In computer graphics (and other fields) there's a phenomenon known as the "uncanny valley" -- when something looks close enough to human that the differences are jarring and feel wrong. The recent Polar Express movie is a perfect example: many people found the pseudo-Hanks disturbing to look at, where a stylized cartoon actor (as in Incredibles) or a live actor wouldn't have been.
I stumbled onto a similar phenomenon while playing the XBox RPG, Knights of the Old Republic: you have enough freedom (and there's enough detail) that it doesn't feel like a typical game, but there's not enough realistic depth for it to feel "right". You run around a Sith-controlled planet with blaster pistol in hand, and no one cares. You gun down mob-enforcers in public, and, again, no one but their grateful victim notices. You're trying to lay low, but you're obviously supposed to ask everyone about the Sith, about the escape pods that landed on the planet (which you were in), etc.
Anyone else ever experience this? Where either more or less depth would have improved your gaming experience?
I stumbled onto a similar phenomenon while playing the XBox RPG, Knights of the Old Republic: you have enough freedom (and there's enough detail) that it doesn't feel like a typical game, but there's not enough realistic depth for it to feel "right". You run around a Sith-controlled planet with blaster pistol in hand, and no one cares. You gun down mob-enforcers in public, and, again, no one but their grateful victim notices. You're trying to lay low, but you're obviously supposed to ask everyone about the Sith, about the escape pods that landed on the planet (which you were in), etc.
Anyone else ever experience this? Where either more or less depth would have improved your gaming experience?
, my then-wife-to-be and I were in the parking lot of City Hall, about to go in for our marriage license. There, on the dashboard of the car parked in front of us, was a stuffed lamb.
