Session 4- Verisimilitude vs Stylised Aesthetics

Games today are achieving more stunning aesthetics than ever before. The diversity of visual designs they embrace is extremely vast throughout the scale of verisimilitue to stylised.

Yet the closer games approach the realm of this photorealism, the stranger this desire seems to be.

While realistic aesthetics can enhance and make the experience a game provides what it is, if a player wants photorealism, they only have to look to reality.

In regards to the Legend of Zelda for the Wii U, G. Christopher Williams from Popmatters.com said 'Like photorealistic games, I marvel at how the wind moves blades of grass...but not because the game generally resembles a real world. Rather, it’s because the details resemble and construct a fantastic world that isn’t possible without...rendering characters, places, and animations in a video game.'

The purpose of games is to be immersed in a different world, one where curious and otherwise impossible things occur can around places and characters that do not exist.

The realism currently displayed in games by the aesthetics and graphics is amazing but do we really need to take this further? The point of games is to entertain the player, not replace reality. Video games should look and feel like video games with enough ties to the real world that players can make sense of it.

Video games are at a great place in their manipulation of aesthetics into many intriguing art styles and still to be discovered are the many ways creators will depict their worlds next.

Session 3- 2D vs 3D

The transition from 2D graphics to 3D was a huge leap for the gaming world. While the 2D style allows the player a much larger view of the level than the character's eyes would allow, 3D brings the 1^st person view to life as the camera is able to transition around the smoother forms more easily.

From Gamasutra.com, Soren Johnson concludes, 'Furthermore, well-made 2D graphics never really go obsolete...If 2D helps clarify and communicate the underlying game mechanic, then all the better.'

The style of graphics a game has is largely based upon the designers' choice, as the game is crafted in whichever suits that particular game's visual, story and gameplay requirements. The selection will assist the most effective illustration of these and manufacture the most engaging experience for the player.

2D and 3D graphics cater to different styles of games and audiences. Yet while 3D releases tend to make more profit, 2D games will always be a link to the origins of gaming and are still vigorously supported by many gamers.

Session 2

Released in 2013, Irrational Games' BioShock Infinite was the third in the franchise, exemplifying the extent of artistry that video games consist of. Unlike ones set in military or apocalyptic events, this game takes the genre of first person shooter and turns it into something different. The rustic sophistication of the city-in-the-sky setting and sunlight manufacture a warm appearance to the game where as an ominous atmosphere in the form of a complex story opposes this in an interesting contrast.

Furthering the concept of the SimCity game, the Sims enabled players to unfold and direct the lives of the characters they created. First released back in 2000, it put the focus of the game play on creating and building the life of a person or 'sim'. Both the Sims and SimCity reversed the theme of destruction that drives most games. Still extremely popular today, new games and content are still being developed and released, occupying a large portion of the PC section of most games stores.

In 1959, Ivan Sutherland utilized a forerunner to today's tablet pens and one of the computers at MIT to devise the beginnings of interactive computer graphics. With the light pen and a control box be was able to draw on the screen of the TX-2 computer. 'Sketchpad' supported a large number of commands which ranged from basic to advanced, giving it a surprising complexity for the era.

Sutherland's program ultimately led to the vast range of digital construction programs such as Photoshop that we have today.

While Spacewar! wasn't the first game to be created, it was the first to spur on the concept of the computer game. As the idea caught on, it inspired other games. Front lining its existence was Steve Russel who was studying at MIT. While Spacewar! Isn't commonly remembered by society,

its concept has been implemented into countless other games from the 1970's to now.

The block pieces of Tetris remain a well known sight to many people. In 1984, the game was brought to life by Alexy Pajitnov yet despite its success, its creator was denied credit and royalties by the Soviet government until 1996.

Combing the Greek word 'tera' meaning 'four' with tennnis Pajitnov achieved the title for one of the most iconic classic games. Once coupled with the Nintendo GameBoy in 1989, it assisted the hand-held console, which was not the first of its kind, to dominate the market. The game possess an interesting concept as it involves no characters and nothing to dodge or attack. The simple goal that drives the player is similar to the nature of its predecessor games, where few elements are combined on screen to make for an engaging experience.

The simple gameplay but addictive nature of Tetris fueled its popularity and allowed it to transcend decades with gamers still beings enthralled by it today.