Graphics are what get us interested in a game initially, its nothing more than a shallow way to grab our attention and interest. However, like that hot girl you're are talking to, if her personality doesn't exactly it if for you, you start losing interest and then you walk away. Basically, graphics grab our attention, but we stay for the gameplay. I guess you could say that you don't need the BEST graphics, but good graphics are important so that you can garner interest, but if you really want to make more sales via word of mouth you have to have good gameplay to back it up.