Mate, if you lived then, you should know it was a hell of a lot better than now. I mean, look at the videogames being produce back then! The Kyle Katarn games, Dark Forces and Jedi Knight series, were kick ass! Sure the graphics aren't what they are now, but that's where the story and gameplay comes in.
If they had not happened, they wouldn't strive to do better. That technology had just become available, of course no one knew how to use it. As for the other things, they paved the way for something better? And Star Wars movies have been terrible since Episode I, save for the Clone Wars movie. Four flops and counting.