Ever played Novalogic's Delta Force? How about Call of Duty 4? These two titles are separated by many years yet their gameplay is comparable. Both are intense, yet with parts of purely fun shoot-em-up. Granted, the graphics in COD4 add to the experience, but were DF to achieve such graphics, i'm confident the same could be said. I've found myself playing DF for hours on end, even with plenty of "better looking" alternatives. The ability to free roam and take your time gives real power to strategize if the preset waypoints aren't satisfactory. Another good example is the Age of Empires series. The first one is equally as fun as the second and third. Each game in the series offers a slight shift in gameplay elements, yet the same strong base which has shaped the modern Strategy genre. AoE3 is a great game because it has that same simplicity which allows the player(s) to choose whether they want to play hardcore or lazily, and meet with success either way. Note: that is not referring to general easiness, but to the player's specific desired outcome.

Some games today put such a heavy focus on graphics that they're great to look at, but pick up a controller and you are forced to ask yourself "why?" As gaming consoles get more advanced, games get the player more involved, by means such as motion sensing. The Wii is the obvious example of this, as its graphics are cartoony, but the involvment draws you in. This is great, but realistically the Wiimote just can't offer as much variability as say, the PS3 controller. Obviously, there are some limitations with it, but if a game could harness this to maximum capability, results would be impressive. Imagine with me, if you will, a Military Shooter, first person, of course or possibly the choice of first or third. All the core elements of the modern console shooter: Next- generation graphics, all the bells and whistles, and then, top it off by adding motion based actions. Peeking or possibly even aiming weapons with the motion sensor capabilities would make the game a first in class.

In closure, the modern way is graphics. They will always keep pushing the limits until pure VR is available to all gamers. But until that day arrives, lets not allow ourselves to sell-out to that which is "shiniest."