I don't agree with the article. It's trying hard to paint this as something new and it just isn't.
ICO released 20 years ago and instantly became one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had with a video game. People praised it then and kept praising it long after. Before that, Final Fantasy III twisted me up with emotions using sprites, of all things. Suikoden II, Alundra, Persona 3, Valkyria Chronicles ... all games with emotional depth that rank among my all-time favorites. This isn't something new to the medium and it certainly doesn't depend on recent advances in technology.
For me, Final Fantasy III changed everything. It showed me that gaming could be more than muscle memory and turning your brain off while you played. I wasn't a gamer before that, it was just something I did to kill time. Titles like Mario on the NES, with shallow characters and story, often failed to hold my attention at all. I could take or leave gaming and I went without it for a long period after the NES era--I didn't even particularly want an SNES, some rich kid offered to trade it to me for a skateboard deck. I picked up a used copy of FF3 on a whim and it hooked me on a level that I hadn't experienced with gaming previously.
Have the tastes of some consumers changed over time? Of course, that can happen with just about any hobby. Many gamers, though, have sought more complex experiences from the start.
As far as I can see, the only thing that's changed is the rise of indie development, which means a substantial increase in both volume and variety.
