Hi Kids!

Some exciting things have happened in gaming since the first installment of the GF! Mailbag. Microsoft has decided to replace the X on the Xbox 360 with a bullseye by declaring it nearly unhackable. In an attempt at unification Sony SCEWS with their name a bit, and Team Xbox has deciphered the meaning of life, for gamers that is. And IGN has sold out. Again?

But you guys didn\'t want to talk about any of that. Shawn\'s editorial on Why Graphics Matter got one particularly interesting response. We are gonna share that and some of our thoughts with you. We\'ve got a typical PC question. Oh, and one person took time out of his busy day to let us know how he feels about the site...

• Subject: None
  
  you got no cheats i should not go on web sites like this anymore

This e-mail was originally drafted by a cave man and read:

Ugh you got no cheats me not go on stupid site no more

Fortunately, he had his friend transcribe it from the stone slab to the pretty color box for him. He is correct though, about the no cheats at least. At Gamesfirst we are more concerned with stimulating interesting thoughts about gaming and the gaming industry (and making caveman jokes) than helping people suck less at their games. We hope to help elevate gaming further away from the \"kids toys\" image to a legitimate and recognized art form. That said I cheat all the time. Usually only with the games that I wouldn\'t finish otherwise. When you do need that cheat you can always buzz over to http://www.gamefaqs.com. Hopefully you\'ll come back here for reviews, when trying to decide where to spend your hard earned, or for articles that are more than just press releases.

• Subject: Re: Pretty Colors and Lens Flare: Why Graphics Matter
  
  You write: \"If we want to talk about why gaming in the next gen is in trouble, we need to address increasing development costs and conservative mainstream publishers bent on pushing watered-down franchises and rushed movie tie-ins. Couple that with nonsense political movements to limit the scope and breadth of game content, and we have a serious potential for gaming disaster.\"
  
  But all of those problems for the game industry are directly connected to games\' increasing graphical fidelity. Games cost more to make because they require increasing amounts of textures, models and animation of increasing quality. Higher costs lead directly to publishers becoming more conservative. Even the political impact of games has increased because of games\' increasing realism. Hardly
  anybody remembers Custer\'s Revenge, because the graphics were so pixellated they were hardly recognizable as human figures. Yet when essentially the same content appears in GTA: San Andreas, you bet people are paying attention, because the visual appearance is close enough to reality for the mainstream to pick up on.
  
  Yes, graphics do matter. And good games can benefit from the constant improvements in graphical power. But non-blockbusters can be hurt by the need for a 7 or even 8-figure budget in order to compete graphically. Why do you think the greatest amount of innovation occuring in the industry is in games developed for the Nintendo DS, not the Sony PSP or any of the home consoles? Because the hardware has greatly increased interactivity, with both tactile and auditory input added. If graphics mattered all that much, the PSP would be the clear winner in the portable market. Yet the PSP is lagging with no new games to speak of, and the DS is doing brisk business. Sony is playing up UMD movies because they know that the games they have on the PSP don\'t really justify the purchase price.
  
  I like shiny things as much as the next raven, but I know that better graphics are not always a good thing. I\'m still buying GBA games, and they don\'t have 3D graphics. Why? Because even now, good games don\'t need 3D to succeed.
  
  I do QA for a cell phone game publisher and I can tell you that the few 3D games we have are execrable. Most of our games are 2D and some of them are even pretty good.
  
  So better graphics -> better games? I don\'t think so. Better graphics -> more expensive games? You better believe it.
  
  --
  Clement \"Mooninaut\" Cherlin

Shawn replied:

• Clement,
  
  Thanks so much for your letter. And you\'re totally right.
  
  I agree that games don\'t need great graphics to succeed, and the editorial was meant to illuminate the different arguments I\'d been having regarding the importance of graphics in the next generation. But I\'m not sure I\'ve really convinced myself of anything -- I still value good gameplay and/or a good story more than really great graphics. My goals were more generative than definitive, and hopefully some of what I wrote gets people to examine for themselves what really matters in a game.
  
  But at the same time, I do think it\'s undeniable that many gamers are simply after that pretty picture, just like many movie fans are simply after the look of big flames and explosions.
  
  I very much appreciate your comments (your DS example is especially apt, I believe), and I hope you\'ll continue to check in with GamesFirst! even though our articles sometimes prod you to write in and set us straight.
  
  Take care,
  Shawn

Good points all around. Although, I think the true reason few people remember Custer\'s Revenge is because the game is older than the average gamer. I wouldn\'t say that for it\'s time Custer\'s graphics were any less spectacular than GTA: San Andreas\' are for today. I could also name a half-dozen reasons why the comparison is hardly fair. (GTA is one of the biggest game franchises around and has been a lightning rod for controversy for years. So to say the only reason it gets more attention than a game older than Nintendo is because of graphics is kinda silly.) I do agree, though, with the larger point. In many ways graphics are putting a stranglehold on the industry. Not only in the way that it squelches out innovation, but also in the way that it limits the amount of games a developer can invest in. If developers didn\'t have so many millions of dollars invested in each game then maybe we would see them branch out a bit more. Maybe someone would even develop a game for the PSP. As is I think we will have to expect many ports, because that is all the developers can afford to make.

People laugh at me when I play Gameboy games on my big screen with the Gameboy Player. You can\'t beat 80 inches of 8-bit Zelda goodness.

• Subject: how to install star wars kotor
  
  i dont know how to install star wars kotor please send me instructions how

Place the CD into the computer, let spin. You did go to the store and buy it first, didn\'t you? That\'s important.

Good thing I sold my soul for a big screen and a Gameboy Player or else I might feel guilty for that last reply.


Matt \"I got no cheats\" James