Friday, June 8, 2012

HIgh-End Graphics

A little trend in gaming you may have noticed (I say tongue-in-cheek) is high-end graphics. Game consoles are always pushing the envelope as today's Engadget post about the Unreal Engine 4 rendering standard attests. And look at all those people who now spend less time in Second Life because of Skyrim. You can't tell me that the the gorgeous graphics are not a big part of the reason that game is popular (2011s most popular game, says Raptr). Is there a contingent that "play" Second Life that see the need for console-like or Skyrim-like graphics?

I'd say so. Yesterday's New World Notes post by Iris Ophelia is an example. Or look at the various SL groups on Flickr (such as the SL9B group). Quite a few people are genuinely interested in having the best possible quality images in Our  World. Could increasing the quality of graphics in Second Life be the solution to declining populations? Looking at the rest of the gaming world, it just might.

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