Aging Gamer: Graphics

When I had my hot little hands on that rectanglular NES controller, graphics were pretty pathetic. Basically, there was little blocks on the screen, and you discerned that you were a little plumber stomping on things, and saving a princess that was always in a different castle. I was eight though, so it didn’t really phase me as I happily hopped over things and destroyed blocks. As time progressed, graphics slowly got better as well, and with each new generation my eyes lit up and took in the amazing images that fluttered across the screen. Now to me, I didn’t really see much difference in the changes as the years went by. I don’t know why, but to me I could play Metal Gear Solid on the PS and be just as happy as playing Ground Zeroes, I notice the difference but I am not rebuffed by it. Why? I know not.


One could equate this to the frog on a frying pan. If you place a frog on a frying pan and slowly increase the temperature the frog will sit there until it burns to death due to the gradual change. However, when a frog is thrown into a hot frying pan it will jump out to the best of its ability. That’s how I see the graphics improvement, to me at least. I was that frog, slowly simmering in better and better graphics every few years, and I didn’t realize the magic that was happening around me. I mean, I knew and understood that graphics were getting better along with controls, but it just didn’t make a huge impact on me. That is, until very recently. I happened to get a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and after two installs and one update I was able to finally play through some of the campaign missions in the remastered versions of Halo and Halo 2. I remember reading that if you press a button the graphics will change to the original and you can play on them as well. I played the Pillar of Autumn about five times flashing back and forth between the graphics, and even though 343 Studios didn’t buff this version up like it did Halo 2, it was still an eye opener. Halo was remastered for the 360 on its tenth anniversary, and just jumping between a graphical leap of ten years alongside how much it has improved was pretty mind boggling.
I did the same with Halo 2, which was remastered specifically for this collection on the Xbox One and I was blown away again. Like a frog being dropped into a hot skillet I couldn’t believe what I really didn’t capture at first. The graphical change has been extremely significant as well as extremely beautiful. It is still hard for me to see the difference between current gen and next gen, even as I stare at Solid Snake. However, I know it is there, and as the generation progresses it will only get better. Just looking at the transition from Halo 3 to Halo 4 was a huge jump, and that was only a couple of years. The best is yet to come, and I personally cannot wait.