14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts' upcoming FIFA 12 soccer simulator is close to having photo realistic graphics, but the company confirmed that it's more focused on delivering the most realistic gameplay first, and then improve on the visuals.
Video games are looking better and better these days, but, considering platforms like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 are getting a bit old, developers and even hardware manufacturers are demanding new devices in order to really make experiences as close to realism as possible.
EA's development chief for the FIFA franchise, David Rutter begs to differ, and says that photo realism is within the grasp of developers, but it's much more important to focus on delivering a great gameplay experience than rendering the most perfect objects.
"I think we're pretty close," he said to CVG, when asked how close the FIFA franchise is to photo realism.
"We break down the game in close scrutiny rather than general scrutiny - I think [now] if you saw someone playing FIFA from a distance you wouldn't know. There are believability challenges around faces and things like that, but the physicality of the players, the lighting, the cameras the setting... the whole thing from a distance looks amazing."
Developers shouldn't focus just on such an aspect, however, as Rutter is keen on delivering a great gameplay experience and then polish up the graphics for the best-looking result.
"In terms of photo-realism, we're getting closer, but we're ultimately more concerned with that in-gameplay experience. Everything else is supportive. The team have got to where we've got to in the last few years by focusing on that."
Besides great-looking graphics, FIFA 12 is set to deliver a wide variety of improvements over last year's title, with improved AI, a new defensive system, precision dribbling and more.
The game will be out September 27, in North America, and September 30, in Europe, for a variety of platforms, including the PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii or 3DS.