by Aleks Canard

Created on: April 09, 2009

Graphics and Gameplay. Two essential things video games need to have. A lot of people now say that as graphics become better, gameplay is sacrificed. For the most part, this isn't true, but some game have definitely done this.

Resident Evil 5. This game's graphics are nothing short of breathtaking. Africa and all it's blood hungry zombies have never looked so good. Unfortunately, the gameplay in this game is extremely dated. To put how you move in perspective, your character feels like he/she runs on an invisible grid and unable to go diagonally or move smoothly. You also can't run and shoot at the same time which, quite frankly is stupid. A person with a chainsaw is running at you and you stand there to shoot. Ah yes, great graphics and dated gameplay, nice plan Capcom, clearly it's working flawlessly.

On the other hand, Gears of War 2, which ran on Epic's Unreal engine 3.5, had some of the best graphics ever seen, and gameplay didn't suffer at all. One button cover system, now that's good gameplay.

So, on the High Definition (HD) consoles, you have your ups and downs but on the whole they produce pretty solid games. The Wii just had to be different. It's sacrificed glorious HD graphics for some of the most fun gameplay ever.

Yesterday I heard that a graffiti game was being made for the Wii where you put the Wii-mote inside a spray can and you are away. it really is quite amazing.

This is just the sort of thing that makes the Wii fun to play. It has let it's graphics fall slightly but it is not ugly. Sure a little bit better would be nice but apart from that I think the Wii has found the right balance of gameplay and graphics more consistently than the other next gen consoles have.

Now when you look at the 360 and the PS3 the first thing that comes to mind, and one of the first things to come up in fanboy debate is the graphics. When people look at a game the first thing they notice is the graphics. If they are great than they assume a equally great game is going to follow. Graphics are like a game's make up if you will, masking the real game behind pretty scenery and life like people.

Think back to the PS1 and the N64. We look back on those consoles now and think "That's not pretty" but they produced some of the best games to ever grace the industry, without the help of HD graphics. Alundra 2 is a game I like to refer to because it is not one many people would have known. A couple of years ago, even before the 360 was released I decided to play it again, for old times sake. I remembered great graphics but of course, memory tends to make things better than they really are. I was so disappointed when I saw the graphics but the fact the same great gameplay was still there was a nice thought.

When today's consoles become retro people will look back to them, and apart for the Wii, they will probably see a fair number of games, trying to hide bad/average gameplay with graphics. That is a shame.

Overall, most people are getting the balance right, but way to much focus is now on making things look good. I urge game developers to spend some time making games innovative with captivating and intriguing storylines as well as making them good to look at.

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