Eh Google has issues doing searches by date, but here is a different forum talking about diminishing returns back then. Pretty amusing reads.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=129088
I'll quote some people for fun:
"I'm a bitt dissapointed with the graphics of the 360 and PS3. They look a bit more polished, but other then that they seemed almost the same. Only Ghost Recon 3 (I saw a video clip online) seemed like an improvment at all"
"This next-gen is more about new experiences than super graphics"
"Sure the gfx might not be as good as everyone hoped, but Doom III proved that great graphics are worthless if the gameplay sucks"
"The 360 was a huge disappointment in terms of graphics"
"Why do I get the feeling that people will be saying the same exact thing even when we hit the PlayStation 8"
"well when you think about it, did early ps2 games look any better than late ps1 games? i'm sure the graphics are going to be a lot better after awhile"
