Exactly, desaturating the colors for a more realistic and less brightly-childly look. I think modern day games may use desaturation filters\shaders to do that.
And take a look at old Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64 games, they definately aren't as modern as directX 7 (the one Blitz3D uses) and they look realistic enough. It's a matter of artistical direction.
That same thing was being polemized on Blizzard forums, about Diablo III having too colorful graphics just like WoW has (and people complaining that was wrong because they are two very separate franchises).
And take a look at old Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64 games, they definately aren't as modern as directX 7 (the one Blitz3D uses) and they look realistic enough. It's a matter of artistical direction.
That same thing was being polemized on Blizzard forums, about Diablo III having too colorful graphics just like WoW has (and people complaining that was wrong because they are two very separate franchises).