by Rahman Majere

Created on: October 01, 2010

There is little doubt that both graphics and gameplay are crucial elements of a game. Graphics, audio, gameplay and a number of other factors all form the pillars of what constitutes a game. In that sense, a game is much like a house where the sum is greater than the whole and yet the lack or weakness of any one component can bring the whole construction crashing down. If we were to accept this analogy, we only need to determine whether it is the graphics or the gameplay of a game that forms the foundation of a game.

Let's examine the earliest instances of video and computer games as we understand those terms today. Back in the 1990s, simple video games such as the Super Mario Brothers, Super Contra and even Space Invader were all the rage despite having fairly simple graphics. The Mario titles, in particular, were exceptionally popular. Later on, the first computer games appeared even as the console games continue to improve. The RTS (Real-Time Strategy) genre had their champions in titles such as Command and Conquer and Warcraft 2 while the Might and Magic franchise, Resident Evil titles and a host of other revolutionary games made their way into the collective hearts of gamers everywhere. As computers continue to become faster and more efficient, games such as Alpha Centauri, Final Fantasy 8, Deus Ex and Half-Life appeared to take advantage of the improved processing power of modern computers. Today, we have games such as Crysis and Half-Life 2 become almost routine offerings on the shelves of gaming stores worldwide.

Many of the games mentioned above were revolutionary in their times and some of them continue on to become franchises with numerous sequels and such. The question then remains: Is it the gameplay or the graphics that made these games great? One easy way to know for certain is to simply play some of the best games in the past. If graphics were to be the main component of a great game, then nearly all of these once great titles would be utterly worthless in the modern world of gaming.

Yet this is simply not the case. I challenge any gamer who loves science fiction and TBS (Turn-Based Strategy) games to play Alpha Centauri and not be immersed into the complexities of that game. Likewise, Starcraft 1 continues to be an extremely popular game despite being released a decade ago and in some ways continue to be the standard by which other RTS games are judged. As for platform games, the original Super Mario continue to be a fun game despite being

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