Of course it does not. The problem is really developers feeling the need to defend their design choices and they say stupid things. In the end, it is all about gameplay. If resolution or frame rate dampens gameplay, then it is an issue.
I used to think that, but for retail games, I don't believe that is the case. It is about making the player (and especially critics) feel powerful and good about themselves, and getting the player motivated to buy the game. Thats what drives all the design decisions, not 'great gameplay'.
Great gameplay only works in the f2p sphere, where people can dabble and then get hooked. DOTA2, LoL, etc would totally fail as traditional 2006-era console retail games.
In fact, great gameplay which requires skill, practise, and knowledge is likely to hurt sales at retail. No critic is going to bother learning a game when they have at most 20 hours to bang out a review, and players will hate on a game after playing a couple of hours.