Next gen cel shading: will games finally look like cartoons/anime?

10 years ago we had Wnd waker and XIII, they still look great, especially on emulators but now we have Ninokuni and Naruto UNS3, they are a massive improvement over what was possible a decade ago. Cel shaded games have never been this close in resembling real hand drawn animation. Will next gen power finally make it possible to play real cartoons and anime?

Imagine a game like this:
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Well, if they haven't achieved it with computer farms at pro studios, how would they pull it off on a console?

Even the Paperman CG short had to have part hand-drawn content...
 
The Naruto games looked almost identical to the anime counter-part.

I think it's been possible, it's just a lot of devs haven't been using that style.
 
Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 & 3 already look better than 99% of all Naruto anime episodes, aliasing and all -- so yeah, probably.
 
CyberConnect2's stuff already comes damn close, so not sure how much substantial an improvement could be done on that front.
 
They already LOOK LIKE a cartoon/anime ... it is just not perfect.

But it will take a while to reach paperman levels of cell shading
 
I still think that Naruto and Ni No Kuni is leagues behind what it could be. Watching a Ni No Kuni / Naruto cutscene is a night and day difference from the actual game.
 
I feel like we already brushed the surface this gen. But it doesn't HAVE to look like anime, I would much rather watch a cyberconnect naruto game then it's anime.
 
The Naruto games looked almost identical to the anime counter-part.

I think it's been possible, it's just a lot of devs haven't been using that style.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 & 3 already look better than 99% of all Naruto anime episodes, aliasing and all -- so yeah, probably.

Ultimate Ninja Storm looks better than the show.

I think that has more to do with the thin budget the anime has more than anything else.
 
If publishers are willing to fund it, yes.

But since the style isn't inherently a realistic military shooter, I guess no.
 
Does the new South Park game count? Is it Cell Shading?
TheCouncil.gif
Depends on the rendering process. If it's just a group of bitmaps overlapping, not really. But if the lighting is calculated in a way so as to only render 2 to 3 banded shades of color, then sure. Windwaker only counts in that the characters were cell-shaded, but that the environments were mostly just textures that were painted to match the cell-shaded art style.

[edit] As far as rendering is concerned, I'm sure current/next-gen machines will be more than capable. But it's not just the rendering that needs to be up to par with emulating traditional cartoon-style art, it's also the animation that needs work.
 
The Naruto game does NOT look as good as the Anime






It looks BETTER seriously... they just just making the anime with the game engine
edit: apparently i'm way late
 
I think they really could, but considering most games based on anime are not good, excluding a few stand out series, I doubt most developers will put in the time to do so. Fans will buy it regardless.
 
The real question is:

"Will we even see any cel-shaded games in next-gen"?

...Yes? Why wouldn't we? We are sure to see some JRPGs and anime games utilize cel shading this upcoming gen. It's not like the uptake on realistic cinematic games this gen stopped cel shaded games from being made.

Anyway, I can't wait to see the improvements. A cel shaded mainline DQ on PS4 in the vein of DQ8 on PS4 with no MMO bullshit like in DQ9 and 10 would be incredible but I doubt it'll happen.
 
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