So poorly written, I find it hard to take seriously. tl;dr Make fun games, not pretty ones. The problem is that it is never obvious when mechanics make a game

So poorly written, I find it hard to take seriously. tl;dr Make fun games, not pretty ones. The problem is that it is never obvious when mechanics make a game great, and when art direction does. See Bioshock for the latter. See something like Everquest for the former (and which was later eclipsed by a game with better mechanics AND art direction). Great games are rare. You need both of the above, and more.