Flash Jungle: The Sports Desk – Questioning The Power Of Graphics

Monday 12 December 2016

The Sports Desk – Questioning The Power Of Graphics

Graphics have always been an immediate selling point for all video games, and sports titles in particular. They are an accessible entry point getting you to stop and exclaim, "I thought I was watching a real broadcast!" The advantages of a certain versamillitude are obvious, and I definitely like what great graphics do for sports titles. But is there a cost to this? And what is it getting us in the current sports games?

I was thinking about the recent HDR upgrade improvements highlighted by Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital for GT Sport. I'm sure that the game will look gorgeous like its predecessors in the franchise, a tennent of the series that has served it well. Pulling back, however: Is chasing jaw-dropping graphics starting to offer diminished returns for Gran Turismo?

When so much of Polyphony's time is spent on this component of the game when its online infrastructure has lagged behind other titles in and out of the genre, and fans have been asking questions of the game's A.I. and feature set, it bears asking if the developer could advance the series in other, nonvisual ways.

There was a time when the Gran Turismo series was a benchmark for all of gaming and a must-have title that had pulling power with hardcore racers and a casual audience alike, but those days are gone. The series' race towards the uncanny valley doesn't seem to correspond anymore to an actual improvement of the franchise's larger standing and influence. Within the racing genre, series like Forza Motorsport, Forza Horizon (albeit not strictly an apples-to-apples genre comparison), Driveclub, and Project Cars have taken different approaches to career mode paths and online structures. The results vary and not everything they do is appropriate for Gran Turismo, but I think Polyphony's self-absorbing focus on graphics is contributing to the series' overall stagnation in other areas.

Pulling out and applying this fine graphical line to other sports series, great graphics may be an easy, quick way for marketing to show off the progress of a new yearly iteration, but would we as gamers want time and resources spent elsewhere? We all like the sheen of "authenticity" that sparkling graphics bring, but from year to year we're also crying out for online features that work, timely post-release support, feature sets that grow, A.I. that works, the improvement of legacy gameplay issues, and simply having a title whose parts work as initially advertised. How often have we marveled at great-looking screens or gameplay only to have that surface level broken by janky physics of players interacting or questionable A.I.? At that point, you have to ask yourself what's more important than what.

Surely in a perfect world, great graphics, gameplay, modes, etc. could all exist without dissonence or compromise, but I wonder if that's even possible for a multi-year development project like Gran Turismo, to say nothing of the year-to-year grind of your average sports title. I'm certainly not one to turn down a game whose graphics dazzle, but in the end it's only worth so much.

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A BUNCH OF VIDEOS SHOWING HOW GOOD & BAD I AM AT STEEP

I had a great time in Steep (check out my review here), and recorded some videos via PS4 showing off just a few memorable moments. Enjoy.

Bombing the Matterhorn

This wingsuit challenge took me a while, but was very satisfying when I finally got it.