Why have video game graphics taken 37 years to look this way? Apart from purely technical (and power) limitations, what exactly gets better every three or four years (PS2 to PS3 to PS4 in game cutscenes for example)
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There are a lot of things but the biggest would be
* computing power. We have magnitudes more powerful computers now than we did then so they can process more information. Nobody could comprehend that we would have games running at such high resolutions such as 3480 x 2160 (4k) pixels back then. I remember running games that were 640 x 480 pixels back on the 90s. Devices now have gigabytes of memory now when they had megabytes to work with
This also carries over to pre rendered cutscenes and movies Pixar could only render about 30 seconds when making toy story for every 24 hours of rendering on special render farms. It can be rendered real time on a modern decent pc at home
pre rendered cutscenes, apart from time to render them, also require storage space. The ps2 used dual layer DVDs and they are around 8gb. PS4 uses dual layer bluray discs upto 50gb. 6x more storage means higher quality textures and cutscenes can be stored
* experience. You will have noticed that console games for a generation look better than the first releases on the same console. Developers have had time to optimise and get the most out of the capabilities or work around restrictions. The PS3 was a good example, where it was a powerful machine but hard to code for. It took them time to really get the most out of it
* Developer tools. Games may use engines such as unreal engine, which get upgraded and can use new features such as Ray tracing for better lighting , and possibly better optimised
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