Graphical Fidelity vs Visual Style

[Xantar]

Originally Posted by manasecret

Even with your definition of "graphical fidelity", however, I still think the question as stated is moot. A game with graphical fidelity will always have a visual style, because the developers must always choose their color palette and what actual items and environments they render and so on. Take the example of Mass Effect 2, apparently considered to have high graphical fidelity with beard stubble and such, yet also has high visual style with glowing scars and so on. The two are just inseparable.

Well here's a thought experiment: I'm sure that if Infinity Ward had the technical ability to do so, they would have made Modern Warfare 2 completely photorealistic in every way so that the game looks just like it would appear to you if you were a soldier running around shooting people. Would that game have visual style?

[manasecret]

Originally Posted by Xantar

Well here's a thought experiment: I'm sure that if Infinity Ward had the technical ability to do so, they would have made Modern Warfare 2 completely photorealistic in every way so that the game looks just like it would appear to you if you were a soldier running around shooting people. Would that game have visual style?

It's an interesting question and one I'm grappling with. My answer is yes, because in reality, there is a choice of what goes into that scene, and what the weather is like at that moment which changes the color palette, and so on.

Put another way, would such a scene not created in a video game, but filmed _not_ have a visual style? There are plenty of movies to choose from like this, I guess one example being Hurt Locker, though I haven't seen it.

[playa_playa]

Originally Posted by manasecret

My answer is yes, because in reality, there is a choice of what goes into that scene, and what the weather is like at that moment which changes the color palette, and so on.

Put another way, would such a scene not created in a video game, but filmed _not_ have a visual style? There are plenty of movies to choose from like this, I guess one example being Hurt Locker, though I haven't seen it.

this post brings up a point worth touching on: even when the medium seems bare, it is a product of a visual style. the example with movies are telling; where different direction of cinematography results in different visual experiences. take The Shawshank Redmeption, for example: the subject matter in the first act painted a gloomy picture, contrasted by the bright, well-lit cinematography - highlighting Andy's dogged hope and foreshadowing the redemption to be realized in the final act.

but I think what's being lost in this discussion is the distinction between having a style and being stylized. I think TS meant more the latter. it is one thing to say lighting, camera angle and editing denotes a visual style, but entirely another to say that videogames like Viewtiful Joe merely has a different visual style.

[BreakABone]

Video Games | Best of E3 2010 Awards | Best Graphics

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I think this is somewhat important to the debate.
I think the reactions explain the point better, but in a category dubbed best graphics, Kirby: Epic Yarn beat out Rage, Crysis 2, Gears of War 3 and Killzone 3. So the comments break down into fact that graphics mean a more technical prowess and Kirby has art style.

Curious, do folks see graphics separate from art/presentation/style?