Bethesda: People Who Say Graphics "Don't Matter" Are Usually Lying

[Red-Link]

I'll agree that graphics have their use, but I'd rather play a fun, well-programmed game with poor graphics than something with amazing graphics and some annoying bugs, and I'm just talking about minor ones, let alone the big baddies some games have.

 

[eljawa]

eh...a good game is a good game, graphics or no. look at dragon age origins

 

[seizon]

hrm, this thread is making me want to play aliens, c64 style. damn i miss that game.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Rogue-likes, Minecraft and an entire movement of creative game design on a low-budget may disagree with you there, Pete Moneybags.
.
BTW, denial is usually the first symptom of an issue, Pete, my boy...

I'll point out he qualified his statement with usually. Just as important, just because graphics are not cutting edge does not mean they cannot be well designed. And, in the case of your example, you point to a "genre" that is best associated with presenting the world in ascii characters (largely because it allows one to easily procedurally generate a world) and yet the most successful roguelike made thus far was lauded for its graphics: Diablo 2. The other example, minecraft, has as many people applauding the graphic design as there are apologists claiming graphics do not matter.

That said, I think the easier position to take is simply that graphics do matter but they will never make a bad game good; they can however help make a good game great.

 

[Torrasque]

Graphics matter only if you make them matter.

For example: Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Diablo 2, Ogre Battle 64, and Time Splitters 2, all have rather mediocre graphics compared to the graphics of today.
But I still love them all to death.

But after playing Pokemon Diamond and White to death, I cannot go back to Pokemon Y/R/B or even S/G/C because the graphics are just so BAD in comparison.

I think if the gameplay is good enough, you can ignore a certain amount of "bad" graphics.
But it is impossible to ignore bad gameplay, no matter how good the graphics are.

 

[Nexus4]

I am about story, setting, exploration. A game needs 2 out of 3 to grab me. Graphics are just a bonus. I still go back to Morrowind.

Morrowind, whilst not being graphically amazing, has a good sense of style. In my opinion, the quality of the graphics is not too much of a big deal; but rather the style of the world is. Take what was said about Morrowind, the environment is in rather low detail. Yet, walking through a city floating on the water with a moon suspended above it, tended to by the most awesome looking guards ever in elaborate ceramic armor with the main mode of transportation outside being a fuckin' huge beetle. The actual style and dictation is absolutely amazing, even with low quality resolution it still looks striking.

 

[Chibz]

I still play NES games on my wii. Graphics aren't a FRACTION as important as fun gameplay.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

Watching gamers raaaage is both funny and sad at the same time.

Yes, graphics DO matter. Not as much as immersiveness, or fun factor, but since graphics can compliment both I have to agree with Peter whatshisface.

 

[Red Right Hand]

Graphics do matter yeah but they aren't the be-all and end-all that some companies would have you believe. You gotta strike a balance.

 

[DustyDrB]

Well, it wasn't graphics that killed Fallout 3 for me, but it was close: That awful color palette. I'm glad Obsidian added some new hues to New Vegas.

I don't typically care if a game has outdated graphics, even if it isn't an old game. I can, however, appreciate beautiful graphics. The problem these days is all the brown and grey that developers ruin their games with. That killed Gears of War, Fallout 3, and many others for me.

 

[BlackWidower]

Perhaps they should quantify: Graphics don't matter...as much as gameplay. I don't care how pretty a game is, if it's not fun...well you might as well make it a movie.

 

[theultimateend]

I'll say they matter...

They aren't everything, but a good art style goes a long way.

Braid and LIMBO wouldn't be remotely as well-received if they weren't so darn pretty, with art styles that merge seamlessly with the atmosphere and gameplay.

That was his mistake.

Graphics don't matter. At all, period, nobody believes they do.

Artstyle is what matters. Your game can be graphically amazing but if the artstyle is shit the game will look bad.

Graphics is the objective stats of a game, Artstyle is the subjective appearance.

I don't care what sort of bump mapping DPI your characters have, if the game has a shitty artstyle it won't matter.

Minecraft has bad graphics, but a wonderful artstyle. Same thing with Revenge of the Titans. I think the error is assuming they are the same thing.

 

[taciturnCandid]

I play deus ex (who will reinstall?). Game was dated even when it came out. But the atmosphere made it immersive, besides from being a good game anyways. Graphics don't matter, but atmosphere does. That is why people like bioshock so much. The environment was immersive because the music, art style, and lighting blended well. Same with system shock. A game can have low-res textures and be very immersive and fun.

Many people quote minecraft as an example. I agree with this. When you are in a cave, it feels like a cave. The sound.. the random pockets. It can really draw you in.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

and this is where indie games fail (which is why they usually don't sell well. minecraft being the exception)

 

[Elfgore]

If someone game up to me and said graphics don't matter I would smack them. A good example for me would be The Elder Scrolls Morrowind. It was a great game, but the crappy graphics made me not want to play it.

 

[WaderiAAA]

It is true that looking at screenshots can make me decide whether or not to get a game, but that isn't based on the quality of the graphics alone. The graphics can also give a hint as to how much effort the developers have put into it and what efforts they've focused on the most. I've looked at games with not that great graphics and decided to get them because the level design, gameplay etc looks great.

To me, there goes a line for how bad graphics can be before it breaks the game. For instance I downloaded Super Mario Kart for the Wii, and the graphics were so horrible it made the karts awkward to control and it even made me naucius.

Graphics aren't unimportant, but I do believe developers put way more effort into making it pixel perfect than the game really needs.

 

[Sixcess]

Well, Bethesda has nice graphics, so when are they going to start working on animation?

Really. Fallout 3's 3rd person viewpoint is hilariously bad with the way your character just kind of glides over the terrain, and as for the facial/body animation during conversations... *shudder*

I'd rather play a game with dated graphics and good animation, than a game with great graphics and choppy animation.