Was just playing through GTA IV on my PC testing out my new video card.  I decided to turn the graphics on Very High to see how much my card could handle, and to my surprise the game didn't look that different.  In fact, it still looked very much like a game.

Why do developers insist on in-game cutscenes?  Why did GTA IV use game-renders of comedians for its TV channel, and not real footage?

It's true of all games this gen, you always know you're looking at a game.  Faces never look realistic when they move, their mouths are awkward and the voice seems dubbed, the hair is helmet-stiff, and their skin always looks too shiny, or doesn't catch the light correctly.  Their clothes don't actually move like clothes, they stretch or hang stiff.

The screenshots might look good, but as soon as they move, realism goes out the door. The absolute best game models this gen look like puppets.

I might as well be watching Team America: World Police.  

Yea, I think developers need to invest more money in their HD games.

This is effing GTA after all: a port of a console game that not even on consoles has good graphics. Even Half Life 2 models look more realistic. Have you seen the animation of the zombies on Left 4 Dead? Believe me, they don't look like puppets.

But anyway, this generation is just an extension of the last one. Expect the next one to achieve the level of realism you seem to want.

I think that them looking like a game is fine. If the in-game models look much worse than what's in the cutscenes, that breaks immersion too.

haha

It seems graphics and resolution were hyped so much this gen, and for what? Shinier puppets?

Not really a port, it was developed on PC and has better visual effects than the consoles.  But big deal right?  Oooh my puppet looks slightly less awkward.

Devs should give up on Realism until the technology is better.

GTA is not really a good example of great animation/graphics/polishing/debugging, etc. Heck, even Mario's animation on Mario Galaxy looks more realistic.

You should check Left 4 Dead really.

Realism is boring anyway.

I don't think Left 4 Dead was going for strict realism, there's a very slight cartoonish style.  Do you notice it?

Even when the looks of the models are not THAT realistic (but more than GTA), the animation is. It's even more noticeable in game.

Somebody's never played MGS4...