Poll: Do you give a crap about graphics?

[Hiroshi Mishima]

Everybody does to some degree, but I voted no.
good Graphics are one of my lowest priorities in a game.

I do not care that much about graphics. I see graphics for a game as a nice addition that can make a game that much better, but if a game has great graphics and poor gameplay or story I think the game is bad.

You could say I see graphics as icing on the cake.

Quoted the above because this is close to how I feel on the matter. I personally feel that graphics really are a lower concern than the rest of the overall presentation. Look at food, it can be presented beautifully, but a lot of fancy looking food tastes like shit (from experience). It is true that less appealing food may not be so readily consumed but often you will find it tastes as good or better than the gourmet kind. That can apply to video games as well. I loved the SNES era because it was when a lot of good RPGs got made. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Robotrek, etc... as well as other genres like Ogre Battle, Contra, Demon's Crest and so on.

There were also a hell of a lot of PSX era games that I enjoy playing despite the lack of current graphics and I replay games that, today, would probably be considered shit. For instance, every fan of FF7 (of which I am not) overlooks the graphics, same with many MGS fans. Personally I thought the Megaman X games were a lot funner when they stuck to the 2-D kind, Command Mission notwithstanding (cause it was awesome).

They do matter. I'm not saying that they take precedent over story and gameplay, but I can forgive a lot of annoyance if a game is beautifully presented.

Quoted because for me the reverse can often be even more true. Where a game may lack in graphics, it can more than make up for it everywhere else. Case in point anything made with sprite-based graphics (which is to say 2-D) stands to be a very enjoyable and playable game even if it doesn't feature polygons or ridiculously realistic looking characters. Most of my favourite games to play over and over are, in fact, not from the current generation, or the previous one, but from the SNES and PSX era.

 

[Sjakie]

Yes it matters, not that it's the most important part of a game though.

 

[SirPumpkinLongshanks]

I care about aesthetics, I don't care if a game is pushing the hardware to its limit.

I find WoW to be visually appealing but games like Mass Effect, while they look good, delve too deep into the uncanny valley for my tastes. The old 16-bit Mario games look just as good as they did back in the day whereas PS1 3D is unbearable in all but a few instances.

This is the only sensible metric by which to gauge a game's appearance, IMO.

 

[Logic 0]

No I don't care about grapics as long as the game is good.

 

[Hollock]

a bit, but a good game can live off of so many other things than graphics

 

[Blemontea]

What matters is that You can tell whats going on who your talking to and what your holding, other than that companies need to focus more on gameplay, story, and mechanics.

 

[Jumplion]

It varies from game to game.

Generally, if I'm playing a "next-gen" game, I expect up-to-par graphics/visuals. There is absolutely no reason why a game can't look at least decent nowadays, and as some have said before, if I can't see what the hell ks going on then bad graphics are to blame.

If, however, the game itself can overshadow the graphics problems, like an enormous amount of content, then I can forgive a few sub-par graphics here and there. But overall, I do expect my games to look decent unless otherwise stated. If the game is going for a unique look that does need to be in HD, then graphics won't mean as much to me.

 

[Apocalypse Tank]

Yes and no answers are too basic for this kind of discussion.
Crysis and something like Hearts of Iron 2 could keep me occupied for an equal amount of time even though HoI2 have basically no graphics and a world map.

 

[Clueless Hero]

Yes and no. I still love the hell out of KOTOR, and while it's graphics are just fine at conveying whats going on, the minimalistic movements and actions of the characters bothers me. If somebody pushes a button, make it appear like they're pressing a button.

 

[Mr. Gency]

Great Graphics
I enjoy taking in the visuals (when I'm not focused on gameplay)

Average Graphics
They don't bother me.

Bad/Lazy Graphics
I mock the graphics and am sometimes even distracted by them.

 

[Omnific One]

Yes, but good gameplay and story come first. However, in some games it makes it or breaks it. DA:O is edging into the terrible graphic range; that's probably why I've only gotten to Landsmeet. I prefer to be immersed so massive texture error and just disgusting, muddy textures and poor modeling (see the log pile at the end of the human noble story for DA:O; holy crap, it's bad) tend to cool my enthusiasm.

The characters and most of the story of DA are still very good.

Edit: But I still play and love KOTOR, so I guess it's mainly current games that need good graphics.

 

[-AC80-]

as an owner of a ati 5970 and i7, yes, exceptionable yes

 

[OrdinaryGuy]

I care about graphics, but gameplay comes first. I've played crappy games that looked amazing and I've played excellent games that looked like crap. It's always nice to have better-looking games but none of it matters if the game sucks.

 

[zombiejoe]

Well, yes and no.

I do like games even if they have bad graphics (like Darkest of Days) But they do help.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Everybody does to some degree, but I voted no.

good Graphics are one of my lowest priorities in a game.

This, as long as I can tell what I'm looking at, that's all that matters.

 

[thenoblitt]

not really if its a fun game then its a fun game regardless of graphics, unless they go around saying they have the best graphics of all time then it doesnt really matter

 

[Verex]

Nope. I'd take music over graphics, and I don't give a crap about music.

 

[Hashime]

YES, other wise the absurd amount of money I spent on this computer would have been a waste.

 

[Section Crow]

no, I don't need a HD pixelated sniper rifle to shoot someone in the head