Not voting because they ARE equally important. A video game is equally Video (graphics) as they are Game (gameplay). One doesn't have to be sacrificed for the other and TES hasn't sacrificed one for the other yet so yeah...

Actually, since Bethesda's going to make the game they want and we're just making polls and having these debates to amuse ourselves, both threads are pretty useless other than as a way to keep us busy. With that in mind, how about you two drop the pissing contest over whose little tiny thread is bigger?

both are important

I just got done playing a bit of buck rogers count down to doomsday. So, uhh, ya.

I'm currently playing seirra classic point and click adventure games, one of my favorite games is Earthbound (SNES), and I just started Majora's Mask (N64) up.

Most real final fantasy fans agree that FFVII was the most fun to play... and they had hooves for hands...

Gameplay>Graphics, but to remain a competetive developer, they need good graphics.


IMO There used to be more great games being released than now... but maybe that's just nostalgia

Video games are an interactive visual media. For a game to truly be great, it must excel in both areas.

But nostalgia is the very thing that makes several of the older games good. Like I used to love FFVII back in the day and when I went back to play it a year ago, I'd rather svck on a battery than play that crap. It's also like DBZ. Loved it as a kid but I watch it now and it doesn't have the same zip to it. However, I still love Joust and Legend of Zelda and all those as they are great games and aren't really visually impressive but some games you thought were good before and you go back and you realize that one of the reasons you liked it before was the visuals and now that the visuals are so great anymore, you don't like it as much anymore.

The fact of the matter both are very important to a game whiile some games can still be fun to play with the gameplay, you also have to notice that the graphics aren't that terrible (Majora's Mask being an example.)

Wow this is the most lopsided poll I've seen yet! Good to see people prefer gameplay over graphics.

I want all three
good graphics
gameplay
and both

graphics are more of a requirement, like the game should not look like garbage, but gameplay is what really determines the games

Do they need to be mutually exclusive?

the latter part is well said.

To this day OoT is still widely considered the greatest game of all time.

That's not necessarily true. Look at Minecraft for example and how popular it is (I haven't played it nor am I interested, but that's beside the point), it surely can't brag with its visuals. And then there is the popularity of the older games in general. With an interactive media like videogames, mostly, if the "interactive" part is right people can look the visuals with less critical eye - however it isn't as often the same case with the contrary (crappy interactivity, but great visuals). Or at least so I've understood. The optimal situation would, of course, be having them both - but if one aspect was to be cut down by a necessity of sorts, I'd say it would be better to cut from the visuals.

It also had amazing graphics for the time, it was the first 3D zelda. Like most early 3D games though, the graphics haven't stood the test of time

And it's still widely considered the greatest of all time. 'Nuff said.

Video.....game....

Video = Graphics
Game = Gameplay

You can't have only one.

Probably because it's taken within the context of it's time.

Pshh... Majora's Mask was better,

but yeah... someone mentioned Minecraft too. It's even gaining popularity today.

IMO
Micecraft:
graphics - 1 out of 10
gameplay - 8 out of 10

the ONLY reason someone plays Minecraft is because of the gameplay.

Personally I think it's the most overrated game of all time

IN the end video games are defined by how fun and how entertained you are by them. IN my opinion graphics is a category under gameplay. Also under the umbrella of gameplay is dialogue, physics, complexity, and little clever nuances. Graphics can improve the gameplay by making the world more believable but they are not necessary. They need to be above a certain standard, but then again so does dialogue, and complexity. A game can not be good if their are characters running around screaming gibberish (even if there was one it would make up with different characteristics).

Gameplay=the whole experience

Graphics=something that makes the experience what it is

I'm sorry, double post...

I would say that both are important to me in their different respects.

Graphics: Of course I can't really say this is completely important to me since I play a lot of rogue games such as; 'Caves of Qud' and 'Dwarf Fortress'. However graphics are still pretty awesome even if they are only a side feature, they do make a game better. I'd love to say play Dwarf Fortress with really good graphics. Why? Because they help me immerse in the game world, I can play games with 'bad' graphics for a time but sometimes I find it hard to immerse myself because I don't find the world believable aesthetically. So in my opinion, while graphics aren't the most needed thing in a game they nearly always improve the game by making it more aesthetically believable.

Gameplay: Well, of course you need this. Gameplay is the core, the heart of any game and without it (on a decent scale), the game will mostly flop. I prefer my games to have deep gameplay elements such as Dwarf Fortress which tracks individual body parts and damage along with completely randomly generated worlds and your characters in the world can have impacts on future playthroughs. Example: I create an adventurer who is a dwarf and preforms a lot of amazing feats, when I build a fortress later on in the world's history, the dwarven civilization might worship him. To me, this is an example of excellent gameplay.

So, in my honest opinion, both are pretty much equal with gameplay just being slightly more important.

And that's why you aren't the majority.

If I'm just playing something casually, like a FPS, then graphics are better. But with TES, I play these games hardcoe, and I couldn't play 'em that much if the gameplay wasn't awesome.

IMHO

Technically Advanced Graphics =/= Good Graphics

Appealing Graphics = Good Graphics


Luckily, Skyrim falls into the "appealing" category for me.