At least a few Eurogamer readers were probably in secondary school in April 1995, when Hubble took the famous Pillars of Creation photograph. It is impossible to restate just how much of an impact this image had: it was space seen in an entirely new way. It changed our collective idea of what the universe might look like.
Its rippled down in popular culture across movies and video games. If you want to see a really great example of its impact, imagine this opening shot to the film Contact but in a world that never got to see any Hubble pictures:
Today well all be getting to see the first images from Hubbles successor, the James Webb Telescope. Its time to have our views of the cosmos rearranged once again. We wanted to celebrate this moment in some way, and how better to do it than take a look at some of the great space vistas from some of our favourite video games? Just a few. Please add any shots of your own in the comments.
Here goes!
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Duncan Cook took these beautiful shots of Elite Dangerous, a game that updates one of the true classics of video game science fiction. Take a good look at a universe filled with boiling suns and tumbling asteroids.
Cook, a pal of Berties also takes lovely shots like this of Star Citizen. Arrival on an alien world thats already bristling with technology.
Few games capture the terrifying forces at work in the universe – and the accidental beauty these forces create – like Outer Wilds, in which you can land on a comet, travel through a singularity, and toast marshmallows on numerous planets.
The low-poly abstraction of MirrorMoon EP helps create a pocket universe that is a single beautiful puzzle – a puzzle in which each planet is filled with its own wonders. Irresistible space-faring magic.
Helionaut by Sokpop offers another abstract vision of a universe filled with interesting places to visit.
This slice of perfect French sci-fi sees Captain Blood searching the galaxy to track down and kill their own clones. It offers a distinct glimpse of the universe unmatched in its oddness and melancholy.
Destinys new Private Match feature is a reminder the game has some *stunning* scenery. pic.twitter.com/BgCqXUxYfw
— Matthew Reynolds (@Crazyreyn) September 15, 2016
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Bungies skill with skyboxes is unrivalled – although judging by this maybe Turner could have gotten an art gig there pretty easily. Thanks to Matt Reynolds for these lovely pictures.
The universe is yours to discover and exploit in Endless Space. And what a gorgeous place it is!
The cosmos is a huge river in Heavens Vault
And how better to end on the boundless beauty of the universe than with a bit of No Mans Sky?