Two articles on the BBC's news site caught Sneak's eye today. One, Weather gets 3D gaming makeover, explains how the BBC is adopting new high-resolution graphics in its TV weather forecasts. "It works a bit like a computer game," said Colin Tregear of the BBC's Weather Centre, comparing the current clunky visuals to a game played on the Super Nintendo game system, rather than the X-box or PlayStation 2. However, almost exactly a year ago, the BBC was busy reporting on how better graphics had become a dead-end pursuit in the game development fraternity. "If you're going to beat Gran Turismo 4, you're not going to do it by having shinier cars," asserted James Rubin of games developer Naughty Dog. "You need to come up with a better game experience." Sneak wholeheartedly agrees with Rubin. What Britain needs is not better weather graphics. What we need is better weather.

23 Aug 2004