This week I finally upgraded from a dying 6600GT to a factory overclocked 8800GT 512mb. I immediately fired up Command and Conquer 3, moved all the settings from medium-low to high, and jumped in expecting to be blown away by greater detail, realistic shadows, and awesome dynamic lighting effects, all at playable framerates. The first in-game screen looked very pretty, but as soon as the action started picking up, I noticed something odd: I wasn't noticing the improved graphics at all. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. After all, I just spent $200 on this great new hardware, but it made absolutely no difference in my actual gaming experience!!

This clearly demonstrates that if the gameplay is good enough, pretty graphics don't really matter that much. C&C3 is one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, even with graphics turned way down. I used spend hours playing Asteroids (a.k.a. Sherbert Shoot) on my Atari 2600. Granted, it would be difficult to go back to that now and get the same enjoyment out of it, but although it was far from the prettiest game I had on the 2600, I played it much more than some other titles that did look better.

I know that purchasing the 8800GT was not a mistake. I can still appreciate and enjoy the improved graphics, and I have not played many games with it yet (no shooters, racers, or flight/space combat). But more importantly, I can actually play other games that choked the 6600GT even on the lowest settings, such as World In Conflict. Heck, I might even try the Crysis demo!