Wired News: Monsters of Photorealism

Clive Thompson is the latest author to delve into the subject of photorealism in games, and specifically how the drive to create photorealistic characters drops us into something called "the uncanny valley" ... a subject about which I have already discussed at some length (don't be fooled by my nom de plume).

Photorealism is fool's gold. The best games will never be the ones that attempt to recreate our world; the best games will always be the ones that create new worlds and the rules that govern them. That's not to say that a photorealistic game can't be successful, but to arrive at that level where a game could be considered art, you're not going to achieve that level trying to copy reality.

It's no surprise that some of my favorite games (The Wind Waker, Beyond Good & Evil) are not photorealistic, but instead make you feel like they are real.