Is this really a selling strategy for developers who acknowledge upfront that either due to a lack of skill, time, or resources that their game graphics are typically substandard to the status quo? Or do you feel that developers are really out to catch the retro feel? Almost every app I find in the app store, where the screenshots are a bunch of non-textured polygons, the description reads awesome game with retro style graphics!!! I guess you can apply this question to the term doodle as well.
Retro is a style, just like any other... some do it well, some don't. A lot of people like the retro style, myself included. It's like any artform, and you'll never get a definitive answer to why people would dare to choose this "substandard" graphical style.
I like it. 1. because I stink at computer art. 2. I think it looks cool. Brandon BTW, is it just me, or was there not a "Best Doodle Games" category in the app store before?
Both. Some devs choose retro graphics over life-like or cartoon because it suits the game better, or because they would like to dedicate more of their limited resources to other aspects of the game. And some do go out to capture that 'retro feel', like Vector Tanks. Whilst others are obviously just lazy and want to try and draw in some customers with their "omg lulz it looks like it's from teh 90s so that maeks it gud ryte" tactics
Personally, I can't stand retro-graphics. They look terrible in my opinion. But that's just my point of view.
I love 16bit retro graphics the most - the SNES is still my favorite console all these years later. I also love classic retro PC graphics like those featured in The Quest. Part of it is nostalgia, but part of it is I just like how retro games control. I was a full time gamer until about 2001 - Deus Ex was the last game I played that had any real affect on me. However thats been changing with the Ipod, I love the retro games and even the newer 3d ones remind me of my favorite era of 3d gaming. What I would give to see DX or NOLF released on this platform
I think there is some misuse of the "retro" moniker. I've seen some games boasting retro-style graphics that were either just poorly-drawn graphics couched in "retro feel" just to mask the fact that the dev can't draw, or games that use vectors claiming "retro" that use lots of modern particle and alpha effects that are anything but retro. (I call those neo-retro) Proper retro is either low-res bitmap graphics, preferably with no more than 16 colours, but definitely with no more than 256, or straight up vectors, coupled usually with chip music, chip-with-low-fi-samples, or 4-track MODs (16-bit retro). That, as far as I'm concerned, is the only way to properly apply "retro" to a game.
My favorite graphics are Neo-Geo, Genesis-style pixel graphics. I'm also looking forward to Karate Champ. So there are certainly developers that like it and want to keep the style.
I'm almost 30 years old... I grew up with so-called "retro" graphics. When I see them today, I'm not impressed. Those are nice "retro" graphics. At least the animations have more than 2 frames, unlike most of the iPhone RPGs that are available.
