i have a question. what is ur reason for buying games? what do u look for when ur out videogame shopping? do u prefer graphics in a game? would u rather just be entertained with a great gameplay? or do u just buy whats popular? if everyone else is getting it then u will too. 

It depends, If I see a game with a great story with descent adventure, as long as its not 2-d i would buy it. Thats what I look for in a gaming store.

me personally wouldnt care if its stick figure if the game serves its purpose of entertaining me. graphics are cool to have but if u spend most ur time makin it look good and dont care about a story then im not waisting my time with the game. but im also affected by wat every 1 else buys. if its popular im guessing people enjoy it.....not always true...but i cant always depend on reviews and stars.....so i go to the next best thing.........have a brother who works at blockbuster and get free video game rentals....its gone good so far. im not buyin unless i like it.

I look for a game that will either have tremendous replay value or a really good single play mode that should take a decent amount of time to finish.

how about all.

story
graphics
gameplay

Gameplay.

Why would it matter if it is 2D? If it has a great story and decent adventure I would have thought that presentation, as long as it doesn't detract from either of your points, would be irrelevant. Although not huge on the storyline, the 2D Castlvania and Metroids do adventure very well.

 To answer the OPs questions:

 Reason: Entertainment.

What do I look for: Entertainment. While these days I wouldn't classify myself as a hardcore gamer, I definitely grew up under that title, and would still manage to get 5-10 hours of gaming in a week if I'm not rushing to complete my research deadlines. That said however, unlike how everyone claims that  hardcore games need to be long and indepth epics, I'll play anything that is enjoyable, from 40+ hour RPGs to 5min minigames.

Graphics/Gameplay: Depends. My field of research is graphics related, so I do enjoy quality graphics. However, needing 1080p isn't necessary if the artwork is done well and suits the game. I has always bothered me that games like Wario Ware get marked down on graphics, even though the graphics are entirely suitable for the game. Sure they could be spruced up a bit, but would it make it any more enjoyable? Given I've usually put down a few beers before cracking out those party titles, I'm fairly certain I can go without quality graphics anyway :P 

Fake Edit Side Note: I'll use a more 'hardcore' game for the graphics example here. Wind Waker on GC. For some reason the Zelda fanboys were upset that the game looked too cartoonish. I thought the graphics in it were brilliant and were entirely suitable for the style of game that was presented.

Popularity: Popular games tend to be good games. Sure, not every million seller is going to be to my liking, but a large amount will definitely be decent. Do I buy on popularity though? Can't really say I've ever picked up a game because I heard it sold well. I tend to research fairly heavily before buying anything that isn't a necessity, and games are no exception.  

The gameplay and (secondly) the story. I want to have fun playing a game, and I want what I'm doing to feel like it's important for whatever reason, running through some kind of plot.

Graphics are nice, but will never decide if I buy a game or not.

Gameplay + quality

And there are exceptions, FFVI for example. It had terrible gameplay but it is my favorite game of all time.

I think as long as the overall package, gameplay/graphics/story, can bring enough entertainment, then that is all that is important

I don't think there is a concrete better aspect to games, it's just a good, working combination of the lot