Escaping the World: High and Low Resolution in Gaming

Abstract

Advances in graphics have done more than just revolutionize the computer game industry-graphics themselves have come to define the entire industry, surpassing even gameplay as the singular identifying characteristic of all games, regardless of genre. These spectacular developments are even more remarkable when we consider the almost ruthless constraints imposed by an industry needing to deliver high performance to a demanding computer-savvy group of users. A core issue involves low- versus high-resolution graphics. As multimedia technologies continue to mature, the debate between high and low resolution takes on more urgency. What is the most effective way to convey an emotion or information? Is it just pure realism or is it an artistic device? Always searching for the most effective way to provide an immersive experience, game developers still have no consensus on what rendered graphics should really look like. This article provides insight into the game industry as well as discussing this topic in the context of other visual media such as art and film.