Graphics in Video Games: How Much Do They Matter To You?

[arcaneguyver]

I like all manner of games, ranging from modern slickness to chunky pixels in old-timey arcade titles. I think "deal breakers" for me are:
1. Frame rate issues. If I watch a game and put any thought into its framerate, something is wrong. Extended dips into sub-30s (like Dragon Age on console), slowdown and flickering in old games (most often in NES games), framerate going up & down like a roller-coaster is not great either, but I'll take it over sub-30.
2. Screen tearing is the worst. I remember first seeing it on Dreamcast and thinking "How is that acceptable?!"
3. Crappy camera = unplayable.
4. If I can't tell what something is on sight in a game (aka, most Atarii games) I have a hard time caring.
5. Horrible early 3D monstermash faces (System Shock 2).
6. General ugliness. Is your color scheme a broad variety of browns & greys? Do your textures look like a screencap of an Atarii game? Is everything over 10 feet away covered in Silent Hill-caliber mist? (Or perhaps worse, invisible until you get close.) Do the character & environmental designs look generic? Do objects get textured up seconds after appearing on screen? Ugly.
7. Pet peeve - games that rely on darkness too much. I am DONE with games that require either cranking up the brightness on my monitor or slowly destroying my eyes trying to perceive anything behind the graphics obscuring veil of darkness.