Poll: How important are the graphics of a video game?

[VanityGirl]

Good game with not the best graphics in the world : Left4Dead

Shitty game with awesome graphics: GTAIV

I think that explains it.
I won't buy a gmae on graphics alone, because if your selling point is amazing graphics (or boobs) then the game may be lacking in functionality or plot then I'll pass.
Fun game > Great graphics

 

[Contextualizer]

GTAIV had awesome graphics? What?

Some games don't need to have earth shattering graphics to be awesome. But other games do because of what they're trying to do.

 

[Mordwyl]

Third law of game design: A game's graphics will be shit on its 10th anniversary.

Now excuse me while I go enjoy all the good games companies forgot to make in this millennium.

 

[quack35]

They are so, un-goddamn-believably important, we should make several hundred threads about them every day.

 

[lucky_sharm]

I'm always sad when a game gets critisised and knocked on for not having good enough graphics or if the art direction is too different. Games like Team Fortress 2 and Wind Waker had smooth, passable graphics but also had charming art styles. People apparently like gritty realistic graphics more, unfortunately.

 

[Altorin]

They are VIDEO games.

It's meant to be a visual experience.

If the visuals hurt the experience (and the threshold of what hurts the experience changes over time), then they need to be better.

 

[Hobo Joe]

They should be smooth, I don't mind older games as long as I can tell what the hell's going on and who's who.

 

[Charlie the Grenadier]

I voted 'Just good enough to be passable. Smooth, clean graphics'. As long as the graphics do what they're supposed to do, that is make the game playable and a good experience, that's all I ask.

I loved the stunning visuals of BioShock, too. It may sound like a contradiction, but the detail really helped the immersion and, therefore, the experience as a whole.

What I've always been sceptical of is the obsession over graphics for its own sake. It strikes me as... a little moronic. I imagine a child being obsessed with 'pretty things'. It seems a less of a big deal these days, though, which I'm thankful for.

 

[Flames66]

HL2 is as far as they need to advance in my opinion (at least for now). I don't want my games to look perfectly like real life, I want to play them, enjoy them and modify them.

 

[karloss01]

graphics aren't important to me i still play the orignal sonic games, doom and UT because they are good games through gameplay quality. a lot of developers concentrate too much on graphics and not enough on gameplay or story.

 

[Talshere]

Generally Good story and good gameplay can make up for poor graphics. Many people would still play FFVII and counter strike for example.

If I on the other hand go out any but a game that came out last week, when I whack the graphics to max I expect seamless curves, detailed shadows, high quality texture mapping. If I had got the PS3 or Xbox version of AvP for example id be pretty pissed at the shoddy quality. Fortunately I have the good sense to own a PC so when I max out the graphics (I dont have directx11 sadly) I got the current gen high quality graphics engine that I expect.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

As long as you can tell a tree is a tree and a man is a man (with round elbows), I am happy.

Just 'cos you can see the individual bumps on a brick doesn't make the game any better.

The more a game is praised for it's graphics the less likely I am to play it, from my experience the better the graphics the worse something else is, such as story.

In my mind the importance goes gameplay -> story -> graphics -> sound (including voice acting).

exactly the same, as long i as can tell what is what, im good, but when i can see the shadow reflecting off my gun while changing it in the brick that is more detailed then real life, then that game has something wrong with it..plz plz developers stop concentrating on graphics,

story >= gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>= graphics

 

[DrDeath3191]

I only need as much as to be able to discern what it is I am doing. Other than that, it's just frills.

 

[Talshere]

On a side note I think your wrong but put No more Heroes under art direction. Just because a games graphics chooses not to go down the root of hype realistic ever hair on your head graphics, doesn't necessarily mean the graphics are bad. Just different.

 

[lucky_sharm]

On a side note I think your wrong but put No more Heroes under art direction. Just because a games graphics chooses not to go down the root of hype realistic ever hair on your head graphics, doesn't necessarily mean the graphics are bad. Just different.

Well, the fourth choice is kind of a stand alone option. I didn't mean for the options to go down as "from top to bottom, graphics that are great to worst".

 

[ethaninja]

In order to sell or my own opinion? A lot of gamers I talk to love their graphics more then anything else. However for my own opinion, I would go with story line. As long as it's got good music, (not always but helps) sounds, and good voice acting with decent character animation I'm pretty much sold