Wich would you rather have?

A good game with bad components (ugly miniatures, lame art, boring boards, etc.)

or

A bad game with good components (confusing rules but great art for example)

Definitely the good game. I can pull components from other places to make it better.

But pretty stuff isn't any good with a horrible game.

Good game with ugly pieces. (like the ever popular colored wood block tokens)

I've played a few "good" games where the game components have just left me wondering why they didn't put a little more effort in. I've even bought the odd bad game, just for the components.

Bad game with good components: my group can usualy homebrew some pretty good house rules, and i rather have something good to look at. It's probably a bit shallo of me, but dammit;I've seen some stuff in my local gamestore that judging by art alone, i wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

Good game with bad components all the way, I can upgrade the look myself, but I will be damned if I'm going to fix a bad game for bad game designers.

Good game with bad components wins every time, because components can be replaced. Let's look at good 'ol X-wing: yes, the components are fantastic. But those dang cardboard punchouts? Replaced with fancy acrylic. The game is still fantastic either way, but now I just feel a bit fancier

Bad game with good components: my group can usualy homebrew some pretty good house rules, and i rather have something good to look at. It's probably a bit shallo of me, but dammit;I've seen some stuff in my local gamestore that judging by art alone, i wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

You've got to wonder how many really good games have failed miserably in sales because their box artwork stunk.