Graphics != Gameplay?

Have you ever read one of those arguments on the Internet about gameplay being more important than graphics? Usually they begin with that argument and don't get very far until someone calls the person who made the argument a liar. Person One only thinks they value gameplay over graphics, says Person Two. In actuality, continues Person Two, Person One is only deluding himself due to a haze of nostalgia and if Person One actually tried to play an older game for more than thirty minutes they'd soon find themselves pining for something that looks more contemporary.

I can now say that I have empirically experienced that Person Two is most definitely wrong. On a whim, I reinstalled the original Half-Life on my PC and began playing it for a fourth time. Guess what? I don't even notice the graphics 95% of the time. You know what I do notice? The audio. All the dialogue and sound effects are played back at 22kHz and except for the weapon sounds, it makes everything just kind of muffled compared to what I'm now accustomed to hearing. As I've played through even more of the game, I've found that I don't even notice the audio anymore except for dialogue. Voices are very hard to understand at lower sample rates with environmental effects applied.

Obviously, this audio critique is my bias. But I would maintain that it's not that Person Two is completely wrong. It's just that people that only appreciate with their eyes can't quite grasp the people who don't. The point that Person One is trying to make to Person Two is that graphics aren't the whole picture. It sure is nice when they're pretty, but even when they're not, the game can still be fun. I can now wholly attest to this point. I tried playing Far Cry and I just wasn't having fun (sorry Ian). I'm playing Half-Life for the fourth time and I'm having almost as much fun playing it as I did eight years ago.

I guess in Person Two's defense, if I were more of a visual person then I might weigh graphics more heavily in determining the fun quotient of a game. But I don't and I'm not a liar for saying so.