SnakeWesker at the Worst. Blog. Ever. has taken a look at how game graphics have evolved in the last 20 years. The two examples used are The Legend of Zelda and the Metal Gear series. Both are pretty dramatic examples of franchises that started in the early 80’s as a loose jumble of pixels, and today offer fully realized worlds richly populated with 3D characters and interactive environments.
The question SankeWesker asks is where game art will go in the next 20 years. Have we hit the wall of diminishing returns? Do developers really want to plow through the Uncanny Valley and create game characters and worlds that are indistinguishable from the real world? Would that even be fun or interesting to the player?