Saturday, September 10, 2011

GC Graphics vs. Wii (Or A Matter of Substance)

I haven't really looked up the system specs or any such, but I've played a few GameCube games and a good many Wii games. I missed the GC when it was still a modern console, so I occasionally like to pick up some of the better games for it and play them on my Wii. They're all pretty cheap now, which is just fantastic, especially when you get the point I'm about to.

The Wii is probably capable of delivering better graphics than its predecessor, but there's a matter of style to be concerned with here. Nintendo was still courting those so-called "hardcore" gamers with the GameCube. Graphics were a high priority, and this is why the GameCube was designed to deliver better graphics than the PS2.

But with Wii, do they really even care? Is it important for Wii Music to be groundbreaking? From the outset, Nintendo had opted to abandon their traditional market. Too many folks had bought PS2s and Xboxes, and I think they thought the ship was going downhill. It's unfortunate, especially since their new plan involved implementing crappy motion controls.

If you compare Wii titles to GameCube titles, the difference is almost always breathtaking. Compare GameCube titles like Zelda: The Wind Waker or Resident Evil 4 to some of the casual games like Mario and Sonic at the Olympics or Wii Play Motion. The difference is that developers are not trying as hard with graphics.

Even with some of the "hardcore" Wii games like Black Ops, the graphics seem to have been done sort of hastily. It certainly doesn't look as good as some of the comparable GameCube titles to it.

Maybe, with the Wii-U, we'll see a return to the graphical quality Nintendo was known for for so long. Here's hoping.

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