Oooh, look! A tree!

This very pretty picture of a tree is, apparently, what graphics will look like on the Xbox 2.



I'm sure we can all agree that it is technically accomplished, and a fair improvement over the last generation of console graphics. Ho hum.



Not so at gamesradar. They've gone slightly overboard:

"We want Xbox 2 right now and, if you even remotely like games, you should want it too… Imagine how good Halo on Xbox 2 is going to look. It is going to be the most beautiful game in the world, no question."

That's surely one of the most depressing pieces of games journalism ever written. It's gushing, lacking in perspective, and desperately nerdy. It reads, in fact, like it's come from an internet message board.



Furthermore, gamesradar seems to be an hormonal teenage boy. It can't wait to run through this beautifully rendered forest "shooting at aliens and other players".



Yawn! What game hasn't been doing that since 1993?



Rather than better graphics, the next generation of consoles needs to concentrate on broadening the appeal of games. And, as the Eyetoy and the Nintendo DS prove, visual prowess matters much less in this arena than making games that people can pick up and play.



So, show me something new. I'm not upgrading my games machine unless it offers something more than "Videogame trees have never looked this good before."

gamesradar: New Xbox 2 screens looking Unreal

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