Metal Gear Solid: nice concept art
As in any many other media, the familiar has far more chance of financial reward than the unusual.
Consider, for example, the uniquely fluid art style used in the widely seen concept art for the Metal Gear Solid games.
Konami may have been happy to use it on the box cover but there has never been any attempt to replicate the same style in the actual games.
"Retro-style pixelated art or simplified vector graphics often manage to slip through the imposed blandness filters."
The most common catalyst for any attempt to create something visually unique is when taking a cue from history.
Retro-style pixelated art or simplified vector graphics often manage to slip through the imposed blandness filters installed on other games.
As a marriage of graphics and music, Rez on the Dreamcast and PS2 is rightly lauded as one of the most successful in gaming history, with its stark, computerised imagery and synaesthesia-inducing interactive soundtrack.
Darwinia
British indie developers Introversion Software have ploughed similar fields with their purposefully retro looking titles Darwinia and Defcon.
Despite their technical simplicity, these games create a far more distinctive and memorable atmosphere than other games with their high dynamic range lighting and parallax mapped textures.
6th March 2007
