Truth Bomb #5: The time when
"retro-style graphics" were cool is over. We're past that point already. We're done. Enough. It's not endearing, it's not groundbreaking, it's not artsy, it's not even nostalgic anymore - it's an excuse to release a piece of software that looks like absolute butts. I'm sick and tired of the whole
"Indie" movement releasing pixelated junk, all it amounts to is eye hemorrhaging and violent vomiting. There are certain games that look good in 2D, not everything has to push GPU's to their limits, but that's not an excuse for releasing a game that has the aesthetics of a dry dog turd. I'm not saying that every game should be on the bleeding edge of technology, I'm saying that they should at least look aesthetically pleasing.
People often say crap like
"I'm playing the game, not the pixels!" or
"graphics only matter to graphics whores!" - please shut up. Gamers were born and bred to appreciate good visuals and that's a fact. If you're going to counter this by saying
"well, graphics didn't matter in *Insert Your Console of Preference* days", seek medical attention immediately because you're clearly suffering from selective memory or Alzheimer's. People like to pretend that the
"Bit Wars" never happened, but they have - people have
always argued over which system has superior games and graphics were a big portion of the debate. Since the dawn of gaming we've been conditioned to argue who has the most
"bits", even if most consumers didn't know what the hell that even meant, we just rolled with that because it lays in human nature - bigger is better and more is better, nobody needed any other reason.
"Retro" games may not look too impressive by today's standards, but back in the day
that's what the pinnacle of engineering was. Don't believe me? Let me demonstrate.
Compare this:
"Outlaw", Atari 2600, Second Gen
"Contra", NES, Third Gen
If you lived during that generation switch, your little boxers were filled with pre-pubescent spunk at the sight of your average NES game. This is not a debate, this is fact, and the sales numbers, the fall of Atari and the rise of Nintendo and Sega speak volumes in this regard. Stop convincing yourself that graphics and aesthetics don't matter - they do matter. The gaming world went through a brief phase of nostalgia and we enjoyed a couple of games that purposefully mimicked the style of old games, great, it's been a pleasant ride. Now stop. Don't give developers an excuse for being sloppy and stop glorifying games that look like vomit.