Monday, December 05, 2005
Plastic Zombie People in 360 Games
Citing the haunting depiction of screen siren Naomi Watts in King Kong, author Clive Thompson muses on the botched photorealism that games (and this latest gen specifically) show when it comes to the human condition. The effect, Thompson points out, is called "Uncanny Valley" and concerns the realism of human depiction escalating as the complexity with which they are created is reduced. Meaning simple sketches are more realistic to us, because when things get too real, we're distracted by their minor flaws. With this early crop of 360 games, Thompson argues that we're plunged back into this Valley, his optimism about getting out is resigned to future generations of consoles, mine is left with CliffyB's Gears of War.
Don't let us down, Cliffy!
Monsters of Photorealism [Wired]
