To be honest i still find nes and genesis games more fun then i do MOST new games simply because there is way to many check points and save points and when you die it reloads you at a check point instead of the start of a mission and conveneintly with ALL your weapons and stuff.
Am i the only one who find that annoying? That kids these days don't have challenging enough games and it takes them litrally a few hours to finish.
Somone above mentioned how load times are long on ps2 well guess what check out ps3 they about twice as long.
One thing that i like with nintendo games since we steped into 3D is the way they make their load times so minimal and seemless. Just look at zelda TP (granted the game isn't visually that great or the game ain't hard as oldskool games) but the transition between areas is amazing which makes it a constantly flowing game and fun to play.
All 3rd part developers should strive for such performance. Example of a game that pissed me off was red steel with its load times and stupid annoying check point. Does the game have to stop to make a damn check point especially in the middle of say someone shooting at you and your trying to move out of the way. I am sure you can make check points without having to freeze the game to do so.
Another game is on my PSP raw v smackdown 5 fricken minutes to load all te crappy logos and shit before you can even like select players. So bloody annoying.
To answer the question I do think graphics sell the game initially but if the game sucks gameplay wise people will stop playing it anyway.