In Games Appearances Really Are Everything

Recently a bit of a stir has been caused in the video game community. This "controversy" was caused by the reboot of the Devil May Cry series. It's not the new location, or the new enemies, or the fact that the game is being rebooted. What people are all up in arms over is the fact that the main character, Dante, has had his look changed. Never mind the fact the entire game is being rebooted and changed. This goes to show that in video games, appearances are really everything. What people see on the outside is what they will judge first and foremost.

Recently another group of fans were in uproar over the change in Cole's look from inFamous. Everyone immediately dismissed it. Everything was wrong with it, and no real change to warm up to it was given. The same is happening with DmC. There has been one trailer for the game, not even any gameplay was shown.

In the debate between which is better, gameplay or story, people are always divided. But amazing graphics are always what people want most. If a game looks like "crap" people dismiss it and it disappears into the ether. Look at the Wii. Gamers are always complaining about how bad the Wii looks compared to the other systems. Games on the Wii are amazing, despite the fact they're not graphically equal with the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. Look at Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, or Metroid: Other M, or in my opinion: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. These games are well done on the Wii and yet people scoff at them because they don't look as good as other games.

Appearances also matter in why we buy games as well as how we play them. Games that aren't confident in their sales will more than likely put a hot girl in a tight outfit in easy view of a buyer to attract attention to itself. Other games don't need to do anything like that because they're confident in how their game will sell.

Looking at how people play games based on appearances, look no further than Bioware's RPGs. In Mass Effect and Dragon Age most people create characters in the image they would like to see themselves. They play the game according to the way they would be in that situation. That is after all, the point of a Role-Playing Game.

In non-RPG games appearance plays a role in how you react to the story. Take Uncharted 2 for example, Nathan Drake is a ruggedly handsome man who's charming and witty. His female sidekicks, Elena Fisher and Chloe Frazer are equally attractive. This is specifically done to make you feel as Drake does: torn between each woman.

So whether or not people want to believe it, appearances play a huge part in how we perceive our games. It's what we see first and nine out of ten times, it defines our experiences with the game.