For as long as I can remember, I had those Wallpaper Moments in video games. Usually, they come by surprise: you're playing a game without paying much attention to the graphics until that unique view or scene happens. Then, out of a sudden, you just stop whatever you're doing, your jaw drops a little and your right hand hits the screenshot button. "This will look fantastic as my wallpaper", is the first thought that appears in your mind. As it turns out, I'm not the only person who thinks like this.
The wonderful people running the Gaming Photography community have set up a contest about video game pictures worth printing out as wallpapers. I love the idea and theme, so here's my humble contribution, a selection of screenshots from my private collection. Needless to say, all pictures were taken by myself and I can prove that.
At first glance, it looks like a typical New York City postcard you'd send to your favourite aunt. However, this screenshot was taken in GTA 4 and if you closely inspect the statue, it becomes obvious that the Rockstar studio changed some small details in the original design of the Liberty Statue and turned it into a cruel mockery of the original. I like the idea of having a wallpaper that hides more than it appears at first sight.
Metro Last Light is essentially a horror game. During the playthrough, the protagonists encounters sights that could make most people insane: hideous mutants, mutilated corpses, and creepy supernatural phenomena. The Ukrainian developers know their business well enough, though, and realise that players need moments of respite. Here's one of them found early in the game, Artyom's humble abode in the middle of the Spartan base. It's not much, but it's home and even as a player, I feel a sense of peace when being there.
Here's something for my fellow Warhammer 40k fans. The opening scene in Wh40k Space Marine shows the planet Graia from a high orbit. The gigantic factory city shown in the picture has been invaded by mindless, savage aliens and the damage is visible from far away. Soon enough, the hero, Captain Titus, drops from his spaceship right into that huge circle to deliver the Emperor's justice to the inhuman enemy.
"Eu vim devolver o seu sorriso, favela". The song by Emicida featured in Max Payne 3 shows the Sao Paulo favela as a cheerful, sunny place, but the reality we encounter in the game is drastically different.
Can a game released more than 30 years ago provide solid wallpaper material? Of course, it can, as long as it's such a masterpiece as Another World. I took this screenshot early in my playthrough, after climbing the tower above the prison mine and peeking through a window. The scene looks like one of the classic SF book covers and it stole my heart when I played AW for the first time, a long time ago in the 20th century.
Christmas never changes. When you visit Diamond City on 25th December in the in-game calendar, you discover that even the nuclear armageddon didn't break mankind's spirit. Billions have died and the Earth is a scorched ruin, but that didn't stop the locals from celebrating Christmas. It's quite heartwarming to see that some plastic Christmas trees have survived the atomic inferno.
"Cartophile" is a fancy English word meaning a person who loves maps in all shapes and sizes. I'm definitely one, both in the meatspace and in the magical world of video games. This map of the Province of Cyrodiil can be found in the Beyond Skyrim Bruma mod for Elder Scrolls Skyrim. I'd love to have a physical copy and put it on my bedroom wall.
"The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress", says the United States Code, a compilation of the Federal laws to be followed. Well, the brave men of the Damned 33rd left behind in destroyed Dubai have every right to signal they're in dire distress. This upturned flag is one of the first sights the player encounters in SpecOps The Line and it's a powerful moment, predicting all the horrors awaiting ahead.
"Fire walk with me". If anyone wanted to capture in one picture the character of Trevor, one of the protagonists in GTA V, this scene would suit perfectly.
A screenshot taken from the intro sequence to the video game adaptation of Mad Max. I swear that it could be mistaken for a real-life film poster.
I see that you have just shared a great variety of wallpapers for the different tastes that surround the community, that seems like a good idea to me. With your post I have managed to see the essence of several video games in a moment, hahahaha.
I see that the characters in SpecOps are too upset to turn the flag upside down...
Amazing screenshots, they are really worthy to use as wallpapers, some of them I know in games, but some of them I still don't know them.
Excellent entry my friend, but you missed a step of the rules set out in the publication, which is to place the link to your publication in the comments of the contest post, you have time to do it, otherwise we can not take you as a participant in the contest.
My apologies. I was so excited to share my favourite screenshots that I forgot about that one rule. Next time I'll be more careful, I promise!