Do you prefer "cartoony" games?

[Worgoblin]

One of my friends today pointed out to me that I only play "kiddie" looking games. Now that I think about it, cartoony games have always been more appealing to me. WoW is the best looking MMO in my eyes, Battlefield Heroes my #1 shooter, and when I wanna play Madden, I prefer the Wii version vs the PS3 one.

So yeah, I'm a 35 year old male and I prefer cartoony games. You got a problem with that?!

What's your preference?

[Lord T Hawkeye]

One of my friends today pointed out to me that I only play "kiddie" looking games. Now that I think about it, cartoony games have always been more appealing to me. WoW is the best looking MMO in my eyes, Battlefield Heroes my #1 shooter, and when I wanna play Madden, I prefer the Wii version vs the PS3 one.

So yeah, I'm a 35 year old male and I prefer cartoony games. You got a problem with that?!

What's your preference?

I like cartoony games. One of the best advantages to them is they age WAY better than realistic games. Tis why WoW still looks good now compared to a lot of other older MMO's.

[Ragnarocket]

I like cartoony games. One of the best advantages to them is they age WAY better than realistic games. Tis why WoW still looks good now compared to a lot of other older MMO's.

Agreed, when a game makes the choice to have a stylistic/cartoony look to it I find that I usually enjoy that game for a much longer period of time. Cel-shaded graphics are one I'm bad for falling in love with. I still routinely will play Dragon Quest, Tales of Symphonia, or Skies of Arcadia (yes I love RPGs) just because they don't FEEL old to me.

I don't play WoW anymore, but I feel like it's probably got the best graphical quality of any MMO out at the moment...Rift tends to look a bit odd to me even though I enjoy playing it, I'd say SWTOR has the second best graphical "style" at the moment in terms of MMOs.

[Dodrin]

Cartoony graphics are much easier to develop an appealing aesthetic for over hyper-realistic graphics. I think if you're going to go for more realistic graphics, it still has to have a good aesthetic. For instance, Darksiders is a bit more on the realistic side of graphics, yet it has a great aesthetic so it ages well. But things like TF2, WoW, Trine, games with those sort of aesthetics, they age very well and are visually appealing.

Bottom line is I play both, what matters most to me is that the game visually works, and doesn't come out with a mud-colored palette.

[Dakia]

I've never really cared either way. Each game has its own graphics and the styles fit in difference ways. I play both realistic and cartoon-like graphics games equally.

I've never really understood bashing a game for its graphics. Having played WoW for years, I heard the bashing of its graphics all the time from my friends who played Lineage 2 and other games. The benefit of such graphics is that you can target a much wider possible user base due to the lower system requirements.

[Valeron]

I prefer well made games, the art style is of secondary concern to that. Now with all else equal, I prefer the look of Age of Conan over a more stylized cartoon look of World of Warcraft as an example.

[Skelington]

Usually. Skelington loves Nintendo. And

I like cartoony games. One of the best advantages to them is they age WAY better than realistic games.

Realistic games always seem to try too hard to be serious or to have a good plot, or they're a bunch of FPS. And the people who bash cartoony games for being "childish" are amusing.

Don't really care about graphics though. Gameplay is the most important part.

[Pull My Finger]

I like games with an artistic appeal, doesn't matter if it's "cartoony" or not. For me, it's important that it has an actual visual style, a sense of distinct aesthetics. A lot of games don't have any style at all. I don't like video games that look like video games. Mostly shooters or stuff like Skyrim. Perhaps impressive from a technical point of view, but just bland and generic looking and forgettable. It kind of puts me off when a game tries to impress me. I'm not impressed. And if I wanted to watch a hollywood blockbuster, I would be sitting in a theater.

[Wondercrab]

It really depends a lot on the game and the tone it's trying to evoke. Things like WoW or LoL really suit a cartoony, colourful, vibrant visual style that's there to supplement a primarily casual or gameplay-driven experience.
For a more serious, down-to-earth story driven game like say L.A. Noire though you'll want a more subdued look with slightly more grit to it.

Realism for the sake of realism is rarely a good choice though, and aesthetics are a really important piece of the product to consider when you're thinking about the tone and style of your game. For a lot of games colourful visuals tend to work better though I find, as they're usually more detached from the realism and grit that can supplement a serious story much better in other mediums. A lot of games tend to be all about having fun, and colours are fun. ^^

[wariofan1]

I definitely prefer the more cartoony-graphics for games. It gives the games more personality in my opinion, makes them more unique and memorable that way. I don't find realistic graphics to have anything memorable about them in any way. As a guy who still loves to watch cartoons I definitely prefer the more cartoony approach, I'm also a big Nintendo fan which also explains it.

[Profyrion]

I like games with a distinct, consistent visual style.

I don't see things in terms of "cartoony" or "not-cartoony".

[Fencers]

Doesn't bother me as long as the game is well made. Highly stylized art direction is a-ok.

However, I do not prefer the so-called cartoony art style usually. Esp. Western cartoon style.

[Nerraw]

I don't really care as long as it's well done and fits with the universe/story.

[Deleted]

I generally do, yes.

[anveena]

I don't care how the game looks, just give me something fun to play.

[Restos3]

I don't care, but cartoony graphics are more amusing and feel better to me for some reason. And this coming from a former L2 player.

[Chireru93]

I have a very big soft spot for "cartoony" games. Growing up I played a lot of nintendo games, and I just feel like a cartoony game can look great even though it's using a lot less processing power than the more "realistic" games.

It's one of the things that keeps me coming back to WoW in all honesty, I keep trying to make the jump to rift or another game, but a few things (crappy computer, friends, art style, and actual level capped toons) keep me coming back.

[Underskilled]

I do prefer more "cartoony" games, I feel like they fit easier with regular game programming mechanics, such as a static walking animation, or collision detection. Seeing a incredibly realistic person, or thing in a game walk statically over and over again, just looks odd to me, having a static jump, crouch, etc, just looks silly to me. It's the same with collision detecting, seeing them run into a wall, it just makes it look terrible to me.

Compared to games like Mario, or Zelda, it's cartoon style and animations, those things don't bother me as much. I suppose it's just my personal preference, but I think in the long haul, cartoon-style graphics end up looking much better than realistic graphics.

[Adam Jensen]

I don't prefer them, but if they are done well, like Trine or WoW, then it can be a very fitting visual style.

[shimerra]

Or like Wind Waker. It still looks great.

Cell shading has a time and a place and it wasn't Zelda. I mean comeon I'm not going for hyper realism but when you get weapons that look like giant butter knives specifically because of the graphical style, bleh. I'd take the new Wii U zelda coming out with ocarina style graphics before I'd want another cell shaded game. I didn't like it as a kid when it came out, still don't like it now. Not that it was omg horrible I just don't care for Cell shading in most games.