LCD Game Graphics vs Skeuomorphism
LCDゲームの様式 / スキューモーフィズム
LCD Game Graphics comes from Digital Retro and Skeuomorphism from UI Expression. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
LCD Game Graphics
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The fixed-segment LCD screens of Game & Watch and its kin. Movement had to be told through a handful of poses etched in advance, and this art of frames, layered over a printed background, produced a picture unlike any other.
Skeuomorphism
Borrows cues from real materials and tools to make unknown interactions understandable. It names the principle, so Aqua and Brushed Metal are what the principle looked like when one company shipped it.
| LCD Game Graphics | Skeuomorphism | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1980–1991 | 2000s–2010s |
| Family | Digital Retro | UI Expression |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Fixed-segment figures / Two layers over printed backgrounds / Frame-step motion / Silver shells and the cross key | Leather, metal, paper / Dimensional shadows / Real-world metaphors / Fine textures |
| Best used for | Designing the display of a simple device that shows motion through few states · Toys or promotional items needing play feel without adding components | Explaining new interactions through familiar tools · Crafted, tactile experiences |
| Type | Numerals given to seven-segment digits, words kept to a few fixed labels | A humanist face suited to the purpose |
| Composition | Positions of moving parts fixed first, the printed background explaining the world | Adopt the structure of the real tool |
| Material | A silver shell holding two layers, transmissive LCD over printed art | Precision texture only where it serves function |
| Caution | Adding poses in pursuit of smooth movement removes the tension that jumping between frames created and the play turns dull. | Ornament must not bury the interaction. Expect generations who don't share the metaphor. |