Even back in 1999 we could tell the difference between in-game graphics and pre-rendered cutscenes. Nobody thought that the blocky model shown here was as good as it got.
Toy Story came out in 1995 but nobody then expected we would have graphics like that in real time for a long time to come. There were claims made at the time comparing the graphical abilities of the PS2 and Xbox generation to films like Toy Story and they were widely derided at that time.
These days, I often can’t tell if cutscenes are pre-rendered or rendered by the game engine (or another real-time renderer packaged with the game).
Though that some of the old Blizzard cutscenes that impressed me a lot at the time stopped being so impressive even a decade ago. Like the Diablo 2 ones are on the far side of the uncanny valley still, but I remember being awestruck by them back in the day.
Even back in 1999 we could tell the difference between in-game graphics and pre-rendered cutscenes. Nobody thought that the blocky model shown here was as good as it got.
But we also knew that those pre-rendered cutscenes took at least a week to render and didn’t think the games themselves would ever look that good.
Edit: after giving it more thought, that should instead be “dreamed of the day gameplay would look that good” because the overall trend was obvious.
Toy Story came out in 1995 but nobody then expected we would have graphics like that in real time for a long time to come. There were claims made at the time comparing the graphical abilities of the PS2 and Xbox generation to films like Toy Story and they were widely derided at that time.
Yeah, marketers doing their usual thing lol.
These days, I often can’t tell if cutscenes are pre-rendered or rendered by the game engine (or another real-time renderer packaged with the game).
Though that some of the old Blizzard cutscenes that impressed me a lot at the time stopped being so impressive even a decade ago. Like the Diablo 2 ones are on the far side of the uncanny valley still, but I remember being awestruck by them back in the day.