"SMG: can proudly stand next to the best-looking X360 and PS3 games" IGN

[famousringo]

naznatips said:

Lost tears of Kain said:
just so you all know, theres not a snowballs chance in hell wii will have better graphics, but this game is very good, very nice looking. 360 and ps3 will need to push to there limits if they really want to look better

It's true that the Wii will never have better graphics from a technical standpoint, but when it comes down to overall aesthetics, well that's all in the design.

Games like Okami and Odin Sphere aren't technically impressive at all. Yet many would argue that they surpass anything this generation still. Final Fantasy VII was an amazing technical achievement, but other than the cutscenes the game looked a hell-of-a-lot worse than Final Fantasy VI, a major artistic achievement. Super Paper Mario is an N64 game and still looks great today.

The goal for all Wii games should be just that. Use the Wii's capabilities to their fullest, and make art, rather than realism. I think Super Mario Galaxy is doing a great job of that, as is Metroid Prime 3 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Metroid Prime 3 has a disctinctly surreal look because of the amazingly creative use of bloom lighting. It really adds to the sci-fi environment perfectly. The game is also crisp and clean. There are little to no jaggies, and the textures are smooth and detailed. The game runs at a rock solid 60 FPS and delivers everything that could be asked of it.

Super Mario Galaxy is developing an amazingly unique style, especially through it's lighting effects. The colorful and gorgeous environments seem to transcend actual technical criticisms and land perfectly into a completely seperate artistic design. The luster of the game won't fade quickly with time, because it's not being built on technical prowess. It's not built on perfect physics effects or anything of the sort.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl has some of the most amazing levels of character detail I have ever seen in a game. That's not because the Wii can do anything that the 360 or PS3 cannot, but it's simply been given years of careful and dedicated design work to maximize it's appeal and performance.

Great looking games are built on style, not technology. So far Nintendo is showing that to be true. I just hope other developers making Wii games can learn to do this as well, so that we will no longer see crap like Crusin from Midway.

This post needs to  be engraved on a plaque somewhere. Very well said.