I didn't list shooter games or other first/thirdperson ones (not sure what GRID is) I'm more talking about the awesome Jump & Run ones that we were playing when were young and when we used to enjoy it.
They are getting awfull. There sure were some games that never should have been made but I used to enjoy mario games better when there wasn't so much detail. A level/map is just a landscape. You don't need to add some fancy shining stuff on it to make the game more enjoyable, do you? The gameplay, that's important! I can enjoy TF2 because of the gameplay while having anything on low. I don't need some extra detail for a 1second explosion.
I can enjoy it to play with a great team, being credit to that team.
To hell with detail, I want better gameplay.
GRID is a racing game. That's what Google is for.
You were putting off next generation games in general, so I replied accordingly.
Jump and run games are not being made too often because there is not a very large audience for them, and they are not very profitable as a result. As a matter of fact, I can't even think of any Jump and run games that have recently came out that weren't indie. Jump and run games are simply becoming more and more obsolete.
Also, gameplay would be
nothing without graphics, and vice-versa. You don't want a fun game and be running around in pixels, but you don't want a good-looking game that sucks ass (like Haze, for example.) You can't just say "Oh I'm better than everybody else and graphics don't mean stuff and they look gay nobody likes them," because graphics are just as important as gameplay. In some cases, graphics
make the gameplay. Look at Crysis and how many people play it. I really don't see how you don't enjoy a game just because it has "too much" detail. You are making it sound as if even if you had specs that could handle most games on the highest settings, you would hate them "cuz 'o 'dem fancy effects." I am really starting to think you are just trying to hop on the bandwagon.
Extra detail can also make the game seem less repetitive, and even if it was, it would generally be more interesting because it would be more fun to watch. For example, Compiz for linux. It isn't a game, but it does next to nothing for functionality, and people like it just because it's fun to watch and it looks good.
My main point: If graphics did not mean stuff as you claim, the technology we have today would not be there and everyone would still be playing 2d Mario games and Tetris.