Faith from Mirror's Edge is a character that stands out in the gaming world. Not because she is unnaturally beautiful or scantily clad, but because she is realistic. She has a face that you could see while walking down the street (barring the tattoos of course) and clothing that could be picked up at your local sports store.
But is this what gamers want to see? Do they prefer realism over style?
When an artist recently edited a picture of Faith to make her fit into what he called "Asia's standards of beauty", the majority of gamers agreed that they preferred the edited version of Faith because her appearance was more visually appealing.
But would Faith's face be remembered if she looked more like the artist's "stylish" edited version?
Do gamers really prefer characters who are unrealistically attractive? Or do they want to see more realistic-looking characters like Faith?
And is it easier/harder to relate to a character based on their realistic or non-realistic appearance?
Kotaku's Leigh Alexander takes a look at "Stylish Graphics VS Realistic Graphics".
(Go to the source for full article)
Earlier this month Kotaku posted a pair of images of the lovely Faith from Mirror's Edge (above). One was the official rendering by Swedish dev DICE of the parkour-inspired, Asiatic heroine - and the other was a reinterpretation edited by an Asian fan, imagining what Faith would look like if she had been designed according to what he says are Asian standards of beauty.
The question that many of us really seemed to be ruminating on is a simpler one more germane to the world of video games: Do we want our characters to look real?
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I prefer both styles, as long as they're done right.
EDIT: asian standards of beauty? So they make the boobs huge? Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of asians are, well, flat; so that's kind of an unrealistic standard...
And Im with you all the way. FFVI is such a beautiful game; and you can see the lovely pixels. Yet its beauty is unparralled for me.
But I think that retro gamers prefer stylish, while modern gamers (ignorant teenagers) prefer realistic blood and gore.
So yeh your right. At the moment it seems, that modern gamers are more attached to the realistic blood and gore.
a creative, stylistic flair is cooler than any realistic graphics. i can see realism any day of the week, but i have to play katamari if i want to see something fabulous.
I don't see how the realism picture looks good at all to western tastes same to stylish to eastern.
...What?
"I don't see how the realism picture looks good at all to western tastes, same for Stylish(looks good)to eastern tastes."
Its a pretty clear cut response.
Simple.
(Final Blade and I are the best of friends you see)
Wow: I must be the only one who did not notice the blatently bigger tits on the second picture. Fail
The Reason is this: It wouldnt let me reply to yours.
So alas, I found a solution.
Those stylish boobs should be welcome to everyone posting on this article.
If you don't like the realistic face, then I guess reality isn't your fancy either.
You can't just overlay a filter on top of an already made picture and present a crappy example like the one above. The 'stylish' rendition doesn't look stylish at all to me. The chick just looks younger with bigger tiddies, but that's because like I said, the game is meant to look how the developers made it. All games are stylish to an extent anyway, even games with very realistic models and environments like Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty.
Faith's realistic appearance is a huge selling point for me, to be honest. She has a slender frame all around, with a flat chest to give it that sense of realism. Her track outfit also suits her occupation. I mean, honestly if you're physically exerting yourself running across buildings, a leather bikini and large bouncing breasts will just get in your way.
I expected them to talk about something flat and graphic (which Mirror's Edge DOES have as well, as seen in the introduction of the demo). This is simply an comparison of differing male aesthetic preferences. The second is more sexualized, is all.
Well, that's Kotaku for ya'.
It all really ends with what the game is aiming for.