The power of radio as a media for theatrical presentation is its lack of suffocating detail. Naturally a radio show will include creaking doors and the thump, thump, thump of foot falls to help establish atmosphere and indicate movement in the space. But these details are just broad strokes. There remains plenty of room for each audience member to supplement the sparse setting with details drawn from the greatest special effects generator ever developed — the human brain.
In radio plays there is a partnership between the producers of the show and the audience. The producers supply broad strokes indicating the fundamental scene and the audience uses their imagination to fill in the gaps — yielding a rich tapestry that fits the expectations of the audience perfectly.
Why does the scene fit the expectations of the audience so well? Because they have supplied much of the rich tapestry of details themselves — from the resources of their own imaginations.
We would not suggest that a video game designer duplicate to the sparse extremes of a radio play. However, we would definitely encourage game developers to ease off on the ultra-detailed, micro-managed insertion of photographic realism.
It is obvious that hardware developers hunger for games that will stimulate and justify the necessity of gamers upgrading to the latest and greatest hardware platform. Hence, we are perfectly aware that few major developers will harken to the call for less detail and less photo-realism.
If a roller coaster ride was designed to form fit exactly every curve of the theoretical average man’s butt you would be guaranteed that pretty much no one would feel comfortable in the ride. It might be impressive, it might look good in preview reels, it might even fulfill the demands of the manufacturers to coerce carnival owners to buy new cars for the roller coaster. But it won’t make for a fun ride.
Leave something to the imagination guys.