Are Old Games Better?

I would like to address here a common and recurrent question in gamers’ communities: are older video games better than the new ones? If you are as "old" as me, you might have asked yourself this question at least once. Type it on google and see how many discussions this topic has spawned. Before trying to answer it, let me tell you: this question is not correctly formulated. What do we mean with older video games? How old? What games? We need to reframe it if we want to formulate any significant answer to it. Let’s see… are contemporary video games produced and designed differently in comparison to games from the previous generations? That’s better but still not precise. Are we talking about indie or triple A games? As you can understand, answering the question is not an easy task but I will try to report here some facts that might make clearer why some think that older video games might be considered a better version of the new ones.  

I once asked my grandfather how was living during the second World War. He replied, “better than now”. It sounded strange to me that a period marked by bloodshed, poverty, and destruction could be any better than 2017, when I posed the question. As we grow older, nostalgia gets a tougher grip on us. We remember the days when we were young and carefree. It was not necessarily better, but we remember it as a great time. Because of this trick that memories play on us, we tend to idealise the good old days. So, older games that we have played in the past tend to appear extraordinarily emotional to some now. And the first time you play a video game which is unique in its genre, it will be recorded by our brain as sensational. No matter how many psychological horror games I played after Silent Hill 2, with better graphics etcetera… that is still my favourite, the one I always come back to if I have to describe a genre.

The second element to consider is the feeling of discovery that was associated with older games. Finding information on video games when the internet was not there, or was not populated as it is now, was difficult and this added to the excitement of the discovery. It was like being an archaeologist and finally finding the entrance to the ancient tomb. It was also harder to install games and make them work! There always was that geeky friend who had a talent for these things and had written down on paper how to do it as a series of mysterious instructions. Romantic, isn’t it? We created external narratives on top of these mysterious things called video games that trapped us in our room for hours, to the disappointment of our parents who did not even know what a video game was. Today all is explored in countless videos, tutorials, reviews… There are no more secrets and therefore older gamers feel less excited.

The gaming community in recent years has expanded enormously, and this is good. But we have lost along the way the pleasant feeling of belonging to a little tribe, to be the different ones, the vanguards of a new breaking technology. I made friends for life back when gamers were treated as freaks. We had each other’s back.

And what can be said about art and the beauty of rough graphics which left leeway to the imagination? The brain had to connect the dots then! Developers could go wild and experimental with the game design; nowadays a video game must perform well in terms of sales to cover the huge production costs and thus it must be appealing to a wider audience. Contemporary games tend to be well polished but also bland and repetitive. They have to guarantee a smoother experience to all players, also to the ones who never played a video game before. Some YouTubers suggest that contemporary games are more cinematic than the old ones and remove agency from players. I personally disagree on that, but I think that it’s a matter of opinions.

Furthermore, the market has changed. The production pipelines have changed. Teams for triple A games are bigger, made by specialised artists who are great at their craft, but they cannot see their artwork from afar. A game such as Silent Hill 2 has been made by fifty people in two years. Have you watched the full credits of any contemporary triple A game made nowadays?

As a final word, subjectivity comes into play when we try to address our initial question. But it’s totally understandable for older gamers to claim that back in their day, video games were better. Sorry, I am one of those.

The Uncanny Valley in Games and Films

The uncanny valley is a psychological phenomenon that is used in designing characters for games and films. It is widely known that we tend to experience negative reactions towards artificial figures trying to mimic real human beings. There are subtleties in humans which make it difficult for artists to exactly imitate them; the closer these mimics get to hyperrealism, the creepier they will appear to us.

This effect is known as the “uncanny valley”. The term was used for the first time in robotics in 1970 by Masahiro Mori. When a humanlike character portrays a feature which is difficult to read in its context, there is a mismatch in our mind which is hard to overcome. Shapes and colours surely influence this.

The causes for these are still unknown. There are hypotheses that fake figures trying to replicate human beings remind us of corpses or sick individuals.

There are some films where computer-imagery notoriously fell into the uncanny valley, like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and The Polar Express. In recent years, the technology has made a noteworthy leap in making digital humanlike replicas more acceptable, thus the unintentional use of the uncanny valley in games and films has been reduced. Filmmakers and game developers are now aware of the phenomenon which can and has been beneficially used to design monstrosity and scare viewers.

Our response to the uncanny valley is complex and it does change from culture to culture. However, studies have found common triggers for it. The uncanniness is usually related to the presence of an atypical feature of the character such as the eyes (dimension and movements, like the absence of blinks) or the lack of interaction between the character and the live-action actresses (for example, characters not maintaining eye contact). The loss of identity is another key factor of the uncanny valley: human beings feel panicky when they cannot read the expression of others. Being able to identify threats is vital for our survival.

The Art of Arcane (Netflix series)

As you probably know already, Arcane is an animated streaming television series set in the universe of League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena video game (a genre known as moba). The series was produced by Riot Games and Fortiche – a French animation studio who worked on music videos and game trailers for League of Legends – and serves as a prequel to the game. While champions of the game are featured in the series, the mission for Riot Games and Fortiche was to make a show appealing to both casual viewers who have never played League and to longtime fans of the game. This was not easy, but the result proved to be successful. Let's analyse what made this happen!

Thanks to the creation of complèx characters, who are there not only to support the stars featured in the game but as an organic part of the world, Arcane achieved what other adaptations from games have not. The show is not a mere promotional tool; it is self-sufficient, and it succeeds in making fans of the game salivating, along with attracting an audience who knows nothing about the setting. While this is true for other adaptations such as Castlevania, Arcane succeeds in making the audience sympathise with its nuanced characters. These are the products of the world they inhabit; they show shaded personalities which make them believable and relatable. It’s for this reason that we might justify the evil schemes of Silco and still love a delusional character such as Jinx, despite her inclination for violence. It is a complèx world filled with moral decisions that have significant consequences.

While the pace of the show forced the writing to compress actions, after watching the whole series, I found it hard to complain about narrative arcs, which are mirrored throughout the whole series. The relationship between father, daughter and siblings is at the core of it and is reinforced by the framing of the virtual camera. Albeit some narrative choice, that I cannot mention here to avoid spoilers, feel rushed, everything connects in a natural way, without betraying the mood and style set for the show. Every frame is packed up with references and Easter eggs that better explain the background of characters and places. The success of these organic transmedia storytelling and crossmedia characters is certainly the result of years of effort of Riot Games in shaping the fictional world of Runeterra in all its aspects.

Apart from effective storytelling and compelling characters which well connect with the existing lore, what makes Arcane particularly appealing? The strong point of the show is the visuals. The camera movement is smooth, and the editing is effective, especially in the fight scenes. This is not a pilot show; it has been designed consistently with nothing left to chance. What makes Arcane identifiable on a figurative level is the combination of both 2D and 3D which elegantly blend together in a pictorial style. All departments are strong, from layout to animation, from storyboarding to matte painting. The costumes and the architecture are iconic and inform us on the world where the characters live in. There are stark differences between Piltover and Zaun, especially in buildings and the clothes worn by their inhabitants. The series really shines in mixing striking visuals with emotional storytelling. The backgrounds are digitally hand-painted, and the textures for characters are modified to fit within the environment. Effects such as smoke and explosions are made in 2D to enhance the pictorial style.

When it comes to animation, there is a nice balance between the realism and cartoonish style. I was surprised at how the characters walked, especially when Vi, Powder and the others get back to Zaun in the first episode after the heist. It felt clunky to me at first but then I realised that the animation was keyframed. And I understood the reason straight away. The characters have semi-realistic proportions, and therefore they might trigger the uncanny valley. This is why motion capture (mocap) was not involved. I will explain more about the uncanny valley phenomenon here

One last word must be said about the sound of the series. When it comes to it, it feels like the team explored what sounds inhabit Piltover and Zaun. The former is the shiny city of progress and so its sound is elegant and refined, while the latter is the undercity, a dangerous and polluted place where people have to survive. Its sound is deep and ominous. The voice acting then is utterly expressive. Silco’s and Viktor’s voices are particularly efficient, and it is not a case that they are some of the most loved characters of the show.

We know that another season for Arcane is in production already and I’m looking forward to watching it! What champions will appear in the next one? How will the characters evolve? I confess that I haven’t been so hyped in a very long time!

This is my painting of Jinx. You can find a bigger picture here

 

What is Game Art?

 

In simple words: Game Art is the visuals and the audio elements of a game. Everything that you see and hear in a video game is game art. Its aim is to give shape to the game design and make the experience readable and significant for a player.

Video game artists are responsible for elements such as characters, environments, effects, animations, interfaces, music, and sounds.

The three important components for Game Art are: communication, storytelling, and consistency.

Let’s break them down.

Game Art must inform the player about how much health you have, where to go, or who’s the enemy. It must make clear if we have hit a boss and if our spell has succeeded. In other words, game art has a functional purpose.

Game Art also conveys to players important information on the world of the game, facilitating the immersion. If the music suddenly becomes ominous, we know that we are approaching a tough fight. And pieces of the environment can tell us a lot about the setting – this is called environmental storytelling. So, Game Art has a narrative function too.

Lastly, Game Art should be consistent, so that the game has a cohesive art style; it must look and sound appealing and believable in the context of the game. It must have attractive values to stimulate the players.

Game artists use various techniques to achieve these elements. There are different art pipelines for 2D and 3D games which have developed through the years and are still evolving along with technology. In the industry, game artists usually work as a team, collaborating under the supervision of an art director who follows the project from its conception to its completion.

Concept art, modelling and sculpting, rendering, shading, texturing and so on, are specific stages of an art pipeline. But each game and company have different structures. And there are also video games made by one artist only! Pixel art, cell shading, hand drawn, and hyperrealism are examples of art styles that a game might adopt.

Do you have questions about Game Art? Write them in the comments below!

If you want to know more about this subject: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFaOQQsM8KIRXT6oFyAD8Jw