When The Legend of Zelda hit the Nintendo Famicon in 1986, it was heralded for its vast adventure and sensational graphics. How things have changed in 21 years. If a game was released today and looked like that, it would be blasted, even if it came out for the freaking GBA.


This got me thinking. The Zelda series has gone from this:















To this:












In just twenty-one years. It's gone from being a few pixels on a screen (with slowdown, nontheless) to being a fully realized, life-like world, in just 21 years. Two decades. From a 2D world with like, four characters in it (not including those dang talking Moblins) to a 3D universe with dozens and dozens of people in it, all who have their own personalities and purposes.

Even more impressive is Metal Gear's evolution. What started as Hideo Kojima's baby in 1987 originally looked like this on the MSX:















This year, Konami will release the latest (last?) game in the series, that will look like this:












I could go on for a few more series, but you get the point. In just a few short decades, video games have grown from looking like, well, crap, to looking like the above pic. This gets me wondering about what games will look like twenty years from now.

I've always believed that game developers will never make games look absolutely real. It's not that they'll never have the technology, it's that if games looked as good as real life, they would be too boring. We like Oblivion because it allows us to explore a fantastic world that looks like ours (except for the hellish areas), but also has its own visual style. It's for that reason that games will always look a little off; they'll never look as good as our world, and it'll be on purpose. If they did, gamers might be forced to get their entertainment elsewhere, either through films, or by simply going outside. I mean, if games start looking 100% real, you may as well go see the real deal, right? Or at least just look at a video/picture of it...













This raises the question: how far can devs go with the visuals in games? Personally, I think games will get better in more nontraditional ways. Imagine an NBA game where every single fan is a full polygon model. Imagine a GTA game that allows you to go into every room of every building in the city. Just think of an adventure game that didn't rely on invisible walls to corral you. I really feel that this might be the next big step in game graphics. Rather than improving the main character's aesthetics, I think the next big revolution will be opening up the world around that character (even more than devs already have).


What will games look like when Gears of War's graphics are obsolete?







Of course, the other way devs can go with graphics is the artistic way. While I still don't treat games as "art" (I'll talk about that at a later date), no one can deny that game devs can at least use art to create their various fictional worlds. You may recall, earlier in this post, when I said that devs would purposefully make graphics a little off. Well, I'll be looking forward to what they can come up with when they make them look waaaaaaay off. Either way, the future of video game visuals, either realistic or not, should be exciting to see. See you in 21.

Will Nintendo once again make a cel-shaded Zelda for consoles? I'd bet money.