it depends on the type of game, an the gamer that typically plays those games. But the first impression people have of a game is the graphics, and if the graphics suck most will assume that the developer didn't make the effort on that front, so the rest is probably crap too. And most of the time they are right.
A lot of strategy type games don't need the crazy sophisticated graphics, but most action games do now, since everyone is so used to them that to not have them usually ruins the experience.
A lot of strategy type games don't need the crazy sophisticated graphics, but most action games do now, since everyone is so used to them that to not have them usually ruins the experience.