http://player.ooyala.com/player.swf?embedCode=J3ZjliMjq5Ej-niLYqOkTNRvZdER2FCw&version=2
Epic Games showed off a video last week at GDC that reminded people just how much the ancient Xbox 360 hardware is holding back the development of shiny graphics technology. And even though Microsoft has seemingly begun work on its next console, in the near- to medium-term we’ll be looking to the PC for any sort of development when it comes to improvements in graphics technology. (Or did you think the likes of the Nvidia GTX 590 and AMD Radeon 6000 series are stressed by games like Call of Duty: Black Ops?) Anyhow, embedded here is the video in its entirety in reasonable quality.
The video’s a little on the violent side, so you might want to wait until you get home if such things are frowned up at work or in class or whatever.
The idea is to have games running in real time looking like that. Current console hardware clearly won’t be able to render that type of scene at any sort of modern resolution, but the hope is that today’s over-powered GPUs can at least start approaching that level of realism.
Now all we need is a developer to not go for the low hanging console fruit, like what Crytek did with the first Crysis. Battlefield 3 will probably be the first came in a long, long time to make you say, “Wow…”
Keep in mind I have just as much fun playing isometric RPGs like Planescape: Torment and Arcanum (which just so happen to be available on Good Old Games), or even the old Final Fantasy games, so it’s not like I’m a graphics mark or anything. It’s just frustrating to see the technology’s development strangulated by current console hardware. Excelsior, and so forth.