I just came across an interesting article in gamewad which tackles the extent of realism in the realm of pixels and imagination.

In the past few years, technology (both hardware and software) have made huge leaps. This allowed game designers and developers to improve the level of graphics and details. Surely you’ve seen major improvements in movement, anatomy and even skin tone details. The testament to this are the 2 consoles, PS3 and Xbox 360 which compete toe-to-toe to exploit every single pixel and bring it to life.

But how many of you have wondered the true extent of realism in video games? How real is “real” and how do we sometimes get annoyed by ironies…

An obvious example is a console game like Resident Evil 4. Sure, you tote a ultra-powerful bazooka and unlimited ammo. You kill zombies by the dozens.

But wait…

It’s a door… and you simply CANNOT blast it or get past it WITHOUT a key. Where’s the realism there? Some might argue that most games are based on linear paths requiring the player to “connect the dots” and finish A before doing B.

To quote gamewad.com

“The inability to cross a boundary that is illogically impassable, just because someone couldn’t come up with a good reason to disallow such a negotiation is frustrating. It is that simple. Gamers don’t play because they long to feel the angst of frustration. Games are meant to flow seamlessly, without distraction or reason to be questioned”

And then there are racing games and other shooters. Before Burnout, dents and scratches were unheard of. Try crashing a Lamborghini Diablo at 200MPH in the real world, bub!

So where’s this all getting to?

“Humans, as observers of the world around us, have these ingrained rules that we have cultivated with life experience. If these rules are broken by a game, thus altering our natural behaviors within that game world, then the focus of attention has been drawn away from what was originally intended, and redirected on the aberration from what we already know to be true.”

Do you condemn a game because of the ironies of realism? Or is it something that most may not care about?

Sound off…

GM T