By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo - Why does Wii games look so bad?

z64dan on 15 August 2007
marc said:
There is another way to look at it.

Why make the graphics better if the average customer doesnt care about the graphics beyond a certain point?

The best games historically always had superior gameplay rather than revolutionary graphics so it would make sense that instead of worrying about something most people dont care for, spend that time and money on gameplay instead. I do believe that this is the lesson that should be learned from the Wii unfortunately some devs are just there to milk the Wii and dont bother spending more on gameplay at all. To me, spending most of your time on graphics is just a tactic to hide how bad a game really is underneath. Its like a Jaguar with a Pinto engine. Id rather have a Jaguar engine in a Pinto body.

Exactly. If the graphics really mattered, the system would NOT be sold out after 9 months. After all is said and done, there's just fanboys whining: "But... but... my console.... has.... HD....! How is it being outsold????"



Around the Network
DarkNight_DS on 15 August 2007
shams said:
DarkNight_DS said:
shams said:
...

I have 2 of the games you listed, Sonic and Rayman and have played Red Steel. None of these games come close to some of the best work done on the cube sadly. Factor 5 made some great looking games on the Wii, as did Rare, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo. For example, look at F-Zero GC, Metroid Prime, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Star Fox Adventures, Pikmin etc. These games look great and while playing Wii games you may forget these games existed but they did and they do look much better. Wii devs have been either lazy thus far when developing graphics or have been rushing etc to provide us what we have. Sonic looks at best like a late GC game, Rayman looks like a run of the mill GC game. Redsteel looks horrible compared to some of the better shooters on the GC.

I realize better looking games are on the way and I'm not complaining but I will admit that something hasn't been right with some Wii games and visuals. Metroid Prime 3 should look pretty damn good as the other 2 are still amazing looking so that will hopefully start a trend towards better looking games.

I agree with you there (bolded) - but we are talking first-gen Wii vrs "best GC".

Factor-5 are the exception, but in my opinion they will always be a gfx tech house - and know how to properly utilise bump-mapping and other techniques.

Starfox was done by Rare (developed over many, many years), had some serious frame rate issues - and lovely fur shading. Rare is another company that seem to put a lot into gfx tech.

Pikmin 1/2 look gorgeous, and I can't wait to see how Pikmin looks on the Wii.

...

I am only trying to say that people are being bitchy. Whereas a lot of early Wii games look crap (obvious ports), if you compare GC titles out in the first 9 months with Wii titles out in the first 9 months, you'll find better gfx on the Wii.

I stick to me statement about the games I made. I can't find the Red Steel screenshots I am after, but parts of the game looked really gorgeous to me - and far beyond anything I had seen on the GC.

http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/11/17/red-steel-screenshot-madness/

(and these are ALL in-game - not target renders)

(not a render - in game shot...)

 


That is not ingame, even the website hosting the pics makes mention that they are still concept shots and not actual working in game models.

Ok other games that came out during the Cube's first 9 months:

Eternal Darkness June 24th 2002, U.S. (check that out in 480p...)

Pikmin Oct 26th 2001, Japan

Super Smash Bros Melee, Nov 21st 2001, Japan

I'd say each of those games have pretty decent graphics for "Within the first 9 months" of the cube's release.  I'd even go so far to say that Luigi's Mansion has better graphics then Rayman.  I didn't see anything special with Rayman graphics wise.  I guess some of the shooter stages showed promise... but they were very short and on rails. 

 



Prepare for termination! It is the only logical thing to do, for I am only loyal to Megatron.

vizunary on 15 August 2007
Sqrl said:
Legend11 said:
I think it has to do with that fact that unlike the PS3 and 360 in which game makers are constantly trying to one up each other with graphics, that doesn't really seem to exist on the Wii since graphics isn't one of it's selling points. In fact the entire philosophy of the Wii is gameplay over graphics and Nintendo has pushed that so it's not surprising that third parties have embraced it.

Also the fact that the best selling games on the Wii have Gamecube level or worse graphics probably isn't lost on any third party developers so they don't feel the need to pour money into graphics if the games are going to sell anyways and nobody else is pouring money into graphics for their games.

 Any time there is a way to differentiate your product from the rest you should be giving it serious consideration. Within the realm of gaming the wii differentiates itself with unique controls, no reason that if people percieve the Wii to have low quality graphics a company shouldn't take advantage of that perception and really wow people.


I just played the hell out of super paper mario and holding a wiimote sideways isn't all that "innovative". Some other games use it better, but not all are so different. Sorry guys, pushing and pushing and pushing this as the only selling factor is just as pathetic as someone trying to sell a PS3/360 in "OMG F%*^*ing GRaafIXXXX as dIZ SHiz!!!"

Gaming has to be a total package, and graphics are still important, it seems we've hit a point where many are happy with what the Wii can offer, and that's fine. I'm sure it will get better as well as the devs start investing some real time and money into the Wii. Me personally, I mostly enjoy realism in video games so I went with what can offer me that.

 

BTW, I REALLY liked SPMario, but what the hell is up with that story??? was that really necessary?



Sqrl on 15 August 2007
vizunary said:
Sqrl said:
Legend11 said:
I think it has to do with that fact that unlike the PS3 and 360 in which game makers are constantly trying to one up each other with graphics, that doesn't really seem to exist on the Wii since graphics isn't one of it's selling points. In fact the entire philosophy of the Wii is gameplay over graphics and Nintendo has pushed that so it's not surprising that third parties have embraced it.

Also the fact that the best selling games on the Wii have Gamecube level or worse graphics probably isn't lost on any third party developers so they don't feel the need to pour money into graphics if the games are going to sell anyways and nobody else is pouring money into graphics for their games.

Any time there is a way to differentiate your product from the rest you should be giving it serious consideration. Within the realm of gaming the wii differentiates itself with unique controls, no reason that if people percieve the Wii to have low quality graphics a company shouldn't take advantage of that perception and really wow people.


I just played the hell out of super paper mario and holding a wiimote sideways isn't all that "innovative". Some other games use it better, but not all are so different. Sorry guys, pushing and pushing and pushing this as the only selling factor is just as pathetic as someone trying to sell a PS3/360 in "OMG F%*^*ing GRaafIXXXX as dIZ SHiz!!!"

Gaming has to be a total package, and graphics are still important, it seems we've hit a point where many are happy with what the Wii can offer, and that's fine. I'm sure it will get better as well as the devs start investing some real time and money into the Wii. Me personally, I mostly enjoy realism in video games so I went with what can offer me that.

 

BTW, I REALLY liked SPMario, but what the hell is up with that story??? was that really necessary?


 Uhm....how dare you attack a tangent of my point with an opinion??? I don't even know if I should respond lol.



To Each Man, Responsibility
shams on 15 August 2007
DarkNight_DS said:

shams said:

...

(and these are ALL in-game - not target renders)

(not a render - in game shot...)

 


That is not ingame, even the website hosting the pics makes mention that they are still concept shots and not actual working in game models.

...

That is in-game. I have played that part of the game, and it looks exactly like that. The frame rate isn't great though, with all the reflections, lighting and characters all hitting at once.

(If I still had my savegame, I would send in a pic...).

 

EDIT - check out this gameplay video I found. Shows "typical" Red Steel gfx - some excellent, some crap, inconsistant frame rates, etc. But I don't think this looks "bad" in any sense of the word - maybe "rushed", as it was a launch title.

http://stage6.divx.com/Red-Steel/video/1146793/Tragedy-Strikes-the-Dojo---Red-Steel---Wii

 



Gesta Non Verba

Nocturnal is helping companies get cheaper game ratings in Australia:

Game Assessment website

Wii code: 2263 4706 2910 1099

Around the Network
vizunary on 15 August 2007
Sqrl said:
vizunary said:

I just played the hell out of super paper mario and holding a wiimote sideways isn't all that "innovative". Some other games use it better, but not all are so different. Sorry guys, pushing and pushing and pushing this as the only selling factor is just as pathetic as someone trying to sell a PS3/360 in "OMG F%*^*ing GRaafIXXXX as dIZ SHiz!!!"

Gaming has to be a total package, and graphics are still important, it seems we've hit a point where many are happy with what the Wii can offer, and that's fine. I'm sure it will get better as well as the devs start investing some real time and money into the Wii. Me personally, I mostly enjoy realism in video games so I went with what can offer me that.

 

BTW, I REALLY liked SPMario, but what the hell is up with that story??? was that really necessary?


 Uhm....how dare you attack a tangent of my point with an opinion??? I don't even know if I should respond lol.


HAHAHA, it really wasn't you, this was building up in me every time I hear Wii and "innovative" in the same sentence, and they only mention the waggle. It's was just bugging.



Sporticus on 15 August 2007
vizunary said:
Sqrl said:
vizunary said:

I just played the hell out of super paper mario and holding a wiimote sideways isn't all that "innovative". Some other games use it better, but not all are so different. Sorry guys, pushing and pushing and pushing this as the only selling factor is just as pathetic as someone trying to sell a PS3/360 in "OMG F%*^*ing GRaafIXXXX as dIZ SHiz!!!"

Gaming has to be a total package, and graphics are still important, it seems we've hit a point where many are happy with what the Wii can offer, and that's fine. I'm sure it will get better as well as the devs start investing some real time and money into the Wii. Me personally, I mostly enjoy realism in video games so I went with what can offer me that.

 

BTW, I REALLY liked SPMario, but what the hell is up with that story??? was that really necessary?


 Uhm....how dare you attack a tangent of my point with an opinion??? I don't even know if I should respond lol.


HAHAHA, it really wasn't you, this was building up in me every time I hear Wii and "innovative" in the same sentence, and they only mention the waggle. It's was just bugging.


You really shouldn't be bitter about your choice in consoles. You chose the underdog, deal with it. We all have to live with our decisions. For the record i see more threads titled, "Why does the Wii suck" then threads titled, "Wii is really innovative."



“The Hardcore of the Peach is its pits. Try to get the whole fruit!”

- John Lucas

 

“Every industry is filled with the grave stones of companies who kept doing the same thing.”

- Reggie Fils-Aime

 

“You don’t play Graphics, you look at them.”

- Unknown

 

“Casual Gaming = Anything that’s not an FPS”

- Sony Fandom

fazz on 16 August 2007

Ok, it all comes down to developers. If you look at the first generation of Wii games, most (but not all) were rushed and look like they invested 5 bucks on porting it from the PS2. FarCry looked like it was done in one hour. When more 'skilled' (not THAT money-driven, like EA, Ubi, R*, etc) start to work on the Wii more seriously, we are likely to see better stuff. Guys like Konami, Factor5 or even Valve (hey, a man can dream). Konami itself is showing some of the stuff with Dewy's Adventure. Nintendo could use the full power of the Wii too, but their artistic style is not that based on graphical technology.

We don't even know if the Hollywood is still using TEVs. TEVs are somewhat similiar to Pixel Shaders. Actually, when (then) ArtX started development of the Flipper, Pixel Shaders were not around yer. ATI could have thrown a newer GPU and keep backwards compatibility (this one could be broken by CPU, not by GPU differences). My guess is that the Wii's GPU is similar to a middle-end Mobility Radeon X1000... at lower speeds obviously to keep the small form factor, but far better than the Flipper.

Also, about the Wii being two GC duck-taped together thing... Microsoft said on their official webpage that the 360 was 4 times more powerful than the Xbox. People say Wii is two to three times more powerful than the GC.
Ok, let's say that 360 is 100% powerful, and let's say that Xbox 1 is 25% powerful (this times 4 = 100). Now, let's say that GC is 20% powerful... now, let's assume the figure of the Wii being 3 times as powerful as the GC... that gives us 60% powerful, compared to Xbox 360... not that abysmal ain't it? I'm not claiming this as fact, I'm just assuming what everyone had said until now.



LordTheNightKnight on 16 August 2007

Some games will have advanced graphics, as a certain level of detail is necessary for certain kinds of art direction.

And some hardcore games on the Wii have sold well, like Twilight Princess and Red Steel, even though the latter was unpolished. They sold because there is a hardcore audience for the system, who will want games with a certain level of detail, to make those games believable.



A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.

Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs

weezy on 16 August 2007

"Far Cry 360 + Layer of Vaseline= Far Cry Wii"

ROFL



I am WEEzY. You can suck my Nintendo loving BALLS!

 

MynameisGARY