Compare the first and second line. Does 2006 game looks better than 2008 game to you too?

I'm guessing you haven't seen the latest racing games? (DiRT 2, SHIFT, Forza and GT5)

Now try comparing screen shots of those games to flatout.

edit: are you talking about GTA4, or games in general?

Wow, you can't compare those two games, that's just crazy.

These are just two games; you can't make a statement saying their graphics are getting worse just from those 8 screenshots. For one, GTA4 is gigantic so they had to compromise on graphics in order to fit in all those cars, people and buildings. And in any case, I think GTA4 does, in general, look better than Flat Out 2.

And overall, of course games look better these days. There is no argument!

Dunno, but the quality of the threads around here sure is.

you read the title and youd expect a valid argument on how the gameplay of current releases just a big bag of repetitive rubbish compared to the old days but obviously this is all about the most irrelevant thing in making a good game
kind of explains why game quality really is lacking these days

Those are not particularly good screenshots of GTA4.

Quote from Michael Denham :

Those are not particularly good screenshots of GTA4.

+1 lol

get some for example xbox screens and the thing will look other then now.

also:

+1 to JJ72

I didn't ment resolution of textures... I was talking about overbloom/desaturation/lack of brigtness/overcontrastedness of current games...

The sound, AI, playability, story and so on in 2000 were as good as it is nowadays. Graphics are the only thing which have been improved over the years. So IMO game developers suck (but LFS ones )
BTW your pics comparison is really bad:

- GTA IV is not a driving game, Flat Out is.
- GTA IV has to show a FULL city, Flat Out just a race track.
- Put some AA in the GTA pics please, those screens hurt my eyes.

Game quality is decreasing because game companies tend to use a lot of HDR now to cover up their bad quality 3d modelling. Also game companies are going for graphics over gameplay which is stupid

Quote from trebor901 :

Game quality is decreasing because game companies tend to use a lot of HDR now to cover up their bad quality 3d modelling. Also game companies are going for graphics over gameplay which is stupid

This has an explanation. Most part of people who play computer play SIMS, NFS, arcade shooters... and they want flashy and unreal but attractive graphics and a lot of fake effects. I'm sorry, but we are minority

"game quality decreasing?"
yes

"game graphics decreasing?"
i guess not

I prefered the graphics of the original Flatout to those of Flatout 2 (huge bloom fest).

There's no reason that the graphics of yesterday should be better than those of today, but an integral indredient of good graphics is good art direction. You could have the most sophisticated gfx engine on the planet and still make a huge mess.

At the moment, a lot of bad choices seem to be made in post process effects such as motion blur and hideous amounts of bloom, but I'm sure we'll leave that 'phase' behind soon. We're about to get into some really nice stuff with the 'new' advanced tessellation features of DirectX 11 which will allow true displacement mapped geometry at very reasonable frame rates (looks set to replace the parallax mapped/normal mapped textures in current games). No studio will want to cover that up with smeary effects and bad lighting.

You can't make a statement regarding game quality just by comparing two games that are totally different and are required to run things of different difficulties. Besides, I don't know from where you've taken those pics or if you've done them yourself, but GTA 4 can look much better then it does in your pics. My copy sure did

Quote from Electrik Kar :

but an integral indredient of good graphics is good art direction.

THAT.

With "photorealistic" graphic abilities nowadays, most developers have forgotten there are alternatives to nitty gritty "real world" graphics.

Gaming should be imaginative, how many different versions of space marine does we really need?

Quote from trebor901 :

Also game companies are going for graphics over gameplay which is stupid

The problem is that you can't turn "gameplay" on and off like a faucet just by plowing more resources into it. Better gameplay requires creativity, innovation and as we start to plateau, it's going to need a paradigm shift of sorts.

How's Spore doing?

gta4 looks way better :s

Are you kidding me? While GTA IV does look better then that (i don't even know what is that, Flatout), those two games are just uncomparable.. Good thing you haven't compared GT5/Forza 3 to that huge open world of GTA IV.. :doh:

Also, those Flatout screenshots are with high graphic details turned on while GTA4 screenshots are on low resolution, no AA and very low texture resolution.

Quote from Crommi :

Also, those Flatout screenshots are with high graphic details turned on while GTA4 screenshots are on low resolution, no AA and very low texture resolution.

GTA IV doesn't supports AA, and it's FPS with those details was 2 times less than Flatout's FPS.

Quote from LFSn00b :

fyi

External mods don't count.

Quote from Shadowww :

External mods don't count.

Setting the AA in my graphic drivers is not a mod

Quote from NitroNitrous :

Setting the AA in my graphic drivers is not a mod

You've got an ATI gfx card. The ATI cp seems to support AA in GTA IV somehow.
Anti Alialising just doesn't seem to work in GTA IV when you've got an Nvidia card, somehow.
AA should never work in GTA IV anyway, as it's only DX9.. i guess ATI managed to do that anyway.

Problem you might be having is that your card may not support AA+HDR. ATI cards have supported it since X1900 series, but for Nvidia it took little bit longer and that's why you see games that just don't allow for the sake of compatibility.