a few things:

1.  I stopped depending on reviews to make up my mind for me.  This sorta began last gen when I started buying games like Red Ninja even though the reviews were abysmal.  After that positive experience, I went into full swing this gen.  If I find a game interesting, I buy it.

2. I hated Microsoft and the Xbox brand for no other reason than the fact that I had a PS2 and Gamecube.  Even when the oringinal Xbox consisitently had the best version of mult-plats and some good exclusives, I still hated the company and hoped it would fail.  This gen, I wound up buying a 360 because I couldn't get my hands on the competition and I really wanted a new gaming experience.  I've been in love ever since.  Now, I don't care who the manufacturer is, I just care about having fun.

3.  I've embraced the idea of online gaming.  The idea of DLC for games, buying games without actually owning a physical copy, and playing online with strangers turned me off.  Now, I enjoy it a lot and I buy more downloadable content than the average person.  In fact, I think I'm addicted to DLC.

Yes. 

1. TROPHIES

2. HD GRAPHICS!!!!

3. ONLINE GAMING 

Sorry to quote you, its nothing personal, but you have summed up the main points that I hate about W-RPGS and that make them so boring for me.

1) I like charakters and how they interact with each other in certain situation. I somehow try to analyze why certain people are behaving and think about their motives in the main plot. A silent character with countless small decisions only mess up the whole story.

2) That's why I totally come to hate open world games. The non-linearity totally destroys a thrilling scripted story, because the whole story would advance without organisation. Even GTA is not fully non-linear, because you have to do the missions in a certain order and only have minimal choices.

3) I simply hate moral Systems in Games. One point is that the more decisions you make, the more endings a game will get and the more time you have to spend to see everything or the more likely you are to miss something in the game. I would prefer one lenghty playouthrough without missables to having to do multiple playthroughs and getting bored of the game because of its long playtime.

That is maybe one habit that has changed. After having finished university I now have a job and I simply do not have as much time as before. So long games now are some sort of bad thing for me. I like games like Heavenly Sword, where you have an intense 10 hour experience and i hesitate to buy any action/adventure that is longer than 20 hours. Only RPGS are fun for 80-100 hours for me nowadays.

I started to feel that the story/setting/characters of a game are the most important parts. Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain or Heavenly Sword were among the best games that I have ever played (I started with the NES). Thats why I put my focus on japanese games nowadays, since western games often put very little effort in characters/story/emotions/settings etc.

100 Sidequests, moral/decision systems, online gaming, shooter overload and non-linearity are really bad developments that spoil this generation for me. Sometimes I wish the PS2 would have gone strong for 3-5 further years.

Maybe it is time to realize that since I will have my 30th anniversary next year and that I am no longer within the main target group of gaming. I still hope that Japanese Developpers will stop with that insane "Westernizing" and will start to realize that there is a huge difference in taste between US/UK and Continental Europe. Come on Square... "Front Mission Evolved"...what where you thinking turning a story centric strategy rpg in an Online-Action game...

How many "reimaginings" will loyal fans have to cope with in the future...

I'm more picky.

Back in the old times, I didn't even care about reviews. I bought games because of friends recommendations, and I always had a blast with the games I've bought. Some years later I've got to know I've bought some trash critic-wise, but nonetheless I played the hell out of those games (Eighteen Wheeler is an example).

Today I just buy the most rated games, and even so, I don't like many genres.

or maybe it's just that people buy crap so creating crap is still a worthwile business model.

it's not only for games though... for example you have plenty of low budget "funny" movie that seem to be made for people on crack that would laugh at even a train passing by.... well that's the same logic for games.

the biggest thats changed about my gaming philosophy is now i really like sandbox games.

I used to only play games that where completely linear and more focused, i can remember all my friends raving about san andreas then when i played it i just couldn't stand it. But now i focus mostly on sandbox games, i even went back and played games like san andreas and vice city.

My thoughs too...

Nothing of note really. I am now far less forgiving of RPGs that do not have easy and common ways to save, but it hasn't colored my opinion of any game. The 4 Heroes of Light was awful about save points, but I still loved it.

Depending on how you define the start of the generation my view of death penalties has changed too. World of Warcraft original had some of my ire for lacking a death penalty at all, but I have come to enjoy it really and want it in other games. I don't mind making something so hard that I die, but I have no desire to lose several hours of game play just because I died. I don't really see the fun in it anymore, and I am not sure I ever really got anything out of it. Of course this all happened in 2004 shortly after the DS launched, but long before the 360 came out.

I have done quite a bit of experimenting, but my core beliefs just keep getting reinforced. Online play still has absolutely no appeal to me outside of MMORPGs. I still love local multi-player, and have begun to avoid games that sacrifice local for graphics. Still don't care about graphics either despite the formerly ever present claim that seeing games in HD would somehow make me dislike the visuals of the Wii.

Suggestion to those of you saying you like fewer games, and listen to reviews more. Stop listening to reviews! If you are liking fewer and fewer games then it is probable that you just don't enjoy the same games the critics do. Nothing wrong with that if ya ask me. I ignore them as a rule since they never seem to suggest games I would enjoy, and often exalt games I loathe. Try games that sound appealing to you, and ignore what someone else says you should enjoy.

I think I have refined my taste in gaming and become less of a fanboy towards companies in the industry, but more of a fanboy towards games in general.

I worry too much about review scores now although I'm gettin better.

I also don't rent games nearly as much.

I kinda wish It went back to the days of buying/renting a game based on how cool the box art is and the name sounds.