[Lepruk86]

(sorry if this has been done)

I am just wondering what your views are on graphics generally; how important are they to you when playing a game? I know a lot of people claim that they would take gameplay over graphics but aside from retro games; how many of you can you honestly put this issue a side?

I guess the reason I am asking this is because of the very negative response that has been issued towards Force Unleashed Wii (not here; just on the net in general). Everyone seems to believe the game could have looked much better than it does. However with a studio like Lucas Arts I am not a sure they could have made it look much better (especially as its a ps2/wii title remember).

But ignoring the game specifics how bad do graphics have to be before they start to ruin the experience. Say Call of Duty 4 played exactly like it does but looked more like Doom 1 - Would it still be the hit that it is? Probably not because people like the visual flare it offers; and to be fair, how Call of Duty 4 presents itself actually does add to the intensity and fun of the experience (CoD4 happens to have very good gameplay as well of course).

Within this pondering do you prefer photo-realism or stylised/cell shaded? I for one prefer the look of Okami over Zelda TP... Hell I even think Zelda windwaker and phantom Hour Glass looks better than Zelda twilight princess as I prefer that somewhat cartoonish style.

Take Sue recently as well whom hosted a topic about Cruis'n - she said she was enjoying the game a lot and showed a screen shot and us lot instantly attacked how badly it looks; so for all those boasting that gameplay comes first; you obviously do deem visuals to hold some importance to your gaming experience. Where do you personally draw the hypothetical line?

Also Megaman 9 is going full out retro with its look. Now i like the old megaman games but I personally think it looks lazy; I would have preferred them to do something more in the style of the PSP megaman game.

Thoughts, suggestions and opinions - ready..... and go! ^.^