So, that's cool and all, but we aren't making simulations--we're making games.
Nobody gives a hoot in hell how realistic the drapes on a window are if the game isn't fun.
Many games have gone for very good realism, and it hasn't really worked out so well.
Doom 3 had per-poly hit detection, and all it did was make many weapons feel less accurate and multiplayer more annoying.
ArmA2, one of the most detailed military sims out there, did very accurate character-world collision detection and as a side-effect actually moving around inside buildings became quite hard. A community mod was created to address that and restore the funner, less realistic behavior.
Red Faction Guerilla tried to make more realistic destructible physics, but it mostly just made more trouble for level designers, because things they built tended to fall apart.
Jarring details do spoil the fun a little. I'm fine with lack of realism. I am not fine with noticeable differences in realism.
My last example comes from Rembember Me, which I have played on the PS3. An excellent game, with very good graphics… except for self shadows: they emphasise the underlying vertices. I'd rather have no shadow and a smooth face, than a "realistic" shadow and a blocky face. Other titles who feature self shadow display a horrible dithering (I have seen this in Mass Effect).
To date, the best consistency I have ever seen comes from Dragon Quest on the PS2. It's not realist at all (its style is Japanese motion picture), but there's next to no mistakes such as clipping. Even more recent titles such as Ni no Kuni aren't as consistent.
Nobody gives a hoot in hell how realistic the drapes on a window are if the game isn't fun.
Many games have gone for very good realism, and it hasn't really worked out so well.
Doom 3 had per-poly hit detection, and all it did was make many weapons feel less accurate and multiplayer more annoying.
ArmA2, one of the most detailed military sims out there, did very accurate character-world collision detection and as a side-effect actually moving around inside buildings became quite hard. A community mod was created to address that and restore the funner, less realistic behavior.
Red Faction Guerilla tried to make more realistic destructible physics, but it mostly just made more trouble for level designers, because things they built tended to fall apart.
Again, simulations aren't games.