Then there is the more commonly deconstructed beauty of form; the way game elements actually look. Compare World of Warcraft with Warhammer Online and you'll see two very different approaches to arguably the same conceptual space. You will probably prefer one style over another, but both are examples of the variety of beauty of form.

EVE Online went through an upgrade of graphical quality and it seems clear that the more detailed changes have not only improved perception of the game, but possibly affected actual gameplay in a positive way. Most of the player's time is spent staring at specific details of various starcraft and celestial objects, so a revamp that makes identification easier and quicker can only be of benefit to its players.

Conversely, graphics that pull the player out of his experience have to be seen as disruptive to the goal of getting the player through the game, and therefore, ugly. Compare the facial animation between Brütal Legend and Dragon Age: Origins. Where the Double Fine game's characters are very emotive and expressive, the Bioware game's characters have dead eyes and are barely emotive at all, leading to a weird disconnection between the passion of the spoken dialogue and what you see the characters do onscreen. Such concerns might seem small in the larger picture, but they do add up.

Even when characters animate well, there is the danger of entering the Uncanny Valley, where models approach the limits of realism to the point where players actually become repulsed by them. They know that what they're seeing isn't at all real, but the comparison can't help being made, and the cognitive dissonance causes some people problems.

Perhaps the best measure of what's beautiful in a video game isn't merely what the player personally likes. Considerations ought to be given to how well each element integrates with the rest to form a cohesive whole. There will be standout moments of wonder, of course, where a particular set piece is revealed for the first time, but eventually that wonder fades, replaced by the necessities of getting on with the mission at hand. Gameplay should never take second lace to graphical quality. So in a sense, the goal of beauty is to fully express functionality. There should be no distracting elements, animation should harmonize with environment, and the style of the art should ideally communicate the theme of the game in an organic, non-forced way. If the player walks away from the game with a sense of satisfaction, then it has been a beautiful experience.