Question about Wii graphics:
 

I am sorry if this has been covered already, but I was just curious about the Wii's graphics. How bad are they?

I have been getting more and more interested in possibly purchasing one (when I can), the only thing I am hesitatnt about is I am a little worried that the graphics will let me down some. I understand that it is not supposed to compete with the other consoles in this department, but are they worse than an original Xbox's graphics, are they about the same, or better?

Thanks for the advice guys, an in case it helps, I have a 55 inch rptv.

They are no worse than the Xbox, and future games will be even better.

Are you a graphics whore? Do you prefer shiny things to fun things?

Technically SuperBatMan is right, but so far there is no game to prove this. Zelda is hands down the best looking game, but it is a Gamecube game. There were no graphical enhancements for the Wii.

Right now the majority of the games are average looking just do to the games themselves? Monkey Ball, Rayman, WiiSports, etc. are all designed to look the way they do, they aren't meant to be superrealistic type games.

I just bought Excite Truck and the graphics are decent. I wouldn't say on par with Xbox, but damned it if it isn't so fun you immediately forget about it.

So it is a matter of the type of game, and most of what you see for the Wii are the 'fun' oriented games where graphics aren't the focus to begin with. Down the line though with Metroid Prime and hopefully some third parties, they should push the limits.

What it all boils down to: if you are a graphics whore and nothing but the best is worthy of your time, then you will be disappointed. If you like playing games to have fun, then the Wii is your system.

Monster 4 x 4 and Red Steel look like N64 games to me.

These are good points. I think I used to be moe of a graphics whore. Now I am not so sure. My friend has the 360 and I play Gears of War on his HDTV with him and it looks stunning. However, I can't help but feel a little a little let down, and I am not sure why. Maybe it is that it gets to a point where the improvements in the graphics stop mattering so much, or maybe my tastes have changed.

I am definitely looking for something more "fun" oriented and something that might get my wife to play and have fun too. I am certainly not a big time gamer or anything. The games I played the most on my Xbox were theMadden and Tony Hawk's series. So, I probably will be getting those if I get the Wii.

The Wii hype has gotten too me and it does seem like it would be a ton of fun...anyway, that is where my thinking is at right now. I just finshed up my graduate degree and now I would like to treat myself with a little bit of regressing and fun :)

This right here is your hang-up. Change your mindset because you've already convinced yourself that they can't possibly be good. Accept them for what they are. Mario and Miis don't need to be HD to have "good graphics".

I play on my wall, it's like 130" or so and it looks great. Not HD great, but with 480p I was pretty impressed with Zelda and Call of Duty 3. Don't expect amazing, but it's certainly not crap...

You haven't played an N64 game in a long time then.

As of right now, they are Gamecube quality and I doubt they ever get much past that. You may see Xbox quality eventually, but that isn't exactly a big feat.

With that said, if you're all about the graphics you'll be dissapointed. The Wii is not meant to be a graphics powerhouse, the idea is make an affordable console that gets EVERYONE into gaming.

Yep Gamecube quality, with maybe the potential to look like the best X-box 1 games at the most.

Doesn't bother me much, but I'd recommend any graphics whores to steer clear of the system and pick up a 360. The Wii will never have anything that looks as good as even the crappiest looking 360 or PS3 games.

I play on a 122" and better graphics are not a big deal to me. Mainly because Halo 2 will nearly make me throw up from motion sickness. :lol:

:) Yeah, I get a bit disoriented with some games (Metroid Prime 2). I just can't handle it when it's that big...

That's what she said! :rimshot:

rotfl

I still find Xbox1 graphics impressive. If they can release Wii games that look as good as Ninja Gaiden then the console will be as good as it ever needs to be in standard definition. I thought Zelda looked great and I only played it on the Cube. We will see a lot of Wii games like Wario Ware that don't require much in the way of graphics anyway.

Yep, like I said, I'm fine with it.

But people that want games that look as good as Gears of War will be disappointed as the Wii won't be able to approach those kind of graphics.

Still, a large part of the xbox ownership were the so called graphics whores, those that demand better graphics from their consoles. The type of people who bought an xbox instead of a ps2 (or as well as a ps2) just because it was perceived to be more powerful. So there was always a driving force for games to look good on the xbox.

However, when 90% of wii owners are perfectly happy with a game looking like wii sports, then I really can't see where the driving force is for developers to spend the extra money and effort to make games of Ninja Gaiden, or Halo 2 graphics calibre. Where's the incentive? Even the graphics whores who actually have wiis would also have a 360/ps3 so I can't see them beating the doors of nintendo down for better graphics.

Actually, I think this is for the better instead of the worse. Without the pressure to constantly outdo the last best game graphically, the developers can actually focus on making graphics that best complement the style of the game, instead of trying to make them hyper-real.

Agreed. As well as forcing them to spend more time making the gameplay fun and innovative rather than tweaking the graphics engine to make the game look as good as possible as the first priority.

And the vaster number of people that want games that are as fun as Wii Sports or Warioware will be disappointed as Gears of War won't be able to approach those kind of fun play mechanics. :)

Yes, The whole arrangement puts the focus squarely on the creative quality of the game, a focus sorely lacking in today's gaming marketplace.

I'm assuming you mean simple and fun, because Gears of War is a fuck of a lot of fun to play (especially coop) and I'm not generally a big fan of shooters. :D

Very doubtful.

The question was about grapics, not play mechanics (which is a lot more subjective than graphics).

Wasn't the Gamecube already able to pump out graphics close to what the Xbox could? I think the main thing holding it back is sticking with 480p as the max resolution.

Yeah, and sounds like everyone is pretty much in agreement with what I said, not a lot of incentive for developers to push the wii graphically like the orginal xbox was. -biggrin- Of course I was making no comment on gameplay or innovation, but that was fairly clear.

I still think there is an incentive for developers to push the limits of the Wii's hardware.

If graphics and hardware weren't big factors in gaming we'd still be playing NES's.

Not being rude, but where were you when the Revolution(Wii) was proposed? You have probably seen from the last generation what the Wii the best the Wii can do. As long as the group the the Wii is aim at likes that then it's no problem.

I still play a ton of NES and SNES games and enjoy them more than most every game today.

Graphics are a factor in upgrading systems, but it is getting to a point of diminishing returns and many people want fresh games more than fancy HD graphics.

That is the group Nintendo is after.

People that want the Fancy graphics have the 360 and PS3 to chose from, and Nintendo is not courting that group of gamers at all. At best, the Wii will be a second system for them.

Personally I hope the graphic whores steer clear of the Wii so we don't continue to be hounded with posts of "___________ game is awesome but looks like shit, this would be so much better on the 360/PS3" like we have with Zelda.

No, I have to agree with Astro. I don't think every Wii game will try to push the system, but I have no doubt there will be many titles that do. Sure it is no big deal for the Wii Sports and Wario Ware games, but games like Metroid Prime III are going to look pretty amazing and push the hardware. The Wii may not be a system for people wanting the best graphics, but I definitely see developers at least trying to push the graphics to the limits for certain titles, especially FPS games.

Oh, I agree some will. I was mainly arguing against the importance of graphics.

But its definitely not a system for graphics whores as the best Wii games will never look as good as games on the other two. It will have games that look good to those of us who were fine with the past gen graphics and didn't care for an HD upgrade and what have you. But the people drooling over Gears of War on their HDTVs (or even SDTVs as it looks sweet in either resolution) will never be impressed with any Wii games.

Yeah, like everyone else says, the Wii's graphics are shit. They look like a chimp escaped from the zoo and smeared it's feces all over the screen. But to put it in context, I've barely touched my 360 since I got the Wii. There is simply no comparison between the consoles. The gameplay is so much more fun and rewarding. If you don't have one, buy it. Buy it now!

rotfl
I total get your context, but I love the analogy.
I will say that after seeing many Xbox360 games played on a standard def TV, that the jump in graphics from the original Xbox is not that big of a deal. If you don't have an HDTV you will be pretty happy with the Wii and gameplay wise you will be happy either way.

After having played Red Steel and buying Excite Truck this weekend, I think that graphically pleasing games are quite possible on the Wii.

Say what you will about the gameplay mechanics of Red Steel, the graphics are pretty good for a first gen Wii-specific game. Reflective surfaces, nice particle effects and decent character models. While most people point to Zelda, the textures, characters models are severely lacking. But, it's art design is head and shoulders above all other launch games.

Excite Truck, with all the particle effects and morphing terrain stays locked at a silky smooth framerate. Far Cry sure would look better on this engine!!

So, while most games look like run of the mill GC games, I'm sure we'll see much better stuff from the developers as they start giving us more Wii-specific (from the ground up) games.

If the Wii's power really is slighty above that of the Xbox, they should be able to deliver some Doom 3/Black/Halo 2 level of graphics. That would be more than enough for me!

Have you seen Gears of War on a standard def TV? I had the same opinion until playing that at my friends last week on his big standard def TV.

None of the other gamed I'd played over there before impressed me a whole lot (CoD2, Marvel UA, Fight Night Round 3 etc.) but Gears was pretty jaw dropping even in standard def. But so far that has been the exception to the rule so your point stands for now.

Gears did give me some hope that I might actually end up wanting a 360 after a price drop and before getting an HDTV now though.

Agree with Josh about the diminishing returns on graphics. We've reached a self-defeating cycle with the same old games just SLIGHTLY prettier.

At any rate, the graphics really aren't the point anyway. It's all about the interface, and once you adjust to the Wii controller (it takes some time) it's really tough to go back to traditional controllers no matter how pretty the games are.

...at least that's been my experience.

I currently own a 360 & a Wii, and will probably be getting a PS3 in the next couple days (Mainly for BluRay), so if I sound like I'm bashing the Wii, at least I do have one to justify my post. Games can be fun without amazing graphics, but with this gen's consoles, shitty graphics shouldn't be an issue, as I feel that games should look incredible. The 360 has 'simple' graphic games through the dashboard, like PacMan, DigDug, etc..., but they can also stun you with games like Oblivion, Gears, Rainbow, etc... It just seems funny that people are making excuses for the poor graphics of the Wii by saying how original the games are. I myself would've rather paid $300-$400 for a Wii that could incorporate graphics with originality in games, but...

My BIGGEST complaint is audio. How in the Hell can every person (100's at least) in Oblivion carry on multiple conversations with you, but Zelda does nothing but grunt at you & try to improve your reading skill? We bought a Wii for our two boys at Xmas, 4 & 6, and honestly I get tired of hearing "Dad, what does this say?" from my 4 year old every two minutes. You can't, and shouldn't have to sit next to your child every minute he plays in case he needs to know what a game is saying, not in this generation of consoles. I don't neglect my kids, but when the shower curtain opens and a 4 year old says Dad, come tell me what the game is saying, it's a little frustrating.

I have my Wii connected via component to a 32" 16:9 LCD. With the Wii set to 480p, the jaggies are really bad on Zelda, and not too hot on Wii sports either.

This hasn't kept me from enjoying the games-I'm still addicted to bowling and golf. But I still think something is seriously wrong with the Wii's 480p 16:9 mode. Rayman didn't look quite so jagged, so that's something I guess.

:lol:
I understand where you're coming from, but Zelda is rated T for Teen. It's not meant for 4 & 6 year olds. yeah, it'd be nice to hear zelda and link talk, but I don't think it's going to happen, EVER. At least in our lifetimes.

very good point...

As much as the Wii graphics haven't been very impressive thus far, I want to see what can happen after a few months to a year of development. Look at what Gears of War looks like and it has been a year since the 360 came out. I'm not saying the Wii graphics will come close to the 360, but I bet games by next Christmas will look better than the original Xbox.

Hell, look at what the videos and screenies from Sonic and the Secret Rings are like for the Wii over at IGN.