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Gears of War defined HD gaming, the franchise’s executive producer Rod Fergusson has told Eurogamer.
Speaking of the Gears of War launch back in November 2006, Fergusson said: “We were far ahead of a lot of games when Gears 1 came out. Everybody’s been catching up, and a lot of people are fighting for ownership of that title. But we continue to push the box and what HD means.”
He added: “At the time it defined what HD was. It defined what your HD TV could do. People remember that.”
Fergusson also discussed the difficulties in impressing gamers with better visuals when they are not only competing with what came before, but unrealistic memories of how good previous games looked too.
“Your memory is far better than reality,” explained Fergusson. “When I was a kid, Gilligan’s Island was the funniest show on television. When you watch Gilligan’s Island now, it’s just plain terrible.
“With Gears 2 we were competing with the memory of Gears 1 and what people remembered it was like. We got to the point where, at the review event in San Francisco, I suggested we put up a single station of Gears 1 so the press could play it and realise it wasn’t as good as they remember. They were saying, ‘Oh, it kinda looks like Gears 1.’
“I’m like, ‘Really? No it doesn’t at all. You just remember it looking better than it actually does.’ Not only were we competing with the state of the industry, we were competing with our own memory.”
The Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta begins today for gamers who picked up the Bulletstorm Epic Edition.
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