Ok, this is getting bizarre. Only padib has fully understood what I'm talking about and actually posted pictures up to make me think about what I'm saying. Everyone else is just posting screenshots and then arguing they're 'art' or 'why aren't they art?' which is completely different from what I'm saying. I'll explain again but I'll add to it in order to clarify things a little:
I called it 'virtual photography' because that's exactly what it reminds me of. In order for a virtual world to offer similar opportunities for a photographer's personal perspective and to allow him/her to express an emotion or message (if you will), there has to be a sense of realism. It has to be close to 'photorealistic'. Remember, I'M defining the criteria in order to demonstrate what I think SP are doing that's unique. You can't then change my definition in order to prove it's not unique. Once you change it, it's no longer what I'm saying.
So what do you need to emulate real life and allow gamers to become virtual photographers? You need a camera that can be moved to any angle (just like in real life). You need lighting that reflects mood and is real time, otherwise the photographer can't adjust the mood to his liking or move to a better position to capture exactly what he wants. In the real world a photographer would sit there for hours just waiting for that perfect light but in Infamous you can adjust that 'real time' light to get a pretty good approximation of a real world scenario. You need very good detail too because some photographers like to get in close (just like in the real world).
It might sound contradictory to state 'it's not about the graphics' and then say you need very detailed graphics to emulate real world photography but it really isn't if you understand what I'm saying. It's about the way an individual interprets those graphics and not about the graphics themselves, but of course the graphics have to be photorealistic in order to emulate real world photography: Virtual Photography.
I asked: 'Have SP invented a new art form?' and then I tried to express what I meant by that. The above is what I meant by that and it doesn't matter how people try to change MY definition, this is the basis for the question. So, has emulating reality in order to allow a virtual photographer to express himself in the same way he can in the real world, been done before?
This was probably never Sucker Punches intentions but I believe they've inadvertently invented something that could really challenge the notion that games can't be art (as in photography).
The PS5 Exists.
