Wii Warm Up: Let's talk graphics
by Alisha Karabinus 
{ May 3rd 2007 at 9:00AM }
It's the proverbial elephant in the room, the issue that isn't really discussed by Nintendo fans: the appearance of Wii games. Let's be frank -- the level of graphics in a lot (not all) of Wii games can best be described as unimpressive. We know graphics aren't what makes a game ... but they can certainly be part of it, just as they can be part of what ruins a game. Sometimes, the game is so good that any number of flaws can be ignored. We can even offer up a decent example from the other guys: Dead Rising wasn't exactly the best-looking game last year (and it even had some serious problems), but there is nothing like running through the mall on the shoulders of zombies with a So, alright. Graphics aren't a deal-breaker, but just one aspect of a game. Then why are we talking about this? It's simple -- Wii games are sometimes even falling short of the standards we grew to expect from the GameCube. We shouldn't be gazing fondly upon Resident Evil 4 redux as one of the best-looking games to hit the Wii; we should be looking forward to it because it's a great game.
Even if you want to grant that the Wii is nothing but two GameCubes duct-taped together, then fine, great -- shouldn't the games look that much better than the games we played on one 'Cube? We're patient. We understand it takes a system time to grow, and we're willing to wait for things like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metroid Prime 3. But some of the games third party developers are showing off don't look that great. Even the coming titles that are overflowing with cuteness can be a little simplistic. So to these companies, get with it, before Nintendo muscles you out of the market by virtue of actually caring.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chachi @ May 3rd 2007 9:19AM
i personally am not that huge on graphics. i think they're important in some games, but negligible in others. imagine playing RE4 if it had bad graphics... it wouldn't work. graphics, to me, are more important in 1st - or in RE4's case - 3rd person shooters because of the need for clarity. as long as it's on par with gamecube equivalent graphics, it's fine with me. i just need to see what i'm shooting at.
reef @ May 3rd 2007 9:23AM
Graphics are not everything, but there is absolutely no reason why each and every Wii game should not look like, at the very least, a top tier Gamecube game (obviously excluding a simple game like Wii Sports). No reason at all.
Anthony Pierre @ May 3rd 2007 9:38AM
Having both an xbox 360 and a Wii, I think I notice the difference in graphics more than someone soley having a wii. With that said, I enjoy single player games WAY more than on the 360, the controls are way more immersive.
I would love to see every wii game look as pretty as RE4, but not all wii.
The problem with wii graphics right now: Most of the games are ports of PS2 games. Once that stops, we will have better graphics. Be patient
Kenny @ May 3rd 2007 10:44AM
I agree with Reef,
I'm no graphics whore, but to me, it's unacceptable to see games that can't even match top-tier Gamecube games. Of course, there are different styles of graphics: Wind Waker, Paper Mario, Super Mario, Resident Evil, etc. I don't see why "realistic" games shouldn't look at least as good as RE4.
Developers are just lazy (or rushing stuff out). It does look like Umbrella Chronicles will have very nice graphics. Mario Galaxy looks better than GC. Mario Strikers looks like better graphics than the GC version. Sonic looked good.
Timerider @ May 3rd 2007 9:51AM
I really, really want an Xbox 360 because of Dead Rising. I'm willing to spend $400+ to play that game (if I had the money).
strongbad79 @ May 3rd 2007 9:53AM
Graphics matter but not that much. That being said the graphics should be better than the last gen console since the wii is more powerfull than all of the last gen consoles. Most of the games i've seen don't look any better than ps2 games. Actually many ps2 games look better. It's just laziness on the developers part. Overall I still enjoy my wii and the games regardless of the graphics. Just like any other new console the games will get better over time. I just hope it's sooner than later.
Jonathan Tran @ May 3rd 2007 9:52AM
Yeah it's just really lame how many of the games look right now. At least every game should look as decent as Sonic or Twilight Princess. Not amazing, but good. They could pull something nice looking like Jet Grind Radio Future on it as well.
There is no excuse for a game like Farcry orthat awful racing game that comes with the racing controller mod. When you see a video for Super Mario Galaxy or Spiderman 3 or RE Umb Chronicles, it puts half the games out there already to shame
Neal Eaton @ May 3rd 2007 10:33AM
I pretty much agree with everyone else here so far...graphics are not a deal breaker, but I would like to see some games that look 'new-gen'.
Art Direction and Style are ways to downplay the relative weakness of the Wii's graphics chipset, but we should be seeing better graphics by now. Its kind of sad that Nintendo HAS to show other developers what the Wii is capable of graphics wise. I know that Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy will put everything that we have seen so far to shame.
I have been a little disappointed in graphics so far...but only a little bit. I know that these kind of things will get better with time.
Grey Acumen @ May 3rd 2007 12:07PM
Actually, my biggest concern with the Wii is not so much the graphics as it is the quality of AI and processor speed.
We can even use the internet to help us with our comparison, go to Wiicade.com and check out Territory Wars and Missile 3D.
Territory Wars was the first online game I played on the Wii. I pwned it completely, I was kinda pleased with myself. Then I tried checking it out on the computer. I got stomped. this time I actually had to work in order to beat it.
This was completely an AI issue as well. On the Wii, the computer would shoot at the ground even if I was right in front of them and couldn't aim a grenade worth crap. When I played on the computer, those mistakes never came up.
Missile 3D had a completely different problem. On the Wii, it was about 10% slower than on the computer. when I played on the Wii, that was the first time I beat that game, I was a little pissed when I went back to my computer and found I had essentially beaten it on easy mode.
What really pisses me off isn't so much that I'm getting easy games, so much as I'm getting games that are easier than they're supposed to be. It really makes me doubt the capabilities of the wiimote as an input device as well; would I actually be so comfortable with the wiimote if I had to deal with a challenging game? Or do I only feel comfortable with it because I haven't had a game hard enough to need the full 100% of the wiimote's capabilities?
Graphics aren't my concern, they affect how the game looks, the mood... you don't need powerful graphics to evoke emotion, but what concerns me is the game PLAY.
vidGuy @ May 3rd 2007 11:49AM
I never believed that graphics are unimportant. Visual quality is an integral part, just less important than such things as gameplay and storyline.
The Wii will come into its own graphics-wise after the release of SMG and MP3, I'm sure. It is disappointing that the visuals aren't a bump up from the GC in some categories. Soon they will be, though. Once developers realize the Wii's potential and that most gamers are wanting the visual upgrade.
I'm waiting for better graphics, but I'm not going to abandon my Wii in the meantime.
Zan @ May 3rd 2007 11:52AM
I didn't read the article but here I go:
I've never cared about graphics very much, I just don't care. I don't see the point in arguing about it. Games will never be reality or the opposite anyway so what does it matter. I can even think that "bad" graphics add to a game.
schlocker @ May 3rd 2007 12:05PM
I do care about graphics, and Wii's graphics are unforgivable. This is the first Nintendo console I have not purchased, ever. Wii games look like first generation gamecube games. Go play Wave Race for gamecube and you'll see I'm right. That is over six years ago! There is no excuse for graphics not to have improved more in that time. If the Wii was 99 bucks, fine, but for 250, no way. Makes me sad, really sad.
Ios @ May 3rd 2007 1:29PM
If the Wii is basically double the Gamecube (give or take a little), I would expect no less than at least XBox (original, not 360) level graphics. If I get that plus the Wii control scheme, I'll be happy.
I would also say that it takes a while for games to really start taking advantage of a system, but that's not exactly true. One of the best looking games on the Gamecube was Rogue Squadron, and it was a release title.
G-T3K @ May 3rd 2007 2:24PM
I actually like the look of MySims. I don't think it's too simplistic at all. One of the better-looking games, despite being another overflowing with cuteness, is Dewey's Adventure.
One of the main reasons these games work for me is that they're about the use of color. I've been vocal about my dislike for the "greying of games" before. That's one of the reasons the XBOX 360 just doesn't appeal to me, despite being the most well rounded system out there. The XBox and PS3 can get away with a more grim color palette because they have the polygonal muscle and the high resolution for those games to still look sharp. But since the Wii's graphically underpowered, neutral colors can really make for some muddy texturing.
Doesn't excuse the developers from not even living up to the graphical standards of the Gamecube, though.
Chazz @ May 3rd 2007 1:57PM
The graphics haven't bothered me yet. I only have zelda and wii sports though, so I don't know about the other games. I think that every body was about right, as long as the games look as good as some of the old xbox games like forza and halo 2, I'll be happy.
navstar @ May 3rd 2007 5:11PM
There's no excuse not to have Resident Evil 4-quality graphics for all Wii games that need it as an artistic choice. Far Cry, Red Steel, Godfather, (and even Zelda) should ALL look as good as RE4. (Obviously Paper Mario, Rayman, and Wii Sports don't call for that level of detail)
We're two years past RE4 for the Cube and Wii games with humans still look like PS2 Renderware crap.
James @ May 3rd 2007 2:05PM
Grey, the only problem is that people are targeting their code to faster processors because there's this unspoken baseline assumption that when you play a Flash game, the user is running it on a "modern" machine, e.g. at least 2 GHz with at least 512MB or more of RAM. The Wii has neither of those things, and though its processor has a good architecture and decent speed for a home console, it's never going to be as powerful as a PC. That's not a problem, IF you optimize your code to work well on a slower processor. There were plenty of challenging games on my 486 DX2 running at 66 MHz, they just had to make some simplifying assumptions. There are plenty of challenging games on the DS (about 1/10th the speed of the Wii), or on my PSP, which runs at less than half the speed of the Wii. There may still be some areas that benefit from extra processor power -- advanced AI for hundreds of units in e.g. Supreme Commander, for instance -- but for many genres the CPU spends most of its time idle, bottlenecked by the GPU.
I, for one, don't worry too much about either. I have a Wii and a 360 (and a PS2 and a PSP), and I choose which system to play on at any given moment based not on which is prettier, but on which lets me have the most fun. All my babies get a pretty good amount of my attention.
Alex @ May 3rd 2007 2:44PM
I am a satisfied Wii owner, but at the same time, I am also a graphics whore. Every time I see a commercial or preview for a PS3 or 360 game, a very large part of me wishes Nintendo could have crammed some more robust hardware under the Wii's hood. Yes, the the motion control interface enables developers to make games more immersive. But so can great graphics. I want both.
I know it's still relatively early in the system's life cycle, so most developers are probably focusing more on figuring out how best to utilize the new control scheme rather than trying to squeeze the most out of the system's aging hardware. Hopefully once they get that figured out, they can work on improving the visuals.
The system is great for cartoony graphics--Super Mario Galaxy certainly looks pretty--but sometimes a gamer wants realism. Perhaps it's because I haven't seen it in all of its 480p glory, but Metroid Prime 3 looks pretty unspecial to me after seeing what's possible on the other systems. I'm sure it plays wonderfully, and I will most certainly buy it, but I imagine it'd be a much more impressive game if it were running on the competitors' hardware (with the Wii controls, of course).
Bryon @ May 3rd 2007 3:44PM
The graphics I have experienced so far are just BAD. I fired up my old 64 the other day and was amazed at how close the two look. Shame on Nintendo.
Sure some games look pretty good, but pretty good should not be the exception. That is not to say that the game aren't fun, but I still can't see playing a game like Oblivion on the Wii (logged 100+ hours on the 360 with this one).
Would all these fan shell out another $100 for better graphics? I myself would. 360 specs with Wii controls would be heaven.
Beaudry @ May 3rd 2007 4:38PM
I agree with all the sentiments about the poor graphics on the Wii. They are clearly unacceptable. At the very least 2 Gamecubes ducttaped together should be better than the original Xbox.
Unfortunately, this isn't going to change for the Wii. I constantly debate selling my Wii and buying a 360 when I rent games and see the muddy Wii graphics.
Mr Khan @ May 3rd 2007 5:41PM
Meh, i was happy with the GameCube, and i can honestly say that i would've been pleased had Nintendo chose to forego releasing a new console at all and had just gone with 5 more years of the Cube
no, i'm not kidding, i'm a gameplay whore, and i'll play it as long as it looks clean according to the hardware (say, FarCry actively looks bad, but other games don't)
Meowzers @ May 3rd 2007 5:51PM
While it's true that graphics don't *make* the game, they certainly help it win or lose. But for me, I don't care about graphic quality, I want eye candy.
Every time I play the original Spyros by Insomniac I think they look great. Beyond Good and Evil looks fantastic every time I pop that in. Okami certainly sucks to some graphically, but it's the best eye candy I can think of. Hell, I got Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness just for the graphics; that and I'm a Lara-Whore.
Sketchy Fletchy @ May 3rd 2007 6:30PM
Personally, I think there's a plateau of the importance of graphics. If graphical quality is so poor that it affects gameplay (for instance, it's hard to discern objects that may be important to the game or frame rate drops to that of a slideshow) then yes it's important. But once you get past a certain level of detail it's just extra work. It's true, good quality graphics can put the extra polish on a game that makes it really memorable, but unless there's gameplay to support it, what's the point?
I agree with the general argument here that the perceived poor quality of Wii's graphics can be attributed to either (a) Third party devs porting over last gen titles + waggle or (b) Third party devs rushing games out the door without the full development cycle or funding apparently spent on some other titles. If you look at the machine specs and compare them on hardware alone, a Wii outstrips and XBOX. For that matter, there were relatively few titles that ever really took advantage of everything the gamecube had to offer graphically, so even if it is just two GCN's duct taped together, that's a powerful little box you got right there.
It will just be a matter of time - be patient, the goodies are coming. Please, Nintendo - release Brawl or Corruption or Galaxy soon and show the third parties just what the box can do! And third party developers: if you're gonna make a Wii game, MAKE A WII GAME. Don't make a crappy cut down port of something else you've got in the pipeline for the X360, don't port a PS2 title, do something original and actually follow through on what you say you're committed to (that's right EA, I'm looking at you).
How the hell did people manage to come to the conclusion that the PS2 and Wii are in a similar league of graphical prowess anyway? That's just ridiculous.
geek @ May 4th 2007 6:34PM
I'm noticing a lot of comments around here that happen to be centered on the reason that games look, not to say bad, but not exploiting the Wii's potential, is that they are merely previous generation ports that are just revamped with controls. I'd like to add on to this.
The sad thing about this whole thing is, most of the games on store shelves are either last gen ports, or games that are just crappy from the start, which tells me a couple of things. One, if ports are there to be exploited, developers will ablige; it's cash in their pocket for less effort. If they aren't there to exploit, most, keyword most developers will still find a way to make games that people will buy with little effort put into them.
The only real message that consumers can use to get the message across that we don't want rehashes or crap is not to buy the games. I think everyone is doing a good job with that already, as most games that consist of these are still on store selves, and stores are still waiting to sell stuff and get more shipped to them.
In time, developers will realize that we don't want old stuff, or just new stuff that is plain bad and not worth experiencing. Eventually they will realize that we want stuff that's new, fresh, and has time and effort poured into it rather than ancient code that has merely been plugged with new input instructions.
Blakey383 @ May 5th 2007 2:54AM
Ok I would like to point out a few things. The Wii is not a "next gen" System the wii is a first gen sytem of a completely different breed. If i went out and spent $600 on a new system and it turned out to be a bomb i would have been pissed but i was ok with risking the 250 i think it was a smart decision not to dump a whole butload of money in a prototype because now they have tested this new idea and proven it will work, now they can dump allot of time and money and power into the next gen which you can bet your ass is going to be at least as good as the 360. but until then i will be content with my Wiiboy (yeah i said it)
John @ May 5th 2007 11:57AM
Im sorry but the hardware in the wii kind of sucks. Apparantly its only got 88MB of ram and a 729MHZ processor, you could barely run Windows XP on that (i know its a different architecture etc but thats hardly an excuse)
Lets face it, Nintendo arent being philisophical here about graphics not being important, theyr trying to make as much money as possible which is fair enough (thats wot businesses do) but i think people should realise that
:)
RageOverdose @ May 7th 2007 8:38PM
@John:
XP is also higher in terms of resources needed compared to the other OS's. Not only that, its software meant to run on multitudes of architectures and different processors. PC requirements and consoles do not mix in a comparison. When making software to run on multiple things, it gets a bit harder because of compatibility that you have to deal with, and when you have thousands of things to consider, then you have to make the requirements a bit more rough.
Still, I agree on the many points brought up. I mean, Factor 5 (who made the aforementioned Rouge Squadron 2 and showed the GCN had some beef) shared their disappointment with the developers, and they know their stuff. They know what they can do, and they can do a lot more than RE4 even. But seriously, the laziness of these third parties is ballistic. They seem to be these cheap PS2 ports with slapped on Wii control (Call of Duty 3 was). That's just not right. Games need to look around the RE4, Zelda range for the start. Not the PS2 range. But, it looks brighter. Mario, Metroid, Gundam, Pokemon; they all seem to be giving the better Wii goods, graphically, and showing us there are possibilities.
MrPriest @ May 10th 2007 10:25AM
I don't care too much for graphics, but I certeinly do want some beautiful stuff, I like the wii's graphics though, I don't think they are too bad...
But I do wish they made a graphics card that you buy to connect to the wii, like usb one or so (like that fan for Wii) so we'd have better graphics on the wii for those that it matters. Although it should'nt cost too much...