We are getting closer to photo realistic graphics by each passing year, and it won't be long until we are there. Is this a good thing though? No, it isn't. There will be at least a period of time where Photo Realistic games might get shunned, and this is because of the Uncanny Valley:

"The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotics and 3D computer animation, which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers."

This will have a profound effect on video games! As it is now games like Uncharted, CoD, Battlefield and many, many more is trying to achieve photo realistic graphics, and provided that this hypothesis holds true these games are doomed to fail in the future!

Of course, this will only be the case for a while - maybe a generation - until we will achieve true photo realistic graphics, but then we'll have another question at hand: how will we react killing an enemy in the game that looks so real? What impact will this have on our psyches?

I for one, believe that the best ways to go for video games is to be just that; a video game. I don't think it'll be good for games to be as realistic as possible. What do you think?

This is what I mean:

There is something seriously disturbing with these pictures!

Discuss!

CGI-Quality said: Depends on the game/circumstances/goals of the dev. Certain games work well will closer-to-real-life visuals. No, not every game needs them, but if a market can exist for these types of games with stylized visuals, I see no reason why more realistic game graphics can't have their place. That's the problem I see with many in the industry (gamers, journalists, and some devs alike), when something work, we suddenly think it should be done away with for "fear" that's it's going to impair the market. As for what The Uncanny Valley is, you're preaching to the choir.

I thought I'd find you here.

As for myself, I'm in "graphics are fine the way they are now" camp. That's not to say I would shun better graphics, it's not a big deciding factor in my gaming decisions.

Stopped reading when I read that COD was close to photo-realism.

All i wish is that more developers would move away from the "real is brown" camp.

Uncharted and Call of Duty are definitely not trying to achieve photo realistic graphics. Uncharted is filled with vibrant colors and has a unique art style where Call of Duty is on the realistic side it is just ugly and hasn't been upgraded for years. Battlefield 3 took a step in the right direction. Look up photo realistic games on youtube for PC. We are already pretty much there with extreme high end PC's. For consoles another decade or so, maybe more and I doubt if they will get shunned. However devs will need to find new ways to innovate because if it is a copy and paste format of game play then people will grow bored and move on. The games with the good graphics will no longer stand out but the ones with good artistic styles.

Would you be happier and continue to read on if I edited that part out? :p

That's an interesting topic and there is some merit to your points, but I also think that the struggle for photo realistic graphics in games also has shown some interesting side effects already in the game industry. Given that photo realism tends to go with high production values (AAA game development), I think that it has altered the value of games as a whole. I am not a fan of big budget prodcutions because of the emphasis on graphics over game play. That's not to say that all games are like this and there are some AAA style games that I like, but I generally think that in those games there is very little to differentiate one title from the next as they seem to regurgitate one type of gameplay where the only unique quality between titles is the character models and worlds themselves. 

Perhaps that has more to do with how long it takes to produce these high quality visuals and inevitably that struggle will lead to technology that makes producing that level of detail easier, but my general conclusion on that matter is that all this tech has just made the big budget studios lazy and its entirely plausible that game quality will suffer because of the technology...time will tell though.

@Bolded and the real world isn't? ;)

My point was that photo realistic games trying to emulate human looks will get shunned (at least for a while) because we humans don't take kindly to things that ALMOST looks human :p

I don't really want photo realistic graphics in most of the game genres I play.

To me, what is most important to improve are:

- the landscape draw distance (how far you see before graphics fade)

- the quality of the animations (how well they blend, how natural they look, etc...)

- how properly smooth the polygonal material looks (how round are the shapes that are supposed to be round and the likes)

- and of course, I want a frame rate that never drops (be it either 30 or 60, as long as it's locked!)

So graphics may or may not be photo realistic. In fact, I quite enjoy the art style/direction side of a production. So to me, photo realistic or not is a non issue, as long as the stuff I mentioned are properly handled.

That being said, game like racing sim (Forza, GT5) really benefit from a photo realistic approach. And I wouldn't want these games any other way. In fact, they're really not quite there yet (they need to do a lot of extra work on the stuff that aren't the cars).

I myself prefer the more stylized and colourful graphics than just those trying to imitate the real world. I am sure some games would work well. Uncharted and Last of Us despite looking really good have that perfect blend in there where it feels it is not a movie. Those mods people put to make games realistic don't appeal to me. It just seems a bit bizarre and shooting a very realistic person is not something i am desensitized for yet.