by K.D. Saffron

Created on: August 05, 2008

The answer to this question is without a doubt GRAPHICS! This is no underestimation at all given the numbers of hours that many spend glued to their machines to play the games. Frankly, it's the graphics that drive the gamers to the game, not the strategy or play that is involved. If it were the game play alone, then there would be far fewer games sold, traded, or played. Additionally, one must realize that the true gamers look at all aspects of a game not just the game play alone. It's the overall graphics that initially draws a gamer's attention, then later they may choose to play or not simply based on the graphics. It's no accident that major companies are actively recruiting any person who can build and design superb graphics for games using today's technology. Therefore, graphics make a great game.

This is not a new issue as far as gaming is concerned. This goes back to time when the first "war games" came out in board form. It was a common comment of many friends back then as to a game's quality when it came to the graphics. Many a good game, strategy wise was overlooked or seldom played due to poor graphics design. Then as technology evolved to what we have available to us today, the major war gamers finally realized that graphics design and quality would either make them big bucks or it would make them a failure. They sought out the best and brightest students of graphics design programs around the country. The result of those efforts is the games we currently enjoy today.

This graphics design v. game play questions goes beyond just gaming too. It can easily be seen worldwide that graphics design greatly influences what the population gives attention to and ultimately buys. For example, the best advertising is something catchy that one can remember, "a hook" if you will and Martin Advertising has mastered that skill. They have the young talent from and excellent graphics design program and it's paid off big for them. They now have the famous "Geico Gecko". The business is driven to the product because of what people have seen and the visual stimulation is much greater than the active thinking process of a game. Frankly, most humans are stimulated by what they see and they can become addicted, whether the game is good or not, they still will buy it for the graphic affect. If the graphics draw them in, then they are more likely to hang around long enough to play the game, not the other way around.

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