I'm a big fan of lo-res (also known as 8-bit) game art, but also enjoy newer game with more hi-res. This topic doesn't cover the large production 3D games, but by hi-res I mean these cartoonish kind of games (pixel art but with higher res). An example of what I mean: Angry Birds vs. Flappy bird.
My question is: Are there any studies, ratings etc. that shows what's preferred by the majority? What are the pros and cons between the two considering visual looks? Till now I've been designing with easy 8-bit techniques, but consider using vector based software instead to create art of higher quality.