Like Dragon's Lair for example.

All this old school talk made me remember an old game that took me a min to track down..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndicate_%28video_game%29

I believe I played the second game in the series (Syndicate Wars) because those are the graphics I remember. Developed by Bullfrog (RIP) and published by EA (EA boycott for over 12 years). Looks like they did a reboot of the franchise in 2012 with a FPS.... blah

Every form of electronic entertainment has blanded itself together under the banner known as "videogames".  This includes games, adventures and also interactive fiction.  Because the videogame industry has a longing to be like the movie industry, there is a push for a story, acting, "memorable characters" and whatnot, and hung up on that.  In light of this, the two biggest impact IPs this generation are likely Angry Birds and Minecraft that have NONE of that.

Speaking on Dragon's Lair, I happened to end up seeing a video on YouTube how the single player campaign of the latest Medal of Honor game way WAY like Dragon's Lair.  You had to do things EXACTLY, or you would die.  Was it "Angry Biscuit" or something who did it (British guy)?  And someone can then go and post the modern FPS map vs that of Doom map.  It seems FPS also changed when they got rid of the auto mapping in the game, due to going 3D with the maps (Quake first to change this).  So, you do have things, in effect, where if you add something, you can lose elements of gameplay in there prior.

I was pointing out that key games back then also had a significant portion storytelling and a lesser portion of gameplay. Another example was King's Quest. I'm not sure a forum on retro will eliminate that crucial segment in the industry, as hard as people will try to eradicate it. It is an important part of gaming for many people out there.

I played the Amstrad cpc 6128 as a kid, my first memories are The Legend of Kage, Head over Heels and Arkanoid, after that I got my Mega Drive.

It's a valid point but I know for myself I hate seeing a lot of genre's lose their basic gameplay to become more action oriented (Survival horrors, RPGs) and action based games become ever more focused on a movie-like experience often at the cost of the basic gameplay.   For example, I don't want a linear QTE Tomb Raider (not even for an hour) for the sake of character development.  I don't need Lara to have a more realistic character, I want more puzzle/exploration.  It's a game, not a movie, leave it as such.   But I am vastly outvoted because games that leave their basic premise to cater to the biggest audience (Resident Evil) are handsomely rewarded.

I was a huge fan of Resident Evil all the way up to Code Veronica. I consider it that last real Resident evil and it's still my favorite in the series with RE2 a close second. Resident Evil used to be scary because you had limited ammo and shooting/avoiding enemies was dangerous. Now the RE games are like Gears of War. You just shoot tons of enemies and the only part left of "Survival Horror" is the gore.

I could argue that it seems today that there is a reduction of genres, and an increase blanding to the lowest common denominator, a mashing of things in the name of storytelling.  It has increasely become more of interactive fiction and adventures, with increased dexerity elements, or adventure being mashed with action, and things dumbed down to pulling levers in certain order or hunting the key card.  Action has assimilated adventure, outside of Indie stuff, and then you now see RPG also being assimilated.  The stat building element of RPGs has been getting into about everything at this point.

So, you come out with large scaled budget blanding of genres, that are supposed to appeal to everyone, in the name of adventure.

I agree with you on retail games, Resident Evil is the example I always use for the homogenisation of game play. But recently we have seen a new renaissance of gaming with the new explosion of indie games. XBLA and Steam are the place to be if you love games of all the genre's no longer on store shelves. I have three Dreamcast games on preorder right now. A vertical shooter called Sturmwind, a classic RPG called Pier Solar, and a horizontal shooter called Redux. BTW, Pier Solar HD is coming to XBLA , Wii U, PC and Mobile. My point is that the games we all love are still coming out, they just aren't coming in boxes any more.

imho you're blaming the wrong culprit. It's not in the name of adventure more than it is in the name of mass-appeal.

Also, everything should come in its good dose. If all games were like King's Quest, we'd never have Zelda. Also, adventure doesn't nessecarily mean dumbed down. Zelda OoT is rift with adventure, yet is was not dumbed down. I think balance in all things is key and it's not because some games were dumbed down to fit a lucrative formula that gamers should be on a witchhunt for games that seek adventure as a nutrition for gamers.

Perspective.