Betas will be Betas

Now if you are a gamer, you probably know a little as to how a game is made. It starts in a person’s mind. Then it grows until they have an Alpha of the game. Alphas are nothing near the final product. It is more of a trial of the concept. Then after the Alpha comes the Beta. The Beta is when they bring in people to try the game at that point, and see what they think of the game at that point. This entire time they are editing and tweaking small bugs. Making it into a somewhat presentable product. At certain gaming events, like E3, the produces show off their Betas. This is in hopes to get consumers interested. This is a way for the producers to hear what the consumer thinks of the product. Many times, a games aren’t taken well by the consumer. This may result in the game being scrapped entirely, or postponed. On occasion, a game may be taken so well that the game may be pushed back out due to the quality in the preview not being consistent throughout the game.

I love how game previews of a game and their Betas are great, but not all `Betas have followed the pattern. One such example is The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker. At Space World 2000, Nintendo showed a tech demo of the next game in the series at that time. The graphics and the fight itself made people mesmerized. That is until the next year when Nintendo showed some beta footage of what would become Wind Waker. The masses cried out in anger, wanting more of the previous year’s gameplay. They handed higher graphics, not a downgrade in quality.

When Wind Waker finally came out, the feelings were still the same. People thought it was too kid looking. But after a couple years, people started to see the simplistic beauty in the cel-shading theme. The many advantages to a simpler look. The game flowed better, the world was enormous, and the character could show some great emotions. I think that this proves that the art style doesn’t need to get better. Sometimes it’s better to step back and ask if it is really worth all the hard work of higher graphics. For me personally, Wind Waker is one of my favorites in the series, plus the art style has really grown on me. Keep your mind open to the possibilities.