I think Yerli is saying that presentation is 60% of the game, not graphics.

But, in either case, he's wrong.

The mechanics of the game, the rules by which players interact with the game and with each other...these are by far the most important parts of a video game. Thinking like Yerli is a recipe for disaster. Developers have to stop thinking of games as interactive movies and start thinking about them as tabletop games. The look and feel of a game can only impress so much; it can never fully obscure a poorly-designed game.

I don't really know how to quantify how much of a percentage of a game graphics are. It changes with genre. For a QTE game that is all about getting you immersed to the point where you feel the decisions of the characters weighing on you (Heavy Rain) and for cinematic "holy crap!" moment games (Uncharted) they're fairly important (though gameplay ties into those aspects as well), but for open world stupid fun and quirky platformers they're not important at all.

For me it is:
Graphics:30% (Technical 15% ; Artstyle 15%)
Gameplay 30%
Story: 20% (even though it represents only 20%, if a games does not have story mode it is a not buy)
Music/Sound Effects: 20%

ugh go away crytek

I still think it changes with genre (see above post) but I guess this is a good breakdown for me as well.

...and that's why most people who have playedtheir games or ones based on their engine say that they have great graphics, but were't a lot of fun to play. 

Better graphics are easier to produce than fun games....my son has spent more time on the retro style indie games on the 360 than he did on any of the Crysis games.  Too many people buy the hype that better graphics = a better game....it's just not true.

No, graphics are 100% of the game. Without any graphics you can't see anything on screen, DUH! Even if it's a text game, text is made of graphics.

I think from the quote he doesn't just mean graphics but presentation (graphics, environmental physics, sound, etc.) of which there is some merit to his argument. Although personally, I say 50% is the better answer because good to great game design can make up for a lot of problems or presentational weaknesses.

Maybe sales wise, but other than that (and maybe memory) no.

You really think 90 % of the staff are graphists ? Level design, code, sound, quality check are a big part of the budget. Not counting the marketing, of course. (about 30-40 % of a game budget)