Donkey Kong and Super Mario [graphics talk and remembering the past]

I was playing...check that...I was watching my friend play my Wii last night. As she was playing Donkey Kong Country 2 and Super Mario Brothers. I felt compelled to be a true geek and explain to her what 'bits' of graphics are.

I asked her, "Do you know how many bits of graphics PlayStation 2 has?" And she obviously did not, nor did she very much care. "It has 128 bits," I said. What you are playing right now has 16 bits of graphics (DKC 2).

Even though when I was younger playing on my Super Nintendo and marveling at the graphics of DKC, I still had to take a step back and marvel again, at age 22, at the beauty I was witnessing on the television in front of me. The detail, the smoothness, and the rich color that was before my eyes in only 16 bits of graphics was utterly stunning. And you have to remember folks, this was more than ten years ago.

When my friend was playing Super Mario Brothers, I thought that the Goombas, in all of their 8 bit form, were highly underrated as far as graphics go. The next time you get a chance to view a video or play the game, I want you to really look at the graphics. I understand it's only 2D, but the fact of the matter is that 23 years ago that is an amazing accomplishment.

It boggles my mind what kind of graphics we will be having in our favorite games in another ten years when I *GASP* hit my thirties. But even though we marvel from year to year at the graphical designs, we have to remember our roots and give credit where credit is due. That's why I wrote this particular blog post (and also because I haven't written in about a week, life is getting in the way).

Enjoy the videos!

-Jeremy aka Adridius

P.S.- The PS3 Madden 09 review will be up soon.