Personally, graphics matter alot. When you pick up a game off the shelf, your first impression is graphics. Of course, there are instances where you hear a game from a friend or a review (which is usually for some people here) and they get it then. Word spreads and their income is then based on the gameplay and storyline itself, after the graphics sell.
Overall, I could probably live without good graphics, but I prefer them in conjunction with good storyline/gameplay. Normally though, I would just pick a one dollar copy of a random game that rarely sells nowadays and play it, Septerra Core and Shogo for example. It might sound like I'm being cheap, but although they ARE cheap, their storylines and gameplay themselves are actually quite good.