"Are photorealistic graphics the key to advancement?
Do we need believable visuals in order to convey believable emotions? Is a console generation over as soon as you've pushed the systems to their technical limits, or is there yet more work to be done?
More the point -- if you're relying solely on appearances to generate an emotional link with your audience, are you not just crafting the videogame equivalent of a sociopath?"
Another strawman argument by Jim Sterling.
He wasn't stating that photorealistic graphics inherently means the game will have a bad story. It's the DRIVE by so many AAA publishers/developers to initially pursue new 'realistic' graphics technology above emotion, writing, or gameplay that's having the detrimental effect.