPS games will have so much effort put into making high quality graphics with an end result of lots of gray, brown, and too many crates. What's the point?!


Yeah true, FFXIII for all it's faults looks amazing, well on PS3 it does :P
It looks fantastic on Xbox 360 as well, but I have HDTV with a 1080i output so that has a lot to do with it.

For what it's worth, I played it on a television that had some serious problems. Like, four inches would be cut off of each side, partially cutting off HP counts and obscuring the map legend, and the sides were curved. Until we got the TV we have now, I thought the menus were supposed to be round. They are not!

[Shattered Dreamer]

Square Enix in trouble for using FFXIII PS3 visuals in 360 advert (http://www.geek.com/articles/games/square-enix-in-trouble-for-using-ffxiii-ps3-visuals-in-360-advert-20100818/)

It speaks for itself :bigsmile:

[Elskidor]

Does it really look that much different on the 360?

[Shattered Dreamer]

Does it really look that much different on the 360?

No to be really honest I was just taking the pi$$ with my original comment but the fact Square Enix got into bother over it makes my joke all the funnier

[Jessweeee♪]

Final Fantasy XIII graphics EXACTLY the same as Tomb Raider- Destructoid (http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-xiii-graphics-exactly-the-same-as-tomb-raider-129492.phtml)

[Proxy]

Yeah...I went back and played FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, Xenogears (greatest game evar). I usually laugh at them, but then think "eh...the story is great and for when these games were made...not bad" and to be honest, sometimes I crave the old pixels.

[Ouch!]

Sprites age much better than early polygons.
This exactly. They just look a heck of a lot cleaner by comparison.

I find I'm not replaying old games anymore not because of graphics but for other reasons. Not sure what those other reasons are, but there it is. I can't seem to get into old games (be they a year old or a decade old) with a very few exceptions.

[edczxcvbnm]

My problem isn't the way things looked but more or less how playable the game is. Try playing bond on the N64 multiplayer or Perfect Dark. Watch that frame rate drop to single digits. Some old games are hard to play because we are now use to a minimum of 25-30 frames per second and that seems very smooth.

The other problem I have with some older games is that gameplay mechanics have improved that much. Try playing Syphon Filter on the PSX and you will see what I mean. The way the 3rd person shooter has evolved has gotten to the point where early games like Syphon Filter or Tomb Raider(to some extent) have become hard as hell if for no other reason than we can't do what has become standard.

I still play old games on all systems going back to the Atari 2600 from time to time (Koolaid man RULES!) but I do avoid some like the plague not because they look bad but because I now view them as practically unplayable.

[theundeadhero]

I had that problem in my mid-20s but then I grew out of it and started to enjoy playing them again *shrug*

[LunarWeaver]

At some point this happened to me too. I never used to care, but these days I honestly could not stand to play FFVII anymore. I used to have a boner for that game and now it's just... no thanks. I like my pretty :bou::bou::bou::bou:.


The other problem I have with some older games is that gameplay mechanics have improved that much.

But this is the bigger issue for me. I'm spoiled by actual gameplay of many series or genres now. It's hard for me to return to a time when Jill Valentine did nothing but stand in one place slowly going pew pew with a small pistol compared to cartwheeling Africans to death.

[nik0tine]

Graphics do not bother me at all, but I too am finding it very difficult to play through most PS1 games these days. Not because of the graphics of course, but because of the moronic control schemes and primitive game play in general. How on earth did I ever think random battles were fun? How the hell did games like Resident Evil or Twisted Metal ever become popular with those cumbersome, tank like controls?

It's just amazing how not fun most of these old games are. I can still play through them occasionally, however, for the sake of nostalgia.

But at some point, I actually find bad graphics to be charming. Games like chrono trigger would lose all of their value, to me at least, if they were remade with 3d graphics.