MTV Multiplayer: Is Nintendo A Graphics Leader?
This entry was posted on 4/4/2007 5:43 PM and is filed under Lists of Great Things,MTV News Multiplayer,Wii Surprises,Old Games,NES surprises,GameCube.
If you were asked to name a game development company that really pushes video game graphics to a new level, would Nintendo be even your fifth choice?
They wouldn't be on my top list. At least I didn't think so until the spectacular art-design of "Super Paper Mario" for the Wii took hold of my senses. I played just one level of my advance copy of the game yesterday and left a bit shook. Since when did Nintendo really break ground with graphics and do it was such panache? This had to be the topic of an MTV Multiplayer. And so it was on Wednesday.
May I share some?
Nintendo isn't known as a graphics company. It's a company that puts gameplay -- and profit margins -- first by often releasing hardware less powerful than the competition: a DS instead of a PSP; a Wii instead of a PS3. Nintendo's sales haven't suffered, but neither has the company developed a reputation for pushing graphics. That claim has gone to companies like former Nintendo studio Rare, "Gears of War" maker Epic, "Lair" developer Factor 5, Sony's "Gran Turismo" team, "Final Fantasy" company Square, Team Ninja of "Ninja Gaiden" fame and "Doom" developers Id.
"Super Paper Mario" may prove how valuable smart art design is over processor-pushing graphics, but it's a decidedly rare showpiece for a company not big on promoting visuals. That got me thinking that maybe I had missed something. Maybe Nintendo employed better graphics people than I thought. Maybe there have been visual innovators all along at the company? My world was turned upside down, and to right it I decided to do what always needs to be done to put things in perspective: I created a list. This is my first pass at the five best-looking Nintendo games I have ever played:
- "Yoshi's Island": Mario and Yoshi's world scribbled in crayon
- "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker": An ocean adventure slickly rendered as a hand-drawn cartoon
- "Metroid Prime": A realistically rendered, alien-infested planet covered with striking, distinct architecture
- "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess": A beautiful landscape that's home to a cast of charismatic, quasi-realistic characters
- "Donkey Kong": A stark, simple, classically designed pile of girders
That's my list. As the piece goes on I share the lists from Nintendo experts Kevin Cassidy of Go Nintendo fame and Matthew Green of Advanced Media Network and Press The Buttons renown.
So I'm really not kidding when I say there's much more worth reading at the link above. Their lists are different than mine. The nerve of them.
