Portrait of the artists in a young industry

Abstract

Today's big computer games are often graphics-intensive behemoths with SGI-rendered imagery filled with 3D figures and created with big budgets. But games and graphics haven't always been so closely linked. I was pleased to be invited to write this retrospective, as even though my own background in games began in programming, far from art, I've always enjoyed the special synergy that can develop between artists and programmers working together on a computer game. The programmers are amazed as their crude stick-figure sketches turn into glorious images in the hands of a talented artist. Then it is the artists' turn to smile, as their series of still frames comes to life and responds to their control enabled by the magic of the programmer. How has the role of graphics evolved in games, and what lies ahead?