i hear lots of people complain about games being unrealistic, and how other realistic
games aren't as fun because they're too real. Truth is, without games being unrealistic
in some ways, every single game would probably play and look exactly the same,(you can only be
creative for so long by using real life rules in a game) and soon each would soon
blend into a pattern of mediocrity. Tell me what you think on this issue

I hate it when gamers complain about games being too unrealistic, they are GAMES for cryin out loud! We play games because they are more FUN and ENTERTAINING than real life. If it were exactly the same as real life, would we really play them, or do the real thing?

One time my friend told me he didnt like Windwaker because it wasnt realistic enough, I swear, I almost smacked him...

EDIT: Forgot the counterpoint:

However, realistic games are fun to a certain extent, as long as they LOOK realistic but dont PLAY realistically unless implemented in a fun way.

Example, COD4. It looks great and plays great, and it realistic in the fact that a couple bullets WILL take you out, but not so insane about it that its unfun (the mission One Shot, One Kill on veteran breaks this rule though).

Some games are good realistic, and some games are good unrealistic.

On one end of the spectrum, there are games like Crysis and (to a lesser extent) Call of Duty 4, which strive to be as realistic as possible, and both succeed at this, which does make for some awe-inspiring moments.

On the other end, there are games like the Contra series and God of War, which are all about over-the-top action and instant gratification. The unrealistic aspects of these games are what make them enjoyable, and offer a means to get away from all these "so real, you're actually there" kind of games.

Both sides have their share of good games and bad, but the gaming world needs both of them so everything remains balanced in harmony.

It depends on the game really. Good, realistic games can be immersive (not saying unrealistic ones can't be immersive to) to the extent that you think you're the hero and stuff.

Unrealistic games like Unreal Tournament is good to blow off steam and just blow shit up without regards to the laws of physics.

Depends on the game. A game like psychonauts can ignore realism completely with the possible exception of a few laws of physics, however a game like Cod4 should be as realistic as it can possibly be while staying fun. By "as realistic as possible while staying fun" I mean things like health. In real life you'd die a lot faster than you do in COD4.

I think that Operation Flashpoint and the early Rainbow Six games prove that extreme realism do not always conflict with fun.

We need more completely unrealistic games. Not saying realistic games aren't fun, but there's just too many realistic graphics+realistic physics games now.

oh yeah crysis tries really hard for realism. Now where can I get one of these suits.
It's just that the whole experience with physics and what all not has to be believable in it's respective universe.
Nobody cares about Dante's air juggling is realistic, he's a half demon so why bother?
and in a game like CoD4 you're just a soldier, they don't have supernatural powers they only have guns, and nukes.
and you don't want to use lightning bolts zapping from your hands in a game like CoD4.

In games there are realities "created" not all takes place on this earth, in this time or this galaxy.
And therefore programmers have freedom to apply physics however they want. And some times it just cool to see helpless ragdolls flying trough the air after an explosion.
but on the other hand simulation games, or those who come close to being one, cannot afford to be unrealistic.

and in the end.. realism is over rated. I mean would you really want a game where you can die only once and when that happends the game ends and you have to start a new game?

I mean would you really want a game where you can die only once and when that happends the game ends and you have to start a new game?

Obviously somebody did, because otherwise, nobody would have ever bought Steel Battalion.

Realism ='s frustration, but a grounding in reality makes it more satisfying.

Reality is subjective to the game in question. As far as im concerned the reality a game aims towards is the contained reality. As long as the game does not change its internal reality then you cannot claim it is unrealistic.

As long as the game is trying to be realistic/unrealistic when it turns out to be, then great.

It all comes down to the type of game and the target audience. Realism where realism is due.
I shouldn't imagine that boxing on the Wii would be nearly as popular with the casual crowd if it was depicted in a realistic manner complete with bleeding and teeth being knocked out etc.
On the other hand something like Arma would really be let down considerably if half way through the game you suddenly had to fight an acid-spitting 60 foot penguin.

(Secretly I'd quite enjoy it though)

i like both a realistic game i like is cod4 and a unrealistic game is the old fashion star wars battle front games

I find that almost all of the games I'm a big fan of have some element of fantasy to them, to varying degrees, whether it's a game with realistic people but unrealistic settings/enemies such as zombies, monsters etc., or a totally stylized game like Zack & Wiki or Mario.

When people play games they say they want "realism" in it. So a game comes along like Kane and Lynch: Dead Men and every 12 year old starts crying that the bullets don't go exactly where they want them to, and the game does bad. Designers note this and put a little bit of unrealism in the game to make things more fun, which starts the whole "we want more realism, lol" thing. It's a paradox.

Interesting that no one has voted for realism yet...

mjhhiv:
Interesting that no one has voted for realism yet...

Sorry, that made me have to vote for "realistic".

Anyway. I prefer realistic responses from FPS weapons. In fact, if I could craft my perfect FPS game, not only would you have to deal with the occasional weapon jam, but you'd also have to load magazines with rounds you've picked up (none of this "magical magazine" nonsense). Of course, I'd try to make it as easy as possible, and give a graphical indication of how many rounds each magazine has- but as far as I'm concerned, if you reload from a magazine with three rounds left in it, and don't put more bullets into it, eventually you're going to find yourself loading that three-round magazine again.

What can I say, I like a challenge. STALKER's ballistics and weapon characteristics went most of the way for me; I'd just like to go completely there.

On the other hand, in a fantastical environment, with weapons that don't try to approximate real-world combat- hey, then anything goes!

Depends on the game, and what you mean by realistic.

I want a WW2 shooter to look realistic, no, I don't want to see Mii's or brightly colored halo troupers killing nazis. I also don't want to die in one hit or to take 30 seconds to reload.

I want a racing game to have a realistic AI, but I still want to be able to take a 90 deg turn at 110 MPH

I don't want my platformers to look or play realistically unless its supposed to look real like tomb raider or prince of persia

Eggo:
Reality (and unreality) is only nice when it makes the game more fun.

I'd normally agree with that, but I think that sometimes, the whole draw of the game is the realism it portrays... like Brothers in Arms.

I don't care whether it's in an unrealistic or realistic setting, but I do like some realistic gameplay mechanics. For example, I like body part-specific damage, like in GTA 4, because it actually makes me feel like my gun is powerful and that I'm actually doing damage and makes the shooting much more entertaining, which is partly why Killzone 2 looks really interesting to me.

RAKtheUndead:

I mean would you really want a game where you can die only once and when that happends the game ends and you have to start a new game?

Obviously somebody did, because otherwise, nobody would have ever bought Steel Battalion.

somebody did?