Blizzard cinematics are still some of the best in the business, but you know what makes them way better? 8K.
One of my favourite things at the moment is seeing the crazy things people are doing with machine learning and AI algorithms. We’ve seen what it’s done when applied to older games like Morrowind, and the Waifu2x neural network does a great job denoising and upscaling anime.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/07/waifu-enhance/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/07/trails-of-cold-steel-opening-410×231.gif” title=”Waifu, Enhance” excerpt=”AI’s done a pretty decent job of upscaling older intros, textures and environments from classic games. But that’s nothing compared to what Waifu2x can do.”]
One of the best uses of upscaling so far has been the exceptional work on The Witcher 2 intro, but this older video might be even better. It’s an 8K upscale of the original Wrath of the Lich King cinematic.
Here’s the original WotLK cinematic from 2010:
It still looks good today. Bit blurry at distance and lacking a bit of sharpness compared to today’s standards, but it looks good all the same.
So how much work could an 8K upscale do? As it turns out, a hell of a lot. (If your PC or laptop is struggling to play the video, make sure hardware acceleration is enabled in your browser.)
Now, how about those original Diablo cinematics? They could certainly use a fresh coat of 8K paint, surely.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/introducing-the-witcher-2-in-8k/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/witcher-2-upscaled-1-410×231.jpg” title=”Introducing The Witcher 2 In 8K” excerpt=”The Witcher 2’s intro sequence is still one of the best intros for a video game ever made. It’s still gorgeous in 720p today, but have you seen it in 8K? Oh my.”]
Leave a Reply