MEMBER BLOG

  How many people do you see argue about the graphical capabilities of a video game? "Those graphics are awsome!!!!", "that system has better graphics than that one". Those are the things you would usually hear at a Gamestop. I even hear people saying "those graphics suck!!!!" on games that are a decade old (as if it was meant to look better on more modern hardware). These statements make me wonder if video game graphics are becoming more important than gameplay.

   Nowadays, It seems like graphics are becoming the most important aspect of a game, more than its gameplay. You always hear developers, publishers and console makers keep talking about the graphical capabilites and Unreal Engine etc. to the point it where the graphics are the only thing talked about. You also have video game journalist talk about graphics and sometimes when they review a generic game, the graphics could occasionally distract the journalist from the gameplay into thinking that the game is good. Examples are Final Fantasy VII, Black & White, Halo 2, Call of Duty 2, ect.

   Also, you'll always hear people argue that a system is better and will sell more because its graphic capabilites are more powerful than the other, but they don't know, however, is that the graphical capabilites of a console don't make it sell. The Sega Master System had games with better graphics, but the NES sold more units than the Sega Master System. The N64, in ways, had better graphics than the PS1, but it didn't sell more then the PS1. The Xbox and Gamecube had better graphical capabilities than the PS2, and well.. you know. More recently, the Wii sold more than the 360 and the PS3 combined (I think), and those two systems are cashing in on its graphic capabilites, while Nintendo dosen't even care about the graphics that much.

    Even though I realize that graphics don't matter in sales, it still angers me to hear people talk nothing other than the graphics of a game. Although, I guess when someone has more advaced technology, they would usually brag about its most popular and wanted capabilities to the point where it's the most important thing.