Why are Graphics so important to gamers?

Ive created a thread that was similar to this, complaining that most games recommended to me were not very fun... For example, Killzone 2, Resistance , Crysis... IMO none of those games are fun .

So my question is why are Graphics so important to gamers? To me.. story and gameplay are much more important... Can people here honestly say Call of Duty Black Ops is a good game?

IMO Super Metroid, Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem, MGS , HL 1 & 2 , Alan Wake , Heavy Rain , Mass Effect, PES , Battlefield 2 Goldeneye > Resistance , GTA IV , Crysis , Killzone , Red Dead Redemption , FIFA, Halo

Just wondering... does anyone agree with me? I'd really enjoy your opinions and try to reason with me

Hope you all have a nice day

Over the years, after spending thousands of dollars on GPU upgrades, I'm of the opinion that graphics are not that important.

Of course everyone wants good gameplay and story, But why are anyone of us upgrading our systems and buying 200 -500 dollar graphics cards if we are never going to use them? Why would we buy the latest generation of consoles? you can get a really good game on any system, even if we go back to the atari. And besides that, the graphics add to the experience. I was much more engaged in say, LOZ ocarina of time then I was link's awakening cause the new 3d graphics made it feel more real.

And this is probably just me, but I view games as art. To be technical an artist created the concept of the game. I love seeing how real or beautiful gaming companies can make a game look these days. It simply adds to the overall experience.

You ever noticed how you become so much more emotionally attached to characters in a movie, or become absorbed in the story so much that you feel like you are there? Well, I look forward to the time when video games do the same, because being able to control the character on the screen is one step closer to actually being there. That will never happen if graphics don't get better with gameplay and story.

mep916 said:

Over the years, after spending thousands of dollars on GPU upgrades, I'm of the opinion that graphics are not that important.

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Hey MEP that was sarcasm right? Ive spent loads of money on GPU's too, I need to upgrade again for BF3

Troncoso said:

Of course everyone wants good gameplay and story, But why are anyone of us upgrading our systems and buying 200 -500 dollar graphics cards if we are never going to use them? Why would we buy the latest generation of consoles? you can get a really good game on any system, even if we go back to the atari. And besides that, the graphics add to the experience. I was much more engaged in say, LOZ ocarina of time then I was link's awakening cause the new 3d graphics made it feel more real.

And this is probably just me, but I view games as art. To be technical an artist created the concept of the game. I love seeing how real or beautiful gaming companies can make a game look these days. It simply adds to the overall experience.

You ever noticed how you become so much more emotionally attached to characters in a movie, or become absorbed in the story so much that you feel like you are there? Well, I look forward to the time when video games do the same, because being able to control the character on the screen is one step closer to actually being there. That will never happen if graphics don't get better with gameplay and story.

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I agree with a lot you had to say... For example I thought uncharted looked beautiful and had excellent gameplay, great plot... I also thought the Orange Pack had the same features... You are right about Graphics do need to get better, People wouldnt stand for some game with terrible graphics with a great plot, so I see where I am wrong... but im sick of games that are just awful with great graphics like , Killzone 2 and 3 ... wish they would put a little bit of effort in Like Mass Effect, no ... just a little bit of effort like Dead Space (Mass Effect 1 was excellent all the way around )


Thanks for your input! both of you

mtb211 said:

Hey MEP that was sarcasm right? Ive spent loads of money on GPU's too, I need to upgrade again for BF3



I agree with a lot you had to say... For example I thought uncharted looked beautiful and had excellent gameplay, great plot... I also thought the Orange Pack had the same features... You are right about Graphics do need to get better, People wouldnt stand for some game with terrible graphics with a great plot, so I see where I am wrong... but im sick of games that are just awful with great graphics like , Killzone 2 and 3 ... wish they would put a little bit of effort in Like Mass Effect, no ... just a little bit of effort like Dead Space (Mass Effect 1 was excellent all the way around )


Thanks for your input! both of you

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I do agree with you that graphics don't make the game. I don't care if I was playing the best looking game of all time, without the other elements that make the game worth playing, it would be no good. Though the opposite is true as well, without graphics, a good story or good gameplay aren't complete as well.

Companies think that pretty games will sell....it makes me sad.

mtb211 said:

Hey MEP that was sarcasm right? Ive spent loads of money on GPU's too, I need to upgrade again for BF3

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Yeah, sorta. Honestly, I don't find enough value in a $300-$500 GPU, which some would argue is what you need in order to have the optimal experience in some of these higher requirement games.

IMHO a modern game should have everything. If I'm paying top dollar for a game I want it to have top gameplay and current graphics.

The graphic levels need to be constantly pushed to make things better. If just went for 100% gameplay, we'll all still be on ataris and 8 bit Nintendos.

I think while graphics will not really make a bad game good, they can make a good game feel dated. I don't get entirely stuck on them. Often I see complaints or praise on graphics and I'm not that over or under impressed.

As another poster mentioned, I want to get to the point where I can put myself in the game. I put myself in games. It's my escape from reality, more or less. The closer games get to making that happen the better. I'm looking forward to 3d photo realistic gaming. We could be there now, it's just a matter of cost and development time. I think the Wii attempted to try out slowing down the process. The result is crappier looking games with simple concepts that are fun for very short periods of time. That's not what gaming is about.

Graphics are part of the immersion. A game having horrible textures, blocky characters, triangle-y models, crappy reflections isn't acceptable in this day and age, and it also ruins immersion. Graphics are half the game. Would you still play Crysis if it was it was the GoldSrc engine?

Sound is another important one. Crappy sound, poorly recorded sound, muffled sound, and wrong sounds for various things also ruin immersion.

Masterfulks said:

The graphic levels need to be constantly pushed to make things better. If just went for 100% gameplay, we'll all still be on ataris and 8 bit Nintendos.

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linkin said:

Sound is another important one. Crappy sound, poorly recorded sound, muffled sound, and wrong sounds for various things also ruin immersion.

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+1 for both of those...

O jeezhus.. wait till all the games are in 3d... they are all going to be worthless
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Yeah 3D I don't care much about. Ruins your eyes even faster and gives me headaches. Combined with a low field of view for most games that are on console and pc, you start to feel sick quite soon.

Yes todays 3d is not that great. However it needs to be experimented with to get us to the good stuff.

I wish someone could just come up with a holodeck like Star Trek. Gaming in that thing would be awesome.

Ive never seen a movie in 3d... and yeah I read that its bad for eyes.... Linkin... do you import a lot of your games because of the banned games in Australia? At least I read something like that somewhere

Not really. Don't own L4D2 or Mortal Kombat.

Aside from those and Manhunt, I don't really know any games that have been RC (refused classification, makes them illegal to sell retail because they are apparently too violent/whatever for a mature adult to comprehend. How I hate our stupid backwards government)

That said, R18+ guidelines have been drafted and it's going through the political system at the moment... I still don't like what they're doing. It's not moving RC and some MA15+ games that should be rated higher into an R18+ category (ie restricted to adults). Most games will still be RC and not allowed to be sold, while a fair amount of games will be moved from MA15+ to R18+ (this bit I support, games like GTA IV/EFLC and COD MW2 can be pretty violent. GTA EFLC even has a sex cutscene but I bet you all knew that already!)

I've trawled through the drafted guidelines. Basically they think that anything with sex and violence is too "bad" to be allowed into the country, even restricted to adults only, to protect our children. I am sorry to say so crudely, but:

How ****ing stupid is that?



Now go watch an MA15+ action movie and you'll likely find some violence, killing, drug use and maybe a sex scene. For a 15 year old kid, that is deemed acceptable, but a game that is less intense shouldn't even be allowed into the country, even restricted to adults?

with pc gamers especially its how to test your rig and brag to people 'my pc can play pong with everything at full graphics!' 'wow thats so cool' etc, then new hardware comes out and you think 'hey i can get even better graphics!' its a hobby bordering obsession i guess

Turbo10 said:

with pc gamers especially its how to test your rig and brag to people 'my pc can play pong with everything at full graphics!' 'wow thats so cool' etc, then new hardware comes out and you think 'hey i can get even better graphics!' its a hobby bordering obsession i guess

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Yep that too, just tweaking stuff is 75% of computer owning/gaimg

Graphics are neat for eyegasams but honestly what makes a game is the same brew that made it popular to begin with. Gameplay - Mechanics - Storyline = Replay value = great game. I find myself playing games made pre-2000 more because the industry lost touch for the most part of those classic titles. ATM playing Final Fantasy 3, Breath of Fire 4, and Morrowind

3D is just a fad, its been popping up for 80 years now and it will disappear and come back in another 10 years. I laugh when I see someone buy a 3D TV and I refuse to spend twice the price to see 3D in a theater (mind you I only rent movies anymore)

I completely agree on the graphics part. A game like Mass Effect is much more memorable to me because of the storyline and character development than the admittedly amazing graphics. Although, they are great.

Along those same lines I have never spent more than $200 on a graphics card, and keep them a minimum of 3 years because they are able to do most any game just fine for at least that period of time (Spent $190 2.5 years ago on a nVidia 9800GTX+). I really could care less is someone can get 70fps while I get 35fps; 35 is still enough for it to be smooth and play well.

I spent $150 on my 4870 only to end up playing games like Age of Empires II and Starcraft 1 with my friends due to their lack of powerful hardware :/

linkin said:

Graphics are part of the immersion. A game having horrible textures, blocky characters, triangle-y models, crappy reflections isn't acceptable in this day and age, and it also ruins immersion. Graphics are half the game.

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I think the same. :good:

Problem with todays games though,Im finding that games developers are focusing more on making it look really pretty rather that it having decent storyline/gameplay.

Ive not actually been playing games much lately because i get fed up with them half way through like Duke Nukem Forever which just started to get repetative.
I have Crysis 2 and only played a few levels.

Just look at GTA IV rockstar concentrated on making that game look as real as possible yes it sold the most copies of a game ever but people were saying they made it look too real and didn't concentrate enough on the storyline therefore i feel there needs to be a balance between good graphics and the storyline of a game.