I just keep looking at the visuals of the upcoming games out of E3 and think only a few stand out when you compare the colour pallet. Games like Banjo, Viva Pinata seem to stand out compared to Fallout, Gears of War and Resident Evil. This issue has been raised before, but I was wondering what you guys thought.

I tend to agree though I do like the grim style of a lot of games. Yahtzee at Zero Punctuation brings this colour pallet up quite a lot in his hilarious views and it does seem to be a bit of a trend.

I think it is ok as long as it is used in context. I wouldn't really like Gears of War 2 to be bright and colourful like a Viva Pinata game or vice versa. I think it would be interesting if some games were to utilise this colour scheme to emphasis themes within their games a la Schindlers List (the girl in the red jacket in the black and white film). This would take games closer to that artistic and cinematic level they seem to be trying to achieve

Well I think with different colors it will give you a feeling of a different atmosphere. Fallout, Gears, and Resident Evil want a dark and creepy look to them while they wanted Banjo and Viva Pinata to have a bright and happy mood to them. I think it just really depends on what kind of atmosphere they want.

I never really noticed the lack of color in current-gen games until Yahtzee pointed it out in his GTAIV review. But since then, I suppose it is glaring that we get lots of brown, grey, black, and um, post-apocalyptic shades in games. I went back and played a little Ratchet and Clank for PS3 and was amazed what color can do for a game. It makes you appreciate the brightness on HD screens. I'm not suggesting that Gears or Resistance become super-lucid, but I think new franchises may do better by being less dingy.

Agreed.

When you put Banjo and Viva Pinata next to games like RE5 and Fallout 3, RE5 and Fallout look just drab and boring.

"I tend to agree though I do like the grim style of a lot of games. Yahtzee at Zero Punctuation brings this colour pallet up quite a lot in his hilarious views and it does seem to be a bit of a trend.

I think it is ok as long as it is used in context. I wouldn't really like Gears of War 2 to be bright and colourful like a Viva Pinata game or vice versa. I think it would be interesting if some games were to utilise this colour scheme to emphasis themes within their games a la Schindlers List (the girl in the red jacket in the black and white film). This would take games closer to that artistic and cinematic level they seem to be trying to achieve"

you cant compare them to the like of GOW2 one is meant to be in a realistic way, the others are meant to look more car-toony.

Sonic Unleashed, Lips, Scene it, The Movie game. There not all realistic.

I know what you mean

But its almost as if we are entering a sub era of gamers wanting more colors rather than having less colors to make a game look more "baddass"

The dark grunge look of Gears and Halo seem to control the scene.  The fact is FPS are the most popular genre right now and they mostly revolve around war torn environments.  Unless we see a dramatic shift to more artistic games, this look is here to stay.

Fable 2 is the only rated M game that has that much colors in it, anyone notice that?

Most rated M games are usually dark and gory, but Fable 2 on the other hand is complete opposite.

It's all the Unreal Engine's fault!

Actually, I'm not going to put this all on Epic, but the popularity of that engine certainly has perpetuated the bland color palates of most games.

Mirror's Edge looks unique, and well amazing at the same time. Gears 2 looks like they really added a lot of color this time around too, which is nice. Fallout I think has to be dark and grungy, it wouldn't feel right otherwise.

Dull is the gen's look...whats the problem

Yeah a lot of the games aren't particularly bright, but there are some...viva pinata

That's why the Halo series stands out to me. Unlike every other M rated game out there it isn't afraid to use colour and it looks great doing so. Personally I felt that Banjo was one of the best looking games at E3 along with Mirrors Edge, Prince of Persia and Gears of War 2.

I wouldn't even go as far as to insinuate Epic is the primary source of gaming's current trend so much as it is a general desire for gritty realism.

Personally, I think it has been spurned forth by the graphic, greyscaled-aesthetic of Saving Private Ryan, an aesthetic that inspired the Medal of Honor games released shortly after (the Medal of Honor series was around before the Spielberg's film, but there was a dramatic visual shift after its release), which was the progenitor of the Call of Duty series.  

From there spawned the gritty look in more notable science fiction shooters -- Gears of War being the dominant example. 

It reminds me of the Quicktime event trend that flared up after the release of Resident Evil 4 and God of War, both of which relied heavily on Quicktime events.  That trick had been around for a while, but it was thanks to those two hugely successful games that the  mechanic found itself reproduced in other titles afterward.