When people say "graphics don't matter,." Honestly they do, but not in the way that most people imagine. A game can be fun without being good-looking (arcade games, etc.), but what makes a truly great game that can be held high as great art is its competency in all aspects. To me, graphics are important when it comes to art, design, and playability. When you can apply great art to graphics, interesting settings, and fun-to-explore, glitch-free worlds, it's really what separates good games from great games.

Braid and Limbo have risen above many other Arcade and even major-release games not just because of their engaging gameplay, but their beautiful, atmospheric worlds. Without their graphics, these games would just be fun platformers with neat ideas. I'd take the greyscale, oppressive, atmospheric environment of Limbo over the dull normal-mapping of Crysis, but that doesn't keep me from thinking that many modern games are better than classics because of great art, and immersive worlds that only graphic experts could pull off.