The creativity x techniques achievement discussion.

[sundin13]

I do think (for me of course) that when it comes to graphics it is largely a matter of style over technical achievement. A photorealistic game will wow me for five minutes, a creative art style will wow me for hours. Wind Waker (both the original and the remake) or Okami still take my breath away and Valkyria Chronicles or Ni no Kuni have charm out the wazoo and A Link to the Past or Super Metroid are jaw dropping-ly gorgeous.

While Uncharted was certainly a pretty sight to look at, those pretty sights faded to the back of my mind pretty quickly, while the imagination and charm of the games I listed above reminded me how stunning they were with every turn.

However, I realize that is all personal preference and when it comes to art styles, there is no such thing as superior. I will say that your comparison to books seems very biased and doesn't make very much sense (you say imagination and technique are two sides to the same coin, however I believe they are entirely different metrics...). Also, the anti-mario rant you rattled off at the end just makes this who thread seem like an anti-Nintendo/Nintendo fan hate speech.