I voted no. As long as the gameplay's good, it's all good. However, graphics do play a bigger role in certain games. Take Shadow of the collosus, for example. Not having much of a story line, what makes that game unique are the giant enemies, and lesser graphics than those provided by the PS2 simply wouldn't do them justice. Another example is Okami. Sure, it'd be great with 16-bit graphics, but that certain mood you get in, simply by moving around in what looks like a japanese painting....*sigh*

I guess what I'm trying to say is if a game was made to look in a certain way, where visuals are just as important as gameplay, then yeah, graphics matter. Sadly though, it seems that most developers simply take the same old concept and slap on a few extra features and better graphics, and concidering that, Mega Man 9 truly is a pleasure to look at!

Goodness no! A game can be great without great graphics! There a tons of games
from back in the day with weak graphics who still beat the crap out of today's
graphical "works of art" in terms of gameplay. though i do admit good visuals do help.

I think that the op has a good point on the subject. I too also believe that graphics don't make a game. Yes it is for the visual stimulation but some people forget the story and gameplay are a big part of a game and without those too you might as well be staring at a blank screen.

My response to your question is" "Contra." NES made it big and sega. I realize that at the time those were top of the line graphics but nowadays, people still get down on Super Mario Bros 3 and the old school Megaman games(Or rockman where I grew up). It's gotta be about gameplay. Graphics are just Aural stimulation. They are nice but, not necessary.

Graphics do not make a game, gameplay is! However, graphics ARE a component of a game and if they are very irritating or make the game unplayable then it does matter and must be improved. Graphics are a nice add-on and gameplay should be the main focus but if a game has the problem like a stated before then thats a problem. It seems like today, at least to me, that todays games have gone to graphics focus instead of gameplay, which explains why I still play my classic systems and ROMs on this site than most of my current-gen systems.

When I read this post one certain console popped into my mind. The Nintendo Game Cube. Just because nintendo could make better graphics, doesn't mean they made better gameplay.

Besides, in the end "good graphics" will mean kids staring at a hologram and whatever that look at in the game will blow up.