I am loving this thread...
As far as I see, I think this generation has definitely gone weaker on the jrpg genre and that's why so many of us feel a bit unrest. But truth to be told, it is quite evident that the offer of games has broaden so much that it is hard not to find what you like. It's far from being all blockbuster fps as we sometimes whine about. Platformers are as healthy as ever and we have seen lots of quality in their 2d, 3d and even first person platformers as Mirror's Edge (which I'm currently loving). Those blend of genres that we usually get to call adventure games as the Uncharted, Assassin's Creed and Batman series are awesome experiences these days.
We have seen the Resident Evil series go a path not all of us may like, but we've got new challengers to the dispute the genre.
Bioware and Bethesda are offering experiences that we gladly embrace and we still have time to enjoy our Rune Factory, Catherine, Little King Story and Valkyria Chronicles.
Music and dancing genres have exploded with lots of offering and minigame and party games have brought many to share fun times due to a console or a gaming pc.

I may not have the time to expand on my idea by bringing evidence of the great options we have been giving this gen on each and every genre and how I think our options have been broaden.
But I think that as retro gaming has become very popular and that could be read as an expression of disatisfaction to what we are being offered these days, actually it can also be read as a strength of this generation, that includes virtual consoles in their offering (they make money out of good old games) and thus express that old software, regardless of graphics evolution, are not obsolete, but on the contrary, very appealing because of the experience they can still deliver, which may very well be a timeless experience. And this gen consoles are not intimidated to let their actual offering "compete" with previous libraries.

i have a tonne of platformers on wii-ware and psn. 95% of them rarely last over 5 hours and I wouldn't pay 50 dollars for them either because of their short length. Obviously the main platformers like NSMB wii and donkey king are longer but I think they are in the minority. That is why they are monstly download only i presume. Games like limbo and Bit trip series would have died a peasants death if they were disc based.

yes of course it would. Rayman origins will be out soon enough and is a disc based full retail game. We will see if it justifies the 60 dollar price tag. 

Whilst I'm not exactly over-enamoured with certain aspects of this generation, there's no way I'm ever going to be pining for the sixth gen. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I hope we never see its like again.

I have to disagree!

I loved last generation don't get me wrong. But the majority of my software was Nintendo first party software and to be honest other then the new casual crap the main Nintendo franchises remain just as fun to play today as they ever were. In fact the return of 2D Mario and other game play elements from generations in the past has made this generation an improvement (For Nintendo).

As far as X-Box and PS2, I never bought either platform due to the lack of any exclusives I just had to have. A lot of the games I wanted came to GameCube and those that didn't while impressive weren't enough to make me invest in an X-Box. I found towards the middle of the generation last generation games went from focusing on single player campaign to online multi-player. This made many games un-attractive to me because I prefer having friends over and playing face to face rather then online.

In fact its this generation that actually forced me to stop being a Nintendo loyalist. I could no longer purchase almost any third party multi-platform titles. Games like Gears, Halo, Full Auto etc...etc... caused me to buy a competitors console. Of course I waited till Nintendo and Microsoft confirmed they weren't competing since I had been a loyal Nintendo consumer since I was born.

Also I don't find what you are saying to be true. Other then with FPS titles I see a lot of story being shoved into almost every game that comes to market. Titles like Prototype and Assasins Creed and almost every other major title last longer then 6-10 hours. I don't find the stories lacking in many of these games and I don't find the game play to be suffering.

I have noticed games getting a tad shorter. But in all honesty I don't mind that much, last generation I bought a new game almost every month on GameCube alone. I didn't complete half of them as I was in school and have other things to do. I was always so upset that each game could take 20+ hours to complete. This generation with the shorter times I am actually completing more games and getting more enjoyment out of them. I also notice that the majority of them have all these side missions and other features and if you really play the entire game your talking 20+ hours just like last generation.

First Person shooters seem to be the most effective. I beat Medal Of Honor in like 3-4 hours. That to me was insanely stupid as I spent 69.99$ on the game. CoD doesn't last all that much longer either, none of the FPS titles last too much longer then 6 hours of gameplay. I think this is due to graphic whores.

But as I said I haven't really noticed the quality of software go down drastically. I am buying fewer games this generation however. That is because fewer high quality games are being released. But their are still plenty of quality games coming and I don't mind the few titles that choose graphics over gameplay since I don't actually buy many of them!

how can you disagree with his statement when you only had a game cube? The ps2 has the biggest software line-up of all time and you say you don't miss last gen?? I have a gamecube and a ps2 and i have only a few 1st party games for cube and over 70 rpg's on the ps2 alone, that is just one genre!!!!

So am I. I am having a hard time playing a lot of games nowadays because i'm being forced to play through ease fests that put me too sleep. Hell I played Gears of War 3 recently which was a decent game on the highest setting and I felt like I was playing easy.

I need challenge. I don't want to sit there and not be required to think. I get bored and then not enjoy the game.

I dare you to name them all, just for the fun of it, McFly.

Since the west has taken over this has definitely been the renaissance of shooters, first and third, but definitely first holds the crown.  Platformers have taken the backseat to Xbox Live and PSN. We can also call this the renaissance of online/gaming integration. The renaissance of platformers was two gens before this.

Just because I only owned a cube doesn't mean I didn't play games from all platforms. Its just the game quality wasn't high enough to warrant purchasing another console. Also you mention RPG's well I have heard Skyrim will take around 300 hours to completely complete. That is far longer then any other RPG I have ever played.

A big software line up means squat if most of the games are complete crap. The PS2 was the old Wii it got tons of shovel ware and low budget shit that wasn't worth the label on the disk. Honestly quality of software has taken a hit in some cases like FPS, but for many other genres the quality of the games hasn't really taken much of a hit. Especially if you look at first party content from all three companies this generation has been out standing.

I don't see much of a change, the quality of stories continues strong in many titles (Yes not FPS but many titles). Some games are shorter this generation but that doesn't mean they are lower quality. In the end I am satisfied with this generation. Nintendo disappointed me a bit but Sony and Microsoft have done a much better job this generation in my opinion. Game quality has improved in most cases and those where it has taken a step backward, I don't buy those games often!

There is at least one good game every month or two (Except summer). I don't see where the point is in complaining!