I was originally going to ask if technology every could reach a place where it could compensate for bad art direction in a game.  But, I figured I would ask this in general: How much of a game looking good is based on technology vs art direction?  Can we have games that will look great indefinitely, even if they are very old?  One can look at a classic painting, and it still look good.  We at that place with technology now?

To me it's about 80% art direction and 20% technology. I would rather play Halo 3 than Killzone 2, for example, even though Killzone 2 mops the floor with it technically. I just prefer a broad color palatte and interesting environments. There is only so much "smooth and shiny" can do for a game.

Muramasa FTW