Excuse the rant, PS3 and Xbox fans, but...

Something must be said. Excuse the rant, but hear it out. Why is the gaming community so obsessed with realism in next-gen games? Every game is weighed and judged on realistic textures, detailed graphics, and taking advantage of new innovation (motion sensing, etc). Please, don't forget games are also becoming advanced enough to be beautiful art. Okami looks beyond gorgeous, you can't deny it. It's not realistic, though. Think what the 360 or PS3 could do with art styles.

While playing Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2, a friend commented how ugly the game was and asked if it was a Playstation 1 game. It was insulting, as DDS, DDS2, and Nocturne (and the upcoming Devil Summoner) all share the same art style — and it's very cool, very smooth, and compliments the tone of the games. Is this what we want in the future of games? Only realism? Is that all the Xbox generation sees — realistic graphics equating to good games? Will the PS3 fall into the same trap? Think of it this way, Xbox community: If Halo were cel-shaded, but nothing else was different, would it have been just as well received? Or since it lacked realism, would it have ended up on a different system altogether?

Reality TV shows are the same way. They imitate life, but don't bring anything new to the table. They've become stale, generic, and their only hook is "see what drama happens to these "real" people in these crazy situations!" There are exceptions — that's true. So the question must be posed: do we want games to imitate life, or do we want games to become a source of culture and art? That said and done, time to preview another realistic FPS.