A factual presentation of the decline in gaming

[Rai]

Usually the reviews e critics of one game are based off on the current available technology. So even on PS1 and N64 era the fog areas were stunning for the time. Being able to cover a large area without screen transitions or loading time was something big by them.
On PS2,Cube and XBox era, they only had the previous generation and the information on the hardware available. The grades and the reviews were adjusted to the new generation. So the scores were kept more or less intact. Same thing on the current generation.
I played some games on PS3 and I must say I wasn't impressed. I was expecting a lot more from it. Many of Silent Hill Homecoming's models and textures looked liked something from a web stock. Metal Gear is beautiful, but I wasn't much more impressed than when I played the previous Metal Gears, it was still.. I don't know, plastic. I'm not even commenting on Resident Evil 5.

So it really don't holds together. Many of the problems seem today are the same, so it really don't justify this difference.

I was speaking about the developer's side of things. Compared to the actual tech driving the game, graphics should be a footnote in the design doc, but when graphical capability reaches a certain point, so much more time has to be spent on those graphics to achieve the peak of what that tech can do.

Compare Spyro the Dragon to a typical console title nowadays. Now compare the 3D model of Spyro to the 3D model of Alex Mercer. Spyro's overall model is maybe a few days' work at most. With Alex over there, I'd be surprised if his 3D model was completed in under a month.

Now, take comparison and apply it to every artistic asset in the game. Between all the deadlines, a developer really can't spend a great deal of time on both graphics and gameplay.

This isn't to say that graphically sound games are destined to suck (I had a blast and a half playing Prototype), but most publishers and developers are deadline-driven, so it usually comes down to a one-or-the-other decision.