Your Priorities when Choosing a Game

[YayBoromir!]

Here's an interesting question: when it comes to spending your hard-earned cash on a game, what does it come down to?

The game's reviews. What have other critics and players thought of this game?
Graphical quality - do you love eye candy, or do you think looks hide what underneath is a sub-par game?
Replay value - are you going to play this game for a week, a month, or more?
Previous titles - is the game one of a series which you've enjoyed over the years?
Genre - do you like a particular genre of game, for example, RPG, or racing?

You can tick as many of the answers as you like. What for you makes a good game? :)
If you have any other criteria, please post them here!

[Saruman]

Genre is usually what i look for first. However, I have expanded on the range of genres that I like.

For example, the first game I ever played was the first Discworld game. I really liked the point and click interface on it, and, shortly after finishing the game, I bought Discworld 2, enjoying it too. I then tried to find any Point and click adventure games I could get my hands on! These included the Discworld Noir, and, later on, the entire Monkey Island series. I then realised that there weren't many more good adventure games out there, so I decided to branch out. The next game I got was Little Big Adventure (LBA), or Relentless as it is known in America. It involved a bit of puzzle solving, and also a bit of action. Gradually, I branched out more, getting strategy games such as AOM, and legendary games like Kingdom Hearts.

Graphics make a big difference to me. For example, in the TTT game, the gameplay wasn't that good, but the graphics were brilliant, so I still enjoyed it.

[YayBoromir!]

I enjoy point-and-clicks too, Saruman. In particular, the Monkey Island games and the Indiana Jones games were awesome for the Amiga... they bring back memories... Guybrush is such a hilarious character! lol
The ones I voted for are all except graphics... I don't really bother about how good it looks, it just has to have good gameplay! :thumbs:

[Saruman]

Another good thing about the MI games is that some of the tunes are very catchy, like LeChuck's theme. They also make references to things like Star Wars. My favourites in the series are probably the second and third, but I hope they keep making more! LeChuck's a really funny character too!
Hmmm... if you didn't vote for Graphics, who did apart from me?:huh:

[Ithielnor]

I always like Good graphics and replay value. Genre isn't that important. reveiws are great too but it always comes down to those two.

[YayBoromir!]

Hmmm... it's interesting to see that people think graphics are important, and I have to admit that a game does look very attractive if it has good graphics. But for me there are just some games, such as Game Boy games, which don't have the best graphics around, which are intensely playable because of their awesome gameplay. :thumbs:

[TheRingBearer]

I don't think graphics are that important (like the Game Boy examples). I'd say gameplay, the amount of fun you get from it and reply value are the most important things :)

[Sindarin]

I voted for Genre, although all of the choices above are definately a factor when personally selecting a game.

[Igtica]

I agree with ringbearer, there are some games that don't have the best graphics, but have fantastic gameplay, and replay value. But it is true that those game that have the amazing graphics and awesome game play, are those which attract the most attention. The likes of MGS2, FFX, Metriod Prime and Halo prove this. But I myself find games without the same graphical quality good also. My fave favourite example of this is the game Gitaroo Man. This game has been 'missed' by people because it's visual quality isn't high. Yet it was award 8/10 by OPSM and other games with this grading are more well known. But from my own experience I have found this game both challenging and rewarding. Genre plays a big part too, as some enjoy RPG or platformers, whilst other like driving or beat 'em genres better. I guess that a good game is good to those that enjoy it, and thats what matters.