05-01-2003, 01:57 AM
Considering the nature of the term "video games", I suspect that graphics were of paramount importance before there were even any marketers or customers involved. When I think of classic arcade games, I think of graphics and timing and virtually nothing else. Certainly by the time of Pacman, customers had made clear the need for more realistic graphics. Of course, the flip side to all of this are the adventure games like Zork, with no graphics or timing, and a lot of storyline.
The ability of humans to draw pictures, think up stories, develop complex game strategies, and so on has not increased much in 40 years (some might suggest it has decreased :P). The capacity of hardware to relate these things has increased tremendously. And in the meantime, thousands of years worth of gaming concepts have been consumed into the various video game genres. People want it all, and the industry has a harder and harder job to meet that expectation (whether it tries to or not, which is certainly debatable). But the games which meet the expectation on graphics and sound get noticed and bought, and months later people realize the concept, story, or balance is weak. The games which fall short on graphics end up on bargain bin shelves, and nobody plays long enough to realize the concept is great and the story is epic...
Even on this forum, with all the strategy freaks and bug-fixers, the main subject of discussion at the time of D2's release was whether the graphics were good enough! It takes a little time for that first impression to fade and everything else to become paramount.
The ability of humans to draw pictures, think up stories, develop complex game strategies, and so on has not increased much in 40 years (some might suggest it has decreased :P). The capacity of hardware to relate these things has increased tremendously. And in the meantime, thousands of years worth of gaming concepts have been consumed into the various video game genres. People want it all, and the industry has a harder and harder job to meet that expectation (whether it tries to or not, which is certainly debatable). But the games which meet the expectation on graphics and sound get noticed and bought, and months later people realize the concept, story, or balance is weak. The games which fall short on graphics end up on bargain bin shelves, and nobody plays long enough to realize the concept is great and the story is epic...
Even on this forum, with all the strategy freaks and bug-fixers, the main subject of discussion at the time of D2's release was whether the graphics were good enough! It takes a little time for that first impression to fade and everything else to become paramount.