Photo-realism or not?

Something that has intrigued me of late has been the movement of video-gaming towards photo-realistic graphics. From a gaming experience point of view what do gamers actually prefer? Is it an environment as real as the outside world, or an environment that exhibits high levels of detail but is still recognizable as something synthesized. For myself, I prefer the latter but I would be interested to find out what other members of the forum think about this.

Regards
Wayne Densley
The Graveyard Shift
 
I think the answer might depend on the level of the gamer. For example, I'm a very casual gamer and would be just as happy playing the 1980-something version of Pitfall! on my X-Box versus my brother who spends thousands of dollars every couple of years to replace his home gaming PC "rig" system. For me photo-realistic graphics in a game will evoke a "Woah!" response when playing but it certainly isn't needed while for my brother the more FPS he can squeeze out of a game like Halo, the better.
 
I see games as art and I rather play something that displays an unique style and work, rather than scans, I know scanning humans and environments is today thing, but... For me... Hand made art...
 
I haven't seen any computer created environment in video games or film that I would call "photo realistic". Especially since the movement physics is so obviously wrong.
 
Don't ask me, I only play halflife2, unreal awakening and Doom3.

Recently I found out they were making a Doom 2 movie.
So, I had to dust off Doom (the rock) and load up Doom 3 on the pc.
LOL
 
I'm pretty much in agreement with Wolf0. I just don't like things having excessive detail - I also think it can more easily lead to less imaginative design (though this isn't a given).

When I read, the only things which a photo-realistic are "gritty" contemporary crime stories, and stories where characters are hooked up to a "grittily realistic" virtual reality - i.e. both possibly symbolic in my mind for being stuck in a very drab version of reality!
 
I just don't like things having excessive detail - I also think it can more easily lead to less imaginative design (though this isn't a given).
Thinking back on the last several games I've played I've come to realize that I don't care for "realistic" detailed games where the main objective is killing human characters. Detailed 'realistic' games fighting aliens, robots, and other things that go bump in the night? No problem, let's start blasting. Games like the Battlefield franchise? I'll pass.
 
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