Do you care about graphics?

[pulse2]

Does it really matter to you all that much? Would you rather play a game that looks smooth and beautiful than play a game that looks rough and jagged JUST because of the graphics rather than the gameplay? Had somebody given you an atari 2600 pacman or a PS1 game would you be turned off or bored playing it just because it doesn't look as nice as say, Gears of War or Uncharted?

For me, I'd say graphics restricts elements of gameplay I've come to love as well as making other elements more accessible, do I prefer GTA4 to San Andreas? No. Doom 3 to Doom? No. Ruse to the first Red Alert? No. But then thats just me, I thought Crysis looked amazing, but the gameplay became kind of a drag so it didn't keep me as stimulated as say Timesplitters 2 did. Gears for example didn't have me playing nearly as long as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro games did and they didn't have achievements or trophies and multiplayer and all that trifle.

And Final Fantasy games speak for themselves.

So, what do you think?

EDIT:

Note: Read this part only if you actually care.

Much of the reason why I keep on returning to old games I loved as a kid is because while they may not hold a torchlight to the beauty that is Uncharted for example, they are fun.

Take one of my favourites for example, Abe's Oddysee still looks beautiful to me, it was my first PS1 game and I'll still be enjoying it when PS5 comes out, will I still enjoy Crysis which was a graphical masterpiece? No, but that's probably because of my own personal preference, I just feel like certain games clicked with me, stayed in my mind and will forever be timeless classics as well as others, otherwise Tetris, Pacman and Alien Invaders are concepts that would have died out years ago.

I'm not directly comparing the graphical quality of Pacman to Gears because that would be an unfair advantage to Gears obviously, but I'm comparing the appreciation you, I, we had for a classic like pacman which can be played over and over to graphical marvels released today that are only sometimes worth 1 playthrough before they are sold off and never really thought of again.

This is what I mean by gameplay vs graphics, I'm not exactly pointing towards games with bad graphics as I don't expect anyone to like games with bad graphics, simply because it makes gameplay annoying as well. There are several forms of good graphics in gaming, they don't all have to be about 3D photorealism, but the question I was getting at is to put it more precisely 'Would you be able to appreciate something that doesn't focus on polygon count and 3D immersion and would you be able to play an old game and not only enjoy it, but appreciate it as much as you would a new game'.

Don't simply see it as me saying for example, hot people are for one night stands, people with amazing personalities are forever.

 

[Georgie_Leech]

Can I see what is going on? Is it clear what actions are being taken, by both myself and other chracters?

Congratulations, you've hit the point of graphics where I stop paying any real attention. Sure, Eye Candy is never frowned upon for me (enough with gritty realism, please), but you don't need Terrific graphics to achieve that effect. Minecraft certainly proves that point, and the original Myst was a game I found to be quite beautiful, despite its "poor" graphics by modern standards.

 

[C2Ultima]

I don't care too much. Just as long as the frame rate is smooth, and I can easily tell what's going on.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Here's a screenshot from one of my favourite games; you tell me if I think graphics are important!

Spoiler: Ta da!

Gameplay beats graphics for me, every time.

 

[randomID]

I still have use my few years old nvidea gts8600.
gameplay > graphics.
It also helps, that I am not really into shooters.

 

[Baby Tea]

I really depends on the game.
But, over all, I certainly enjoy my games looking fantastic. Obviously gameplay is paramount, but that's no reason to 'shun' or turn up one's nose at those who like it looking good. I mean, look at that Morrowind MOD pack that was just released (And subsequently removed)! It essentially only made the game prettier, and it was beloved by the many who were able to download it.

Why?

Because it made it look great!
Graphics certainly matter, but that doesn't mean everything has to be crazy high resolution. It just has to fit the game. Minecraft's graphics are awesome for that game, but they'd be pretty bad for, say, a Call of Duty game. Mass Effect's graphics are great, but they wouldn't really work for a game like Mario Bros.

So, yeah. I like great graphics.

 

[HassEsser]

I still play DOOM, Quake, Oddworld, 1.6 and Half-Life. In short: I don't care about graphics. But I appreciate them.

 

[Wapox]

If the game is awesome then I don't much care... I still prefer Baldur's Gate over Baldur's Gate 2.

 

[No_Remainders]

I <3 Minecraft.

Honestly, I care as much about graphics in a game as Yahtzee does about Multiplayer.

I don't give a flying shit. I'd prefer a game that functions well with shoddy graphics than a game like Crysis.

 

[Rathcoole]

I could not care less about graphics. If a game has a good story and good gameplay I will happily over look graphics. That is why I still like to play old games like ff7 and morrowind, Sure the graphics suck but the gameplay and story make up for it.

 

[KEM10]

I actually have a hard time playing some PS1 games because of the graphics. Older games going for realism breaks it for me because you can tell they are trying but are (present tense) not up to par. However, I have recently sat down and played Genesis Sonic and Crash Bandicoot recently and still enjoy it because they weren't trying for realism. That's why I find more replay value in Wind Waker than Ocorina of Time.

 

[Keith K]

I care about resolution more than "graphics". I don't need super high resolution, really. I just don't like to see the work of a developer upscaled to crap just to fit my screen. So I have found I prefer HD versions of last-gen games rather than the originals. And I quickly became frustrated with my Wii. I now play rented Wii and old PS2 games via emulator.

 

[Da Joz]

The only time I care about graphics is when they are so bad it makes the game hard to play.

 

[icyneesan]

Its not so much graphics that im picky about, its the art style. Im more willing to play something with a weird art style like Limbo or something familiar that I've enjoyed in the past like a Tales of game. But if its just gonna be another gritty 'brown' game then you're gonna have to win me over with story or gameplay.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

Great graphics for its own sake is meaningless and obnoxious. For graphics to really matter, the art design has to have good quality and fit the tone and setting of the game. You could have most graphically-sophisticated and technically-demanding game in the world and unless the graphics and underlying design are equally high-quality if not greater, it's still going to look like garbage.

A great example I've used in the past to illustrate this is Everquest 2 versus World of Warcraft at their respective launches. In terms of graphical sophistication, technical demand and complexity, and general graphical bells and whistles, EQ2 blew WoW straight out of the water. EQ2's art design also sucked, whereas WoW's was (and still is) pretty fantastic; so despite being on a more advanced graphically, EQ2 still looked like ass compared to WoW.

If you're talking gameplay versus graphics, gameplay always trumps graphics. I don't care how good it looks; if it's not fun, I'm not going to play it.

 

[pulse2]

See, I agree that I prefer some games with great graphics, but then the question becomes, did I prefer those games because of the graphics or because of what elements came with the graphics, Fallout 3 for example happens to be my favourite Fallout, despite playing and loving the first two before I played 3. I just liked exploring and causing chaos in F3, but then, I wasn't as keen about Vegas. So I guess it has something to do with gameplay more so than the graphics Fallout 3 had.

Diablo 2 still sits in my top ten favourite games of all time, as well as Abe's Oddysee, Populous, Dark Reign, Spyro, Half Life and a few others, most of these games having several updated versios that I thought were okay or just crap.

Dino Crisis 3 falls into that crap category as well as Munch's Oddysee, two games that seriously left a bitter taste in my mouth. I loved Dino Crisis 1 and 2, 3 just went and sealed the series' fate to eternal doom.

Thus the reason I wouldn't want Diablo 3 to look like Oblivion, not that Oblivion was bad, it was an excellent game, I just like Diablo's style.

Sports games however don't bother me with graphical upgrades, as long as the things that made previous versions good are left in and things are added on top.

 

[szaleniec1000]

Here's a screenshot from one of my favourite games; you tell me if I think graphics are important!

Of course, roguelikes do have good graphics, in the sense that they do what they're intended to do. The designers wanted the display to be a simple schematic of the dungeon showing where things are in relation to each other, and that's what it is.