Graphics, realistic = bad?

Ok so me and my brother were talking about this last night while playing halo 3.

We were saying if graphics came to the point where you cant tell if its real or a game, that wouldnt make things look as good, in our point of view...real life isnt as colorfull and shiny and cool looking, its pretty dull, but while playing halo 3, i noticed that i didnt want graphics to advance very much more, maybe better voice acting or w/e but i like it how it is...
What do you think?

If it's any type of simulator game, then realistic graphics is what you definately want. But anything else pretty much you don't really want realistic graphics, because that's what art design is for and they can make things look way better and more exciting then what realistic graphics would look like.

So, it all depends on the game whether or not you would want realistic graphics or not.

Depends much on the game...HALO whouldn´t work in another artistic style...simulations whould.That´s in fact what they intend to do.

I don´t want to see Eternal Sonata,Castlevania or Zelda with real looking graphics...:x

...real life isnt as colorfull and shiny and cool looking, its pretty dull...

Kniffy

No offence, but you need to see a bit more of the world methinks. I've seen a few things that put the most fantastical designs for any game to shame. Lake Louis up in the Alberta Rockies or the temperate rainforests along coastal British Columbia for example. Beautiful areas, absolutely beautiful!

Anyway, as for the topic; I'm not a big fan of hyper-realism in games and much prefer the more artistic approach. Say what you will, but I think World of Warcraft for example is a better looking game than... say Oblivion. Sure Oblivion is pushing massive graphical power to create a near realistic game world in many ways, but that's just it, it's near realistic and suffers from a bad case of Uncanny Valley syndrome. I can't help but find the flaws it its design and every little glitch is blown all the wider as it 'breaks the illusion'. Meanwhile WOW doesn't even bother trying for realism and instead takes a more colorful stylized approach that at no point pretends to mimic the real world and so there's no illusion to break but the one the game itself is choosing to create with the mood and ambience. It's just a much more eye-catching and pleasant effect.

realistic graphics are not bad. You just have to use them where they are appropriate. Call of Duty games are a good example of a game that thrives on realistic graphics. Realistic sports games are a good reason to have realistic graphics.