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Minecraft does not appeal to me because of the graphics.

I'll warn you that I'll be rather harsh in my descriptions.

I'm not someone who normally thinks that a game has to have "good graphics" to be "good," but the graphics in Minecraft are so blocky and unnatural looking, that I'm surprised so few people are deterred by the ugly looking graphics. If I had to describe the graphics, I'd say they were depressing, and purely industrial in nature, with none of an artist's personality shining through.

It makes N64 games look passable by comparison, I'd happily play those instead.

In other words, I never made an attempt to play Minecraft, because I dislike the graphics. At least they could have made it like the early Tomb Raider games, I found those graphics more tolerable.

That's just my opinion, though. What do you think?
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
It makes N64 games look passable by comparison, I'd happily play those instead.
I can remember the N64 being a game changer when it came to video graphics. So Minecraft looks okay to me.
As a disclaimer, I haven't played it but I seen a 9yo spend half a day on [in?] it.
Seems to me that construction not graphic style is the selling point.
In truth I don't like most modern games that have "people" in them, [for me] they still haven't escaped uncanny valley. Their faces look flat and dead, no matter how accurate the movements and expressions are.
Racing games usually get it better to my eyes as the physics is now all but spot on and flying gravel doesn't need much facial expression.
 
In truth I don't like most modern games that have "people" in them, [for me] they still haven't escaped uncanny valley. Their faces look flat and dead, no matter how accurate the movements and expressions are.

Would games with more cartoony graphics appeal to you?

P.S. I mention Tomb Raider because the games used to have rather blocky environments, but it's not as extreme as Minecraft.
 
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Rkcapps

Sage
Don't get me started on Minecraft! I write from the perspective of a parent- dreadful graphics! But, I must admit, a clever concept. Doesn't interest me but I understand how kids love it.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Would games with more cartoony graphics appeal to you?
P.S. I mention Tomb Raider because the games used to have rather blocky environments, but it's not as extreme as Minecraft.
Cartoons and a more animated style is okay. Probably because you know its limitations and it isn't pretending to be "real". Maybe we are only a year or two away from film quality graphics in games and then I'll fall back in love with them.
I liked TR when it was all [ahem] unfeasable body shapes but lost interest when the graphics got "better".

Don't get me started on Minecraft! I write from the perspective of a parent- dreadful graphics! But, I must admit, a clever concept. Doesn't interest me but I understand how kids love it.
I put it down to kids wanting, needed control. Parents, teachers, all adults really, control their world apart from this little [or not so little] bit of it. Back in the day, I used to spend days playing with Lego... apart from being on a computer there is no difference that I can see... I'd build fleets of spaceships for epic battles, or entire villages to be trampled by monsters.
 
Cartoons and a more animated style is okay. Probably because you know its limitations and it isn't pretending to be "real". Maybe we are only a year or two away from film quality graphics in games and then I'll fall back in love with them.

Speaking of cartoons, the Iron Giant had a robot that looked hand drawn but was actually a 3D model. They used special rendering software to slightly wobble the lines. I wonder why no video game ever implemented that idea.
 

Laggy

Acolyte
Having a very weak laptop, I generally am stuck playing what few games I can run. Minecraft has terrible graphics, yes. But I do believe graphics are the least important thing in a game. Its gameplay is superb, and if you're lucky enough to find a good multiplayer community like I did (which, admittedly, is quite hard considering most of the fanbase is 12-13 year olds) then you'll be in for a ride. I was on it for a bit more than a year. Admittedly, that was more because of the people I met through the game than the game itself, but nevertheless I do have fond memories attached to the game.
 

wirehead

Acolyte
Minecraft is kinda cool because it is modeling a world where each "atom" is a block and behavior emerges. Whereas most of the other games, especially blocky games the days of yore, were modelling the world as a bunch of objects, without the vague potential for emergent behavior. Without the ability to dig to the bottom of the world and stuff. Pretty much in the same way that lego castles and lego spaceships have launched a zillion fantasy and science fiction minds.

There's better, less blocky, more complex ways to solve the same problem. I... um... end up doing a bit of this as my day job. You can solve all sorts of engineering problems by dividing something up into Minecraft-style blocks. But the blocky graphics get the job done and make it so that you can run it on a fairly crappy PC.

I was avoiding it because it seemed like a great way to lose months of brainpower, but I've lately switched to generalized hatred of Notch's politics in the larger context of videogame politics. Even if, to be fair, I'm still avoiding it because I'd totally spend months playing it incessantly.
 
Minecraft never appealed to me to. I bought it several years ago, and I get on it occasionally to see updates. But I could never get overly interested in the gameplay like others do.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Were you a horny teenager back then? :eek:

Dude, I am still a horny teenager.

I don't think its really fair to knock TR because of its graphics. In fact it really not fair to judge any of those games based on their look. TR had the best graphics of its day and pioneered some of its own. If it had gotten made at a later date, I am sure it would have used whatever was most suitable graphics at the time. TR succeeded on many levels, and at the time, its renditions of living things were as good or better than anything else crafted in that era. TR was visually interesting, but more so the game play was engaging and immersive. There was a lot puzzle solving and an expansive environment. I think if I was to play it new today, I would probably lose some of the sense of awe, as many things have come out since with larger and more true to life spaces, but I suspect I could still find it interesting.

I did give up on Tomb Raiser though. Not really because I lost interest, but I just ran out of energy to spend on video games. The last one I started looked very cool, but I found I was getting puzzles that had me finding creative ways to setup the keyboard and memorize a bunch of character actions which I found daunting and did not have the time to devote to. Same thing happened to me with Dead Space, which was the last Game I had played through till the end. Dead Space three was becoming just too many new controls to learn. Anyway...

I think Mine Craft has the same appeal as Lego's, and Legos are not exactly true to life either. I think it gives kids a platform to go and build whatever they can imagine in a medium they enjoy. Nuff said.

If I may add, I think we have come to a time in cinema where this is nothing that can be imaged that CGI cannot put on screen. But I have a new term. I call it CGI boring. I find I get bored with all the impossible action and CGI fests on screen. I am sorry, but cool visual colorful fast paced explosive CGI action does not top good story, and true artistry. I could do with less CGI please.
 
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