Sad but true.

My  two cents...

From Pitfall on the Atari 2600

To the *next* generation ...

Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES:

and Alex Kidd on the Sega Master System:

I still remember how impressed I was by this *jump*.

Edit - a few clarifications, thanks curl-6.

Those games are from the same generation, the 3rd.

You are right, and that's a good thing

graphics are good enough already this generation, now developers can focus on things that still need to be improved, AI, size of environments, framerate....

Look at dat leap

This was always going to be the case. Why anyone would be surprised is beyond me.

Which is also why the (much smaller) power disparity between Wii U and Xbone/PS4 matters less. Because even with somewhat weaker hardware, it'll still be able to pump out great looking HD visuals.

Many people were saying that in the coming generation, it will shift from some folks being graphics whores, to being physics whores. I could see it. LOL

I am sorry if you missunderstood my post =)

I was talking about the difference between the Atari and the next gen consoles (at that time) NES/Master System.

Perhaps I should update my post.

Um..

As I've been saying, it's time to stop focusing so much on graphics, we're just about to hit the ceiling on visuals. There's only so much you can do visually to make something look real.

And, I'll tell you right now, MGS4 looked great when it first game out. Today, it looks like garbage. MGS5 looks amazing. No pixelation, step-ladder effects going on, and the draw distance is amazing, along with detailing not looking flat.

In MGS4, you can see obvious pixelation in the floors and walls.

But, here's the thing.. How much is sound quality going to improve from this gen to next? How much did it improve before? How much are 2D games, like shank going to improve? Looks exactly like an adult swim cartoon. There is no more improvement to make on those fronts.

Starting this gen, we can cross off sound as being something to get better with each gen, because we've hit the ceiling with that. It's going to come down to how much money a developer wants to spend, and their graphical approach.

Next gen, we should see an end of in game pre-rendered cut-scenes. I imagine there would only be pre-renders for things like intros, endings, and credits. But, I doubt we'll get those in the middle of the game anymore.

So, stop worrying about graphics. You're not going to see a jump of 500,000-20,000,000 polygons as easily as you would 100-3000 polygons. There's other things to focus on.

LOL wat game is that. hahaha

The graphics will improve over time much like the current console have