File Extensions

JPG is the most common file type, this file type is compressed and can be opened into most other applications. They are most often used on screen in websites and emails, this is in the most part because the files are quite small. These are not suitable for printing as they cant be edited an resized without loss to the image quality. A JPG is a raster file.

GIFS - Graphics interchange format. These files raster files, they are especially good for drawings/line arts. They are used in the same was as JPG file but are compressed even more, because of this they are not very good for photographs. Lossless format.

PNG - Portable network graphics. This file type has lossless compression, which means that images keep their quality and because of this, PNG is ideal for photos. They have larger file sizes and also doesn't store any additional info.

PSD is the file format that is mainly associated with photoshop, its images are of very high quality and the files are large. They stole lots of information with the image file, such as layers, masks and transparency.

TIF - A tagged image file has large file sized along  with high quality images, they can store information along with the image and usually uses a lossless compression format.

BMP - Bitmap, these files are the largest as they do not use any compression at all. They are only really used by microsoft/microsoft paint.

Computer Graphics

2D Sprites

2D Sprites are still two dimensional images that are integrated into a larger scene and change quickly to different poses to give the impression of movement. Sprites looks like small, still images that act as characters or objects within a video game. Popular games that used 2D sprites are games such as street fighter and mario.

3d Sprites

3D sprites are similar to 2D sprites in that they are still images that change quickly to give an impression of movement. 3D sprites are still essentially two dimensional, but through using lighting and shade it gives an impression of depth which then looks essentially 3D.They would imitate the look of 3D when consoles couldnt use actuall 3D models. Mario also used these.

Concept art

Concept art is a way of demonstrating ideas for visuals in video games, that are illustrated through quick sketches and then expanded upon as the 3D models within the game. concept art looks alot like very detailed drawings of the eventual models in video games. Their general purpose are to give ideas and reference for video games. Below are concept drawings for gears of war and halo.

Textures

Textures are placed of 3D polygon geometry. They are the surface detail that you see in every aspect of a game, from the floor to the walls to the face to what's on a shield. The purpose of textures are to be what the player sees when in game and looking at scenery, characters or objects.

Artistic Styles used in computer games.

Cell Shading

Cell shading is an increasingly popular style of game graphics, it was originally used in animation before it was recreated to be a digital graphic game style. Cell shading in games can look very effective, the colours look bright and stand out. The styling mostly resembles that of a comic book, and alot of gamers enjoy this art styling. Some games that use this digitial graphic are Wind Waker, XIII and Ultimate Spiderman. This artistic style is very effective in Spiderman, as it resembles its comic book stories.

Abstraction

Abstract art styling in games could be defined as the opposite to photo realism, the style doesn't strive to resemble realism in anyway and often has features that are very unrealistic and may look different in the different perspectives of different people seeing them. The style usually makes use of a lot of shapes and lines that don't really resemble any actually objects in real life, such as Child of Eden and EDGE.

Photo Realism

Photorealism is the style of art in a game or any other kind of art, where the artist's are attempting to make the the scene so realistic and defined, it could be mistaken for a real photo. Rather than just the creation of the artist. Photorealism looks exactly how it sounds from its name, the graphics are designed to look as realistic as possible. For example in crysis 2 a level was based in new york city: a scene where it could be compared next to a photograph they would both look similar if not the same. Some photorealism in games are that effective the game experience can feel somewhat like an interactive movie such as Heavy rain.
Some famous games that use this art syling are: Crysis, Crysis 2, Arma, Heavy Rain, LA noir.

Exaggeration

The exaggeration art style might have started at attempting to look photo releastic, but as the art style has developed, character's features have become more over dramatic or exaggerated when some audiences favoured the style.The exaggeration art style to an extent looks almost cartoon, the colours and edges are very defined and look very similar to the art in animes. Some famous games in the art style are Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Devil May Cry, Xenoblade.