A recent survey by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) raised some interesting questions. The ESA polled a number of players throughout 2016 in an effort to spot industry trends and understand why gamers were choosing to buy the games they are. What stood out to me was that the single over-riding reason why those polled bought games is because of the quality of the graphics. A massive 67% said it influenced the purchase of their games.
More of those polled valued the visual quality of the game than the price, the premise, the story, online gameplay, it being a sequel, or it being similar to another game they liked. Which, er, is kind of mind-blowing to me really.
One caveat with this is that the ESA appears to have forgotten the chief element which separates a game from just being a movie or a book - the quality of the gameplay, and indeed whether it’s even any fun. I can only presume this wasn’t a polling option because I’d expect that to be the dominant reason in any game purchase. Who knows though, maybe I am wrong and people are happy to pay for a bad game as long as the visuals look incredible. I’ve definitely been guilty of that once or twice in the past. Say hello, Ryse: Son of Rome.
That isn't to say great graphics are a bad thing, it's a plus point to be sure. After all, that's why often spend thousands on getting the best hardware to do the job, and it's one of the chief perks of PC gaming when stacked up against the fixed hardware of consoles which rapidly shows its age.
So let’s try and set the record straight. Let’s do the same poll, but with the addition of fun gameplay, and see what results we get on GD. We can find out just what the most important factor is when deciding to buy a game among the GD community. Are you massively swayed by the visuals? Does a bargain price tempt you? Get voting below! You can vote up to three times, picking the three most important factors, and be sure to share why in the comments!
