I love gaming to bits but I find im constantly trying to recapture those experiences I had when I was a kid. Alot of recent games impress me but they dont come close to providing that same magic as the games I grew up on. Maybe its just part of growing up? 

Are games getting better? I don't think so...

A game with completely new mechanics (that work very well) always has more wow effect than one with just subtle evolutions. But as there already have been thousends of games it's just pretty hard to come up with something very fresh that also works better than conventional mechanics.

Back when you were a kid you had a lot of these "I've never played something like this before" moments, nowadays most games are evolutions of these games you played before.

Yeah I think thats what it boils down too.

Yes. The problem is that when you're a kid you have a very limited frame of reference and are therefore much easier to impress.

Everything was better when you were younger. A kid from today would play Super Mario Bros. 1 and kill himself. I go back and play lots of older games and all I ever end up doing is tarnishing my memories.

depends. new Super Mario bros games aren't as good as Super Mario Bros 3 for example, but 3D Marios are still just as good, if not, better than SM64.
Final fantasy sucks ass now,
Metal Gear is as good as always.
Zelda is as good as always.

but see what your saying is opinoinative.

My first FF was 10. Since then Ive played 1,2,7,12&13 and have only enjoyed 12 & 13. If I played it back in the SNES/PS1 days i doubt i would have enjoyed them as much. It all depends on when you started gaming and playing certain series.

You're just being nostalgic i know how it is, in my opinion games are way better than before! Uncharted,Journey,The Last of Us,Bioshock,Skyrim,GTA V,RDR and Super Mario Galaxy are just a few examples.

In my opinion, games just aren't as good as they used to be. The "golden age" has passed and we're in a period of decline now. That's not to say there aren't amazing games being produced every year. It's just that the last eight years or so have produced far fewer all-time great games than the generations before.

As far as console and pc gaming is concerned the 80-99 era was the best for games. Todays games can only dream of having the playability of those days. Games today are pretty much following the music and movie industries they have to look back to the golden age for their inspiration and generally fall flat on their faces because of the corporate intrusion that occurs today. It's the cost of games today that will kill the games industry on consoles