imho games have lost their soul not really because of trying to make the game as real as possible, its simply because a lot of stories and concepts have already been taken. take the high fantasy genre for example. orcs, elves, humans and what not. the earliest story i know that uses that is Tolkien's LotR. the formula hasnt been altered much since then, with the Warhammer franchise being one of the creative interpretations. it's also easier to produce a game if you already have the game setting set up for you.

in any case regarding the games pushing for realism. it cant really be avoided as what else can the developers do with the graphical power new systems offer. note that im referring to graphical processing power, not processing power in general. this is easily notable i graphic quality between the consoles of old and the new.

almost forgot, theres also the target audience. a game can be made to be completely original, however, there is a risk that not everyone will like it. for example, theres stuff like Maplestory and Granchase with anime like characters. it's a hit for people who like that kind of style, but may be  a turn-off for some.

anyway, just my two cents ^^

As for MMO's, I hope we'll start seeing more physics and better animations soon. I think  these two aspects really breathe life into worlds, something quite important to the MMO genre.

I  think they have. Too much resources are put into that aspect.

WoW as an example. It does not have realistical graphics. But it is colorful extremely atmospheric and the graphics is timeless. I remember first time I  was going to try Wow.. one of my major arguments about trying it was "cartoony " graphic style. But the game grew on me like no game has ever done when it comes to graphics.

Too "realistical" graphics ages too fast.  Timeless graphics like wow does not and in a game like wow the graphics is also artisically excelent. (I would go as far as call world of warcraft digital art at its best).

Back to topic. Remember old days and text based MUDS  they worked too.

A realistic look falls apart once your characters move like stiff mechanical robots, your sword is sticking through your torso and your feet are sliding on the ground like ice skates...hello EQ2 and AOC =)  

I don't think the games have lost their soul due to graphic realism. I do think most games have lost their souls due to the fact that most worlds are empty and hollow. Game designer should focus more on dynamic worlds. Worlds you believe are real even if there are no players playing. But unfortunately most games are static and empty. Shops have unlimitted supplies and sell and buy almost everything. No weather system. Monsters always spamming at the same spots....change that and games will get their soul back....

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Originally posted by Sovrath
The people who are responsible for game design, story telling quests, etc are not the people making the artistic assets.
They may be spending more money on creating more realistic or at leat more involved avatars and worlds but that is just one aspect of the game. There are still game designers and writers no matter what type of art desgin you go with.

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But if too much ressources are pulled into graphics, there is less money/time for writing and design. It may even be that graphics get the lion's share, but then animation is rushed.

Sometimes studios try to sell videogames purely on their graphics and thus neglect the other aspects. But then, it would be the same if any other department was overly favoured. A video games is a whole, of a video aspect and a gameplay, plus some story and content.

VG lose their soul when only one aspect is envisaged.

When you have less to work with you have to be more creative.

Ah, the old Graphics vs Gameplay trolls are out again...

Its 2009. We can have both. Now go away.