Nvidia DLSS
A while ago Nvidia (And today, in fact, but I didn’t plan to write about that) released a demo for DLSS. It’s a tool that basically paints over frames in the game, and makes them look hyper-realistic (I’m simplifying, and the tech is really cool - but that’s a lot of it).
This has been met with an unimaginable wave of backlash. A lot of people think it’s betraying a lot of the artistic aspects of game design and history.
In fact, it’s a perfect microcosm of a lot of the concerns surrounding AI and its impact on human expression.
I just want to bring up a sobering anecdote.
I had a set of friends in college who weren’t gamers, and the only thing they really played was maybe 2K - and Mortal Kombat.
I showed them Guilty Gear Strive, a new game that’s extremely famous, with a lot of good reviews. They were not impressed. They said the game looked bad. Worse than MK.
This is hilarious to those who are in games who are familiar with how these two franchises are seen in terms of their artistic achievements.
Guilty Gear Strive is seen as one of the greatest accomplishments in 3d animations - in terms of personality, gameplay visibility, performance and more.
Mortal Kombat is seen as less impressive, relying on mostly utilizing motion capture (sometimes to an overwhelming degree) and not going as crazy on the styling compared to other fighting games. (The fatalities are technical masterclasses, make no mistake).
The average person - even those who play games - don’t really care about that.
These people don’t care about the visual art, or the techniques, or the personality. They just want something fits their casual, knee-jerk tastes.
I think that’s why so much AI art is the same.
I wonder how many stylish games will see an uptick in sales because people won’t be put off by the visuals.