Are graphics really that important? (56k warning)

So I think as the gen is progressing (and I specify the "I think" cause I know the majority will disagree) more attention is being given to games that deliver addictive gameplay that is continuously enjoyable, while the graphics might just be good, or even considered average. Which brings me to the question...

Are graphics really that important?

Look at what is now on top of the GR charts (GTAIV). Awesome gameplay, excellent story, and a just a well-rounded game... the graphics? They're not superb, ie. like Gears or Uncharted. They're good, but they're not the main focus of the game.

And the 2nd game of this gen that's on the list...

Neither of those games have your Bioshock, Crysis, Uncharted level graphics, but both have proven to be excellent games, both in the top 5 of GR, and both GOTY on Gamespot (:)) and in most other places.

I mean, it took a cartoony "kiddy" game to pretty much outrank/outscore massive games like Crysis, Bioshock, Uncharted, Mass Effect etc... and GTAIV has surprised everyone by receiving so many 10s from the gaming community. Neither of these games really focus on graphics, but they will be remembered for a long time to come.

So, are graphics really that important? What do you guys think?

So, are graphics really that important? What do you guys think?

the-very-best

No. At least they're not as important as gameplay and some other aspects of the game. The graphics are just one part of creating the atmosphere. Imagine Metroid Prime with some really crappy and boring music and ambient sounds. The atmosphere would have been awful.

It's just that graphics are the first thing you see of a game. People should listen to Reggie more: Seeing is not believeing, playing is believing.

No. At least they're not as important as gameplay and some other aspects of the game. The graphics are just one part of creating the atmosphere. Imagine Metroid Prime with some really crappy and boring music and ambient sounds. The atmosphere would have been awful.

It's just that graphics are the first thing you see of a game. People should listen to Reggie more: Seeing is not believeing, playing is believing.

Son_of_Some

Your sig scares me.

I agree about the MP point and the fact that graphics are the first thing you see is a real problem that people need to get past. I mean, Lair was hyped to be the PS3's Gears simply due to the graphics. Look what happened there.

I dont see how Mario Galaxy made it, reptitive, no replay value, no realy story or even likely characters past nostalgia's sake.

A one time play through game shouldnt make it in the top 10 ever imo.

That being said, games have to have BOTH, enough with this crap, Graphics ARE important, the better they are, the better the game.

A crap looking game with crap gameplay is still worse than a Good Looking game with crap gameplay.

A crap looking game with crap gameplay is still worse than a Good Looking game with crap gameplay.

Meu2k7

No denying that.

Still, thread isn't arguing whether or not graphics are important. As I stated in the OP, GTAIV has good graphics but terrific gamplay and this is the reason it is getting 10s and it is on top of GR. So, even though graphics aren't the main focus of the game, it still managed to beat out everything else, which is why I don't think graphics are that important.

They should be good, but there are more important aspects within a game as GTA proves, imo.

GTA has very good graphics. There is a lot happening on the screen at all times, it may not have the fine detail of Gears or what not but over all its a lot more graphically intensive.

I think your premise is false. GTA has good graphics and gameplay imo.

It really is depending on the genre. For platformers like Mario the graphics don't have to be especially amazing because of the art style and mood trying to be achieved by the developers. For a game like GTA, graphics are very important because they help bring the world to life, make things more believeable, and immerse the player better.

I am quickly learning that great graphics aren't imporant for every genre and every game but they are very important in others. Graphics can only add to amazing gameplay, but they can also take away from decent gameplay.

Look at GTA: SA. Now the game's ideas and size were way ahead of its time. Rockstar made this massive world that never slept. Though technologies at the time held it back. Even though it did score very very high, there were a lot of times that the graphics and limitations of the hardware that would slow the gameplay experiance down. Framerate drops, nasty texture pop-ins, robot-like A.I., and just lower graphics quality really took me out of the experiance and made me not want to finish the game.

(GTA: SA is still a great game, I just was taken out of the experiance to much)

Now look at a game like a Mario platformer. The game doesn't try to immerse you in a world to provide the entertainment and the "hook", instead its fun, original platforming and over-the-top levels and bosses really make the game appealing. That and its cartoon charm that is just fun for everybody (unless your to hardcore for a "kiddy" Mario game...). Here graphics don't matter as much because the game doesn't need to immerse you into the world to provide an excellent gaming experiance.

You can pretty much apply this to every game. Shooters in particular need better graphics because their gameplay directly feeds off of the graphics. Just go play through some older FPSs like Quake, Halo, or Doom and then play through Crysis and you will know what I mean when I say the graphics directly impacted the gameplay.

So I believe that graphics are as important as gameplay in certain genres and not as important in others. It all comes down to the individual game and how the developer intends it to play.

A crap looking game with crap gameplay is still worse than a Good Looking game with crap gameplay.

Meu2k7

How about a crap looking game with good gameplay is better than a good looking game with crap gameplay? Honestly though what games are there that exist that have crap gameplay and good graphics? Lair? Which could easily be dubbed the worst game of all time. Games that usually have crappy graphics and crappy gameplay are shovelware and don't really get any attention anyway.

The core gameplay hasn't changed with IV and the graphics in the game couldn't be done on the xbox or the PS2.

So all thats new in GTA this time are the Story and the Graphics. It does these brilliantly and deserves the prase.

Saying the games graphics are bad is an insult to it in my opinion.

When I think of graphics, I think of three things -

Technical

Aesthetic

Intrinsic

When I play a game, graphics are very important in some but not all of these areas. However, I think that to some people, certain areas weigh more than others and it critically affects their gameplay. For example, I have a few colleagues that own a Wii and a killer gaming PC. They think that "graphics" (subjective) are not important in a Wii game, however, they cannot stand playing a PC game unless it is on full settings and never dips in frame rate.

Yeah, graphics can be really that important and are a major selling point in almost any videogame.

Nonetheless, do I care that MGS4 or SMG are not in 1080p? Not at all :) It's complicated.

Try to put GTA IV on Wii and it you will get much less value out of it than the PS3 and X-box 360 versions. That's how you should value graphics.Supafly1

You said it!

ill put it to ya like this....graphics are a very low consideration an my list of checks when deciding on what game to get. my fav game of all time (deus ex 1) also has terrible graphics by todays standards, and was also graphically outdated when it was released.

i would have put more emphasis on graphics years ago when 3d cards were kicking in and pixelation being removed...but those are no longer issues and the jumps in graphics are just becoming less and less significant imho. i prefer to see the horsepower being used in other ways to create a better experience (GTA4 being a prime example. its not a looker...but what it sacrefices in graphics, it makes up for in having loads of ppl on the screem, big draw distances and a large city with lots of things to do).

i also recently got medieval (ps1 game) for the PS3. whatever way they have upscaled it, they have removed the pixelationa and the game actually looks quite solid imho (i play it on a 37" 720P HD telly)...despite its age. the game certainly remains very playable. looks great on my PSp too.

graphics should not be a driving force behind the creation of a game...they should be used to serve the needs of the game. thats how alot of the best games work (GTA3, 4, deus ex, baldurs gate, diablo 2, total war series and so on).

I agree both games have very good detailed graphics. This thread is mis-leading and semi-trollish in my opinion.

I agree both games have very good detailed graphics. This thread is mis-leading and semi-trollish in my opinion.

tenaka2

How's it misleading? This is from the OP:

"Look at what is now on top of the GR charts (GTAIV). Awesome gameplay, excellent story, and a just a well-rounded game... the graphics? They're not superb, ie. like Gears or Uncharted. They're good, but they're not the main focus of the game."

GTAIV doesn't have the graphics of Uncharted or Gears and it is a better game, imo. I never said anything about either game having bad graphics... jumping to conclusions/making assumptions. Point being that even without the Uncharted level graphics, it's still a better game, meaning those superb graphics we've seen really aren't that important... imo.

GTA4 has some of the best graphics this generation. :?

Story is definitely the most important aspect of any game. Any game without a story usually suffers, and repetitive gameplay becomes even more repeptitive when theres no point in doing so because there is no story to back up your actions.

Graphics are like the special effects in movies, sure they're amazing, but you really care more about the plot or the battle scenes, romance, etc.

They're only majorly important if they affect the gameplay, but graphics help, especially in a story-centred game (like GTA) as it enables characters to display their emotions better and so on.

Graphics aren't as important as physics or AI. A crappy looking game with destrctable enviorments and realistic interactions is more immersive than a pretty game that is nothing but static polygons. (PCs can have the best of both, so I'm only talking about consoles)

GTA4 has Euphoria. It automatically wins because of this. 8) I'm only being semi-serious, but honestly, textures are irrelevent when this game's shooting action is this visceral.

A review doesnt make the game anymore funner.

Its just someones opinion.

And for me anyways, graphics add a lot, hence why I dont own a Wii.

Yes they are important. Only reason this is even a topic is because the wii can't compete, so now the argument is the graphics dont matter its ALL about the gameplay. Sheep just to let you know, you can have great graphics AND great gameplay.

Look at gtaiv. It doesn't have amazing graphics because the world is so large. I wouldn't expect a sandbox game to have the same graphics as bioshock or uncharted(except crysis) because the hardware couldnt handle it. It doesnt have technically proficient graphics but it makes up for it by the large world and insane amount of detail. smg has terrible textures and no aa but it still gets a pass because its a mario game...

When I think of graphics, I think of three things -

Technical

Aesthetic

Intrinsic

When I play a game, graphics are very important in some but not all of these areas. However, I think that to some people, certain areas weigh more than others and it critically affects their gameplay. For example, I have a few colleagues that own a Wii and a killer gaming PC. They think that "graphics" (subjective) are not important in a Wii game, however, they cannot stand playing a PC game unless it is on full settings and never dips in frame rate.

Yeah, graphics can be really that important and are a major selling point in almost any videogame.

Nonetheless, do I care that MGS4 or SMG are not in 1080p? Not at all :) It's complicated.

Philosoma

:lol: Is that LBP ? I can't resist looking at it :lol:

Depends on what type of game you are trying to create. Graphics are important for some games and not as important for others. Also it's not like you can't have both.

I dont see how Mario Galaxy made it, reptitive, no replay value, no realy story or even likely characters past nostalgia's sake.

A one time play through game shouldnt make it in the top 10 ever imo.

That being said, games have to have BOTH, enough with this crap, Graphics ARE important, the better they are, the better the game.

A crap looking game with crap gameplay is still worse than a Good Looking game with crap gameplay.

Meu2k7

Graphics don't general matter if there are at the basic middlegrounds of techscope of the machine, they have to have artistic or well-polished nature to them, nothing too deeply technical, just enought to fill the palette. After that, place the rest of the work on the gameply and such elements of the game and if have any spare moments, a little buff up here there is okay.

Graphics age, great gameplay doesn't.

People still remember Elite with fondness. Back in the day those wire-frame graphics were awesome!

IMO graphics need to be at least functionable...which is the case with GTA IV and SMG.Shinobishyguy

[QUOTE="the-very-best"]

So, are graphics really that important? What do you guys think?

Son_of_Some

.Imagine Metroid Prime with some really crappy and boring music and ambient sounds. The atmosphere would have been awful.

For the most part, Metroid prime did have crappy techno music, and few ambient sounds. Even worse, sound effects were crap.

But are graphics important? As long as they don't make gameplay worse, then no. But if a game has a terrible framerate, or has jaggies all over the place, then it makes it worse. Case in point, final fantasy 12. It had so many jaggies and bad textures, it ruined it for me. Though I play something like mgs2, that looks pretty good enough, and has a great framerate.

Basically, flowing well and clean are the mixtures of the day.

both games have great graphics... what are you talking about?Always-Honest

GTA4 has amazing graphics, imagine if it had Killzone 2/uncharted/Gears...etc level of graphics, just put your imagination to this or picture SMG with PS3's and 360's graphics, both worlds would be more lively.

Graphics do alot to games but if gameplay is weak, it is going to be a weak game, look at Bioshock, amazing atmosphere and graphics and it was the worst game I've ever played, there is nothing interesting gameplay wise, it was a disappointment.

So Gameplay is connected with graphics and graphics are connected with gameplay, VIDEO GAMES. :P