TempestOne wrote:"I think they look fine," is in the category I'm in
Lol yeah.
TempestOne wrote:I think the pics just look off because you can view them online via internet vs. seeing them in magazines.
Whoooa... I can't help it, but you've got quite some ideas there, TempestOne
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
Half of me agrees, the other half disagrees... it's kinda complicated, the whole thing you mention about darker graphics of the past, or magazine screenshots... BUT:
1. Yes there are old games that get remade, and even make the graphics brighter with stronger colors, FFVI being one.
On SNES it was a bit darker than on GBA. But was this good? Nop. They only made it brighter cause the GBA's screen (model 1) was not backlit, so it needed that brightness boost. Then, on a model 2, or DS, it looked washed-out. That's just 1 example though... Another thing is, today we have enough dark shooter FPS games and "horror" resident evil and silent hill-like games, and some people actually get tired of this and request brighter games. You wouldn't believe me on this unless you see the petitions x)
But in general, there were as many bright games back then as there are now. Dont you remember all those platformers and fighting games? Also there are actually a lot more dark games now... It's kind of irrelevant... I mean, I went to a GameStop one day, and the library of PS3 they had there made it seem as if the PS3 had ONLY dark themed games, no older console, I think, had as many dark games.
2. As for the magazines... man, what can I tell you. In magazines, some magazines give contrast to pictures!
Besides, the colors printed on paper are almost never as accurate as on a screen. It might actually fool people. So, it's BETTER to have screenshots online. Do you know why? Download the iphone screenshots to your iphone, and view it. You see 100% how the game will look. No foolery or trickery!
3. Sprites: they are lame-ish. And it hurts me to say it. They may be HD, but they look as if they were made by someone who just recently learned to do graphics. The old pixel-art, as pixely as it may have been, each dot was placed carefully and professionally, with colors also very well picked. Nostalgia goggles are 1 thing, but let's take a look at FF5 sprites without the goggles on.
SNES Concept:
http://imageshack.us/a/img802/9093/jwx9.jpg
SNES Sprite:
http://imageshack.us/a/img600/9465/z7oy.png
iOS Sprite:
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4254/r1gi.jpg
Why is his chest sticking out SO much? It looks way too silly.
Why can his hand touch his boots?
Why are his arms so skinny?
Why are the colors so plain? The shading is there, but it's vague and redundant when compared with the older sprite.
It was supposed to look better than the PSP Final Fantasies...
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7219/i493.jpg
Edit: So to answer your question about "what players are looking for anyway", they are looking for something not less good looking than the PSP games. Or at least some sprites similar to these:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9198/3v5n.jpg
Notice how they are bigger, more detailed, yet used basically the same style? There were a few games like this that had a better style idea.
The only thing that can make up for it are the backgrounds and the good quality sound!