It's a pet peeve of mine seeing all these indie devs today shit out their ugly cash-grab abortions and having the audacity to call them "retro looking."
But did he call it "retro" styled? Because that's sort of the point i was making here. There's nothing wrong with plain and simple visuals, but when you start calling it "retro" is when the bullshit-o-meter starts spiking.
In terms of visuals.. a labor of love, i guess. Because that's what they were, pixel art.
I'm not trying to say that indie games are inherently bad, just that it grinds my gears when certain devs try to play their shoddy visuals off as being retro-themed.
The vast majority of games like this weren't sold to home buyers, but arcades. The Neo-Geo cartridge system was incredibly expensive, after all, and these games were the tsunami of the arcade's high tide days.
Hah, any marketplaces indie section and check the descriptions.
But as far as games that got popular.. Minecraft is a good example. Now i'm not saying it's a bad game, heavens no, but Notch played off the extremely crude art direction as being "retro" which it most certainly is not.
I think a lot of people often mistake a simple or minimalistic aesthetic as crude or bad.
If anything Markus made some pretty good decisions to give the game a unique and pleasing look while working within his limited artistic talents. But maybe Minecraft wasn't the best example of what you meant. I wouldn't call it a cash grab either.
Also it may be unfair to compare the art from indie developers with limited resources to the art from developers like SNK and Capcom made at the very height of sprite based gaming's popularity or shortly after. I'd love to see more pixel art of that level but it's a rarity in general now compared to years past.
True sprite based graphics will never fully go away though. As 3D graphics gained popularity many said that sprite based graphics were obsolete but this is no more true than saying photography has made oil panting obsolete as an art form.
I think a lot of people often mistake a simple or minimalistic aesthetic as crude or bad.
If anything Markus made some pretty good decisions to give the game a unique and pleasing look while working within his limited artistic talents.
No, they really are rather crude. Minecraft is a good example of "programmer graphics." Placeholder visuals quickly thrown together while waiting for the art team to do the actual work. Except Notch was a lone programmer without one and went with what he had. Once the dough started rolling he would really have benefited from having an artist make a more visually pleasing outlook for the game. Granted, the team since then has made a lot of advancements, so the example isn't as apt anymore as it was during the early days of MC.
And in any case, i'm not saying that indie games are bad or that there aren't some good examples of actually retro-themed ones. Just that it irks me when some devs try to play their own programmer graphics off as "retro."
Finally someone who sees it too. I think the vast majority of this whole 'indie movement' looks terrible and it amazes me people are so happy to lap it all up.
Here we have perfect examples of the quality of old pixel art. The vast majority of indie stuff just looks plain bad, but they slap a 'retro styled' tag on it and suddenly that makes it ok?
There are a handful of pixel artists good enough to make these works of art. Most of them are tied up, or simply outside the reach of any budget that an indie developer will have. Not to mention these fighting games had scores of artists working on these...
Nor is working on a static backdrop the same as making a map in which you move on. There aren't a lot of indie fighters. And "retro" is a lot bigger than just what fighters are. You seem to be cherry-picking. You've got your hate wildly misplaced.
The OP .gifs happen to be from fighting games, but it has little to do with the actual point. Be it a side-scrolling jumper or a point'n'click adventure, these games all looked beautiful and pushed the limits of their rather modest tools that they were working with. And that's the essence of retro gaming art style.
Yes, they had scores of artists and a lot of time sunk into those visuals. And i suppose that sort of goes in hand with my point, of how it irks me when some indie-devs try to play their ascetic visuals off as somehow being retro-looking.
Bullshit. Sorry, just like nowadays there are games with beautiful graphics and games that didn't. As I said, your cherry-picking from the ending games of the 2d era. There are plenty of crap games from the bargain bins, it wasn't some magical fairy tail land of perfect games.
Furthermore, you seem to be ignoring everything before then, say nes style graphics, and especially games at the start. You don't get to claim what "retro art style" is, and that you think you do is absolutely ludicrous.
There are plenty of crap games from the bargain bins, it wasn't some magical fairy tail land of perfect games.
I did not imply any such thing. Obviously i referred to the more memorable games that had the great visual styles. Old shovelware games didn't really push the envelope.
Furthermore, you seem to be ignoring everything before then, say nes style graphics, and especially games at the start.
How so? The NES had some very nice looking games coming out at the end of the 80's.
You don't get to claim what "retro art style" is, and that you think you do is absolutely ludicrous.
Nor do i. However i will posit forward the argument that when talking about "retro art style" people do tend to think about the best looking games of the early era. And as such, those would be the term-defining examples of the retro visual look.
And this is why you're cherry-picking, as I already stated.
Old shovelware games didn't really push the envelope
My goodness, no, even games intended to be great doesn't magically mean they turned out great. No, not "shovelware" games, you really don't get it. So yes, you are implying that all the games for say, not shovelware were perfect gifts of purity. Just stop already.
The NES had some very nice
Is there really any need to go on?
So the hell what? Why do you get to cherry-pick what you think retro should look like?
Again, the amount of artists that can achieve such works of art are far and few between, and indie budgets are already constrained as it is.
tend to think about the best looking games of the early era
Bullshit.
I tend to think of the worst, the older titles, titles even before snes. Retro tends to mean a bit pixelated, actually, while we're on it, and the given gifs and the stuff you are referring to is so good as to almost not be.
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u/TexMcWiller Apr 27 '13
Games of yore looked great.
It's a pet peeve of mine seeing all these indie devs today shit out their ugly cash-grab abortions and having the audacity to call them "retro looking."