Comments on: Video Games & Natural Beauty http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/ Deas Richardson is currently living as a JET and teaching English in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea, a gorgeous part of Japan. Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:48:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Deas http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/comment-page-1/#comment-384 Deas Wed, 25 Apr 2007 05:54:49 +0000 http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/#comment-384 I certainly buy them for the same reasons that you've listed. And I am a fan of the progressing field, though frustrated at the speed of the jumps in technology. (On one hand it's great that your computer is already obsolete as you pay for it. On the other hand, it is frustrating that you will quickly lose the ability to play the "it" current games.) I thought it was hilarious when war games started adding shake and dirt to the frame in an attempt to make things more real - the truth was that they were degrading the image quality, but the overall effect was a major improvement in the perceived accuracy of the real world. Stuff like that fascinates me. I never knew Peter Jackson was into games as a legitimate expressive medium. That's cool. (The only things I've heard about him lately are how he is being pulled off of the Hobbit film - and the ensuing legal craziness.) I certainly buy them for the same reasons that you’ve listed. And I am a fan of the progressing field, though frustrated at the speed of the jumps in technology. (On one hand it’s great that your computer is already obsolete as you pay for it. On the other hand, it is frustrating that you will quickly lose the ability to play the “it” current games.) I thought it was hilarious when war games started adding shake and dirt to the frame in an attempt to make things more real – the truth was that they were degrading the image quality, but the overall effect was a major improvement in the perceived accuracy of the real world. Stuff like that fascinates me. I never knew Peter Jackson was into games as a legitimate expressive medium. That’s cool. (The only things I’ve heard about him lately are how he is being pulled off of the Hobbit film – and the ensuing legal craziness.)

]]> By: Alex http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/comment-page-1/#comment-382 Alex Wed, 25 Apr 2007 02:59:32 +0000 http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/#comment-382 I watched someone render a 3D scene of grass blowing in the wind. It took two days to render a 30 second clip. (This was back in 2000, though) According to the video game industry, they will have real-time rendered, photo-realistic games on the market within the next 5 years. I'm a bit skeptical on the time frame, but it would amazing to see if it's accomplished. I think people buy "realistic games" and do unrealistic things in them because everyone has a superman complex. Who doesn't want to be invincible, or be able to fly, or be the hero in the story? Games are the perfect escape for that. You get to be the main character in the story, and you control what the character does. (Which has the potential to be much more exciting than books or games) I don't think we're quite at the point of games being a mainstream media, but we're getting there. I hope to see, in the future, games that are released by famous game directors, and they'd be played by adults as seriously as adults now read books or watch movies. Peter Jackson was aiming for something like this before, but I think he lost sight of what the point of it was. I haven't heard much recently. I watched someone render a 3D scene of grass blowing in the wind. It took two days to render a 30 second clip. (This was back in 2000, though)

According to the video game industry, they will have real-time rendered, photo-realistic games on the market within the next 5 years. I’m a bit skeptical on the time frame, but it would amazing to see if it’s accomplished.

I think people buy “realistic games” and do unrealistic things in them because everyone has a superman complex. Who doesn’t want to be invincible, or be able to fly, or be the hero in the story? Games are the perfect escape for that. You get to be the main character in the story, and you control what the character does. (Which has the potential to be much more exciting than books or games)

I don’t think we’re quite at the point of games being a mainstream media, but we’re getting there. I hope to see, in the future, games that are released by famous game directors, and they’d be played by adults as seriously as adults now read books or watch movies. Peter Jackson was aiming for something like this before, but I think he lost sight of what the point of it was. I haven’t heard much recently.

]]> By: Deas http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/comment-page-1/#comment-381 Deas Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:14:45 +0000 http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/#comment-381 Ha ha - I think that's understandable. Bias isn't bad. It's just preference in this instance. Have you noticed the trend in bringing locations that resemble James Bond films' sets to games, though? I think it's kind of interesting. Maybe a bit too far out there for some, but interesting nonetheless. Like many other kinds of art, the height of computer generated graphics is in attempting to recreate nature. Mimicry of nature is sought after and consumed by people who purchase games in which you can do wildly unrealistic things. Something is just neat about that. (Deep...whoa...) Ha ha. :-) Ha ha – I think that’s understandable. Bias isn’t bad. It’s just preference in this instance. Have you noticed the trend in bringing locations that resemble James Bond films’ sets to games, though? I think it’s kind of interesting. Maybe a bit too far out there for some, but interesting nonetheless. Like many other kinds of art, the height of computer generated graphics is in attempting to recreate nature. Mimicry of nature is sought after and consumed by people who purchase games in which you can do wildly unrealistic things. Something is just neat about that. (Deep…whoa…) Ha ha. :-)

]]> By: Alex http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/comment-page-1/#comment-380 Alex Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:29:47 +0000 http://www.rockinginhakata.com/2007/04/24/138/#comment-380 I was impressed by Fukuoka beaches, but anything north of kyushu is horrible in Japan. I was born and raised in San Diego, California, though, so I am really biased when it comes to beaches. I was impressed by Fukuoka beaches, but anything north of kyushu is horrible in Japan. I was born and raised in San Diego, California, though, so I am really biased when it comes to beaches.

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