With all due respect, I feel like you’re only thinking of Marvel films if you think CGI has become noticeably worse since Avatar. I’m very confident you’ve watched movies with fully CG characters in scenes and didn’t notice they weren’t real - something not possible a decade earlier
Which is why I put “peak” in quotes. They’re more like spikes in capability. The techniques developed for Avatar (virtual cinematography for one) are widely used today, they’re just not the focus like in a movie about giant blue humanoids on an alien planet.
The next major innovation will become the standard and we’ll think the same thing. “Man, nothing has blown me away like [movie that invented something]”
Which is why I put “peak” in quotes. They’re more like spikes in capability.
Well I would definitely agree with that, things are not linear.
Right now we live in a time of hidden gems and lacklustre AAA. The actual underlying technology has gotten better, but overall due to increase investor pressure and general focus on safe bets, we get mostly meh content while the great technology and creativity available goes to waste.
I hope the next spike is just around the corner but we are during times of low innovation, so I think the economic drive needs to be there first.
I’m with you there on AAA games but I think there’s been another shift happening you didn’t mention, too - people realizing that indie games with “bad” graphics can be extremely fun which cuts into the AAA sales.
Don’t kill me but I think the next huge breakthrough in gaming is going to involve AI, not graphics…but it’s not going to come from a major studio. Some dedicated group of developers are going to figure out how to use advanced LLMs in an RPG to allow players to go beyond the main storyline.
But that’s because the quality was as good as it’s ever been so far.
The example I’m saying is that it peaked, as in it got noticeably better, and then noticeably worse for at least a decade.
It’s not the same example.
With all due respect, I feel like you’re only thinking of Marvel films if you think CGI has become noticeably worse since Avatar. I’m very confident you’ve watched movies with fully CG characters in scenes and didn’t notice they weren’t real - something not possible a decade earlier
Which is why I put “peak” in quotes. They’re more like spikes in capability. The techniques developed for Avatar (virtual cinematography for one) are widely used today, they’re just not the focus like in a movie about giant blue humanoids on an alien planet.
The next major innovation will become the standard and we’ll think the same thing. “Man, nothing has blown me away like [movie that invented something]”
Well I would definitely agree with that, things are not linear.
Right now we live in a time of hidden gems and lacklustre AAA. The actual underlying technology has gotten better, but overall due to increase investor pressure and general focus on safe bets, we get mostly meh content while the great technology and creativity available goes to waste.
I hope the next spike is just around the corner but we are during times of low innovation, so I think the economic drive needs to be there first.
I’m with you there on AAA games but I think there’s been another shift happening you didn’t mention, too - people realizing that indie games with “bad” graphics can be extremely fun which cuts into the AAA sales.
Don’t kill me but I think the next huge breakthrough in gaming is going to involve AI, not graphics…but it’s not going to come from a major studio. Some dedicated group of developers are going to figure out how to use advanced LLMs in an RPG to allow players to go beyond the main storyline.