Crytek started out making a techdemo for Nvidia, featuring a dinosaur. That demo was so pretty, everybody decided there had to be a game built around it. That game is Far Cry.
Your argument about today's hardware is sketchy, because I have played Far Cry fine on a 1300mhz Athlon with a ti4200, hardly a fast computer. The reason nobody plays Far Cry is because people get bored. Just like me.