Poll: Do you need graphics?

[SupaMechaDeathChrist]

Ok, so I was talking to my friends and we soon got into video gaming. I said that graphics are like a good add on to the game, but you don't need them to have a good game.
One of my friends said that good graphics are an essential part to gaming and you need them for a good game.
The other two of my friends just said that it doesn't matter.That graphics good sometimes, but other times, they can really just fuck up the game.

So, are graphics needed to make a good game?

 

[Urgh76]

it depends, the classics... they're just classics but you wouldn't buy a new game pixalated as mario soooo it goes both ways

 

[ratix2]

it depends on how they are used. for example, bioshock couldnt have been done with doom or quake graphics, and without its graphics that added so much life and atmosphere to the game it would have been just a lackluster shooter.

on the other hand some games its just to one up the developer who released 2 months earlier. killzone 2 for example is just another average shooter (a good one, but average none the less) and would have been the same even if it used the same engine half-life did.

 

[David_G]

It can go both ways, I prefer for the game to have good graphics, but I won't be put off if a game has bad graphics.

 

[TheLastCylon]

Having graphics in games in definitely a plus...I don't want to be playing text adventures all the time.


As for the graphics being good, doesn't matter too much to me.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

Depends, I'd rather have eh graphics with a decent draw distance and a solid frame rate than state of the art close range GCard rape games.

 

[anthony87]

Well you could always try a current game with classic graphics and see what that's like;

 

[Jonesy911]

Does Final Fantasy 6 have good graphics? Exactly

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Not too important but still, pretty important.
Although I think that the physics engine is far more important.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Yup, graphics are important, though the constant race to outdo each other on who can create the most realistic graphics is missing the point - what is important is a good art design. Games have reached the point where I don't think they really need to get much better looking - it would be like making an entirely CGI film with graphics so good they are indistinguishable from a live action film using real actors. Sure you could conceivably do that, but all the time and money you spent painstakingly recreating reality could have been better put to use by just filming it in the first place.

Games right now are freaking gorgeous, you'll get more mileage out of creative art design than you will simply pushing for better rendering capabilities, and we'll get less beautifully recreated brownish/grey xeroxes of other brownish/grey games in the process.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Graphics really don't bother me at all. As long as they don't get in the way of gameplay, i'm fine with whatever gets thrown at me. That's not to say I don't appreciate a nice looking game (for example I LOVE the new realistic gore effects on L4D2), but it's not a requirement.

Also to clarify something - I often consider games with a unique art style to have 'better' graphics than a game that just tries too hard to look realistic. So from that point of view, I believe TF2 has 'better' graphics than, say, call of duty 4, despite being technically inferior.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

If the graphics of a game are decent then I don't care. If they are mediocre then I can't get myself to play it.

 

[Woodsey]

Yes - graphics add to mechanics, and characterisation which can push the story and make it more sincere/funny, etc.

Gameplay and graphics are tightly interlinked.

 

[Mookie_Magnus]

Of course you need graphics. Without graphics, you wouldn't be able to see what was going on, and we'd be back in the days of text-based adventure games.

Joking aside, graphics are an important part of any game, as are gameplay and story. You shouldn't have to sacrifice one for another.

 

[-Drifter-]

Depends on what you mean by graphics. Like Gildan Bladeborn said, art design is what's important. You can make a great looking game without needing cutting edge technology.

 

[teisjm]

graphics doesn't matter, i usually switch the TV to the porn channel and spray and pray while playing COD4... the voice acting in tv porn is sadly better than listening to every fucking tard who thinks the fact that they've got a mic makes their whining and panting interresting to hear for otehr people.

More seriously, games doen't need to have state of the art graphics to be good, and good graphics can't make a bad game good, but it can make a good game better.

 

[Spaghetti]

Good graphics are important yes, but there are a few old games that I love where either the graphics don't matter, or add to the charm of the game.

e.g. Theme Hospital. I imagine that new, modern 3D graphics would detract from the game and make it worse.