I've been doing a little thinking, mainly making some mental comparisons between the PS2 version of Tomb Raider Anniversary and the 360 version of TR: Legend. While Legend is an awesome game, I spent about 20 minutes fiddling with the stupid contrast/sharpness/color levels in the darker parts of the game so I could actually see the environments. Yeah, I know Lara has a flashlight, but it doesn't do much when you can't see shit outside of the cone. Is that "realism"? Is that next-gen "fun"? And then when I was outside on the motorcycle, there was a lot of lighting bloom that made things tough for me to see out there, too! The game was great when I could actually see the damn thing... too bad it wasn't constant like that throughout.

I didn't have those problems in TR:A for the PS2, probably because it was built as a good-looking PS2 game, not a slippery-looking 360 game. I haven't played TR:L on PS2 (yet), but I'm going to pick it up soon and check it out to see if I can actually play it during the day when there is some sort of light coming in from outside. I had to save TR:L until it was almost night time out just so I could see the f'n game comfortably.

So, that brings me to the point of my post: all this next-gen, happy-go-f----yourself, slimy, brown and dark graphics engines making things so "real" that it's hard to see and enjoy. Am I the only person who is getting tired of seeing new games that seem like you're looking through a pair of vasoline-covered sunglasses toward a HDTV that has a spotlight shining from behind it? Maybe it's just the traditionalist in me talking here, but I am not too happy about the way new games look anymore. I miss the old PS2/GCN days where things looked good enough without having a fresh coat of gloss painted on and the resolution cranked up to the point where you have to sit 10 feet away from the TV and play in a completely dark room to "enjoy" the "amazing" lighting effects, because if you even have a lamp on it's going to hinder the gameplay experience.

Argh. I need Advil and some good ol' fashioned anti-aliasing.

At least you don't have to squint. Imagine if they found a way to pump out light as intense as the sun does. From what I understand, lighting is a real problem, even in movies. In real life, without light or even a small amount, things would be pretty dim. Maybe the developers know this and that's their way of keeping it real.
Think about it: if you're in a tomb with no visible light source, how would you explain being able to see clearly? Sure, the developers could add fluorescent lights, but tombs and underground environments don't have those unless they have been explored (which makes them tame and worthless to Lara Croft). To tell the truth, I wouldn't mind having unexplained light because I would prefer to see what I'm doing. It's just a game and they don't have to be that damned real about it.

Dude, get a decent TV. I had no trouble whatsoever with Legend on 360. The Default settings on my TV were more than adequate.

That said, I do agree that that Blooming effect is used WAY too much nowadays.
I blame Shadow of the Colossus.

I had these exact same thoughts two days ago in Target while watching a demo of a basketball game on PS3.  The characters looked like plastic... or maybe as if they were molded out of Laffy Taffy and covered in the shiniest wax ever.  That's not impressive to me at all.

My TV is just fine. I had the same problems on my previous TV. I was using a standard 27" CRT TV when I first got my 360, and even after I upgraded the light sources were pretty minimal on my HDTV. It's not just TR:L, either; it's a lot of 360 games. It's the new graphical and lighting "style" that I don't care for.