Harry Potter and the Palette of Beige

[prog]

I look at screenshots for the upcoing Harry Potter Wii game and think: Wha? Why is it so washed-out and yucky-looking? Why do the grounds around Hogwarts look like they were sculpted out of soggy oatmeal? Were the other games in the series like this?

The Wiimote-as-wand system sounds cool, as does mission-based play, but the game's world just looks bland and depressing and I'm not sure I'd like to spend much time there.

Comments

[chocorisu.livejournal.com]

It looks exactly like what you get when you take high-resolution source art and filter it down to lower resolution without being very careful about it. I suspect it's taken straight from the next-gen source and dumped straight on there, sans light maps and other fancy glitter. Although it probably doesn't look so bad when it's moving and displayed on a TV rather than on the internet--TV output from a console usually has much higher contrast than screen captures. EA is very picky about colour-calibrating all its equipment too. I'm kind of surprised they released such ugly screenshots.

If you decide you are interested, I can get you a copy for $20 (+ tax and postage) from our shop.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I've heard complaints that all the games for higher-end consoles like the PS3 and XBox 360 are brown, because when people discover they can do photorealistic graphics they immediately want to make everything dirty and grimy, this not having been possible before.

Wii games are usually bright and kandy-kolored, though, because the photorealism isn't there, and also because Nintendo likes that sort of thing.

Bring on the Mario palette

[prog.livejournal.com]

I don't think the maaaaagical world of Harry Potter should be an exception, even if this game is an adaptation of the (movie that adapts the) volumne with the John Ashcroft analogue and the CAPS-LOCK PUBERTY TIRADES.

(I don't know why I'm as excited about the movie as I am.)