Way way back in 1991, I got a SNES for Christmas. The graphics were amazing. My mom and my sisters were casual gamers as well. I was having a video game orgasm when my mom said "This is what I spent $200 on? It looks the same". I tried to point out the colors, the audio, the animation, etc. but nobody could see it.
In April 2001, I got a PS2. ZOE was incredible. The Bouncer was lame, but it sure looked pretty. The plastic skin on the characters was pretty much photo realistic to me. My girlfriend's opinion: Why did you spend $400.00 when you already had a video game system. She couldn't see it either. The super realistic water and particles looked no better than Donkey Kong 64 to her.
2007. I'm playing Resident Evil 4 Gamecube. My friends came over, so we switch to Gears of war. I'm trying to wow them with my new HDTV set up, and the best looking game ever. Would you believe hardly anyone could tell my $400.00 360 was displaying graphics light years beyond my 5 year old purple lunch box?
In short, graphics matter to real gamers. The general public can't see it. They don't care. 1080p. Blu-ray. Wi-fi. All that matters in the end was what game we were playing, and if it was fun. That's why Nintendo got it right. PS3 and 360 are better systems. In the eyes of the non-forum dwelling general public, it doesn't even matter.
