A short art lesson

Yes, but if I just say that then I’m not being vague and pompous, and where is the fun in that?

I spent too much time on gaming forums last night and the arguments over polygon count, texture bandwidth and resolution got to be too much for me.

Obviously there are a million factors going into what makes something look good. The sketch was done by a famous artist, the picture probably taken by that unknown man’s wife. I also think realistic images may be more exciting if they are of things we don’t see in day to day life – like exotic animals killing each other or the front of a tank approaching however fast tanks approach people.

But I still think in broad strokes, this is an important point. Realism can and often is boring (to me at least). It’s sort of amazing that this far along in gaming only Okami has looked like Okami, and I’ve never seen a game that looks like Dr. Katz, or a Giacometti sketch (at least no major releases).

I was also inspired to post this by Cho Aniki. It’s an odd game mostly known for being slightly (or massively) homo erotic but I really appreciate how it looks – the way they use such clashing images and colors, not the muscle men, though they look pretty good, too.