7. We Really Do Care About Graphics
Gameplay is more important than graphics, few true gamers are going to argue with that, but as much as we hate to admit it, most of us are pretty shallow when it comes to checking our new titles. Sure, we'll let some lesser visuals slide on an indie game, but when we're looking at a potentially AAA title from a revered developer, nothing short of the most spectacular, up-to-date, state-of-the-art graphics will suffice. Take the Xbox One's Dead Rising 3, a game widely criticised for its low frame-rate and muddy textures. Are these visuals acceptable for a supposedly "next gen" gaming experience? When it doesn't look that different from something we'd expect to see on the Xbox 360, clearly something has gone wrong, and the PS4 isn't innocent of this either: Call of Duty: Ghosts had clearly been "dumbed down" graphically for the sake of its release on last-gen platforms. With the exception of indie titles, we expect a slick, glossy finish, because it's indicative of a professional and immersive final product. It won't paper over poor gameplay, but to pretend that we don't want anything short of photo-realism in our games is absurd: we'd love every game to look so amazing, but that's just not very realistic, is it now?