The first half of the 7th gen was known for the casualization of gaming more than ever before. Nintendo had the Wii and all their 1st party megatons  but  discarding most 3rd party games. The XB360 had substantial focus on FPSs and games that were born to be hits (ME, TES or DA) and not so much on the mid-tier games. PS3 tried to make both, but in the first half of the 7th gen it struggled to get exclusivity deals and so it didn't get the freedom to make mid-tier games like it did in the PS2 era for example.

Now today we have PS4 that I and many others are seeing it as the comeback of the PS2 era where many game companies could do any games, some very weird ones, and were very successful by doing games that were not so casual and directed to the masses. Companies like Capcom [Okami] or SE [FFXII] are turning their heads on Sony consoles again and to me it seems like things will be more diverse this generation and that we will see that Resident Evil we were hoping for, or that old-school-FF-without-bs we have been craving for; games that won't try to appeal the masses but will comeback to their roots. Also the 8th gen may mark the comeback of many other games that aren't just FPSs or don't rely on weird mechanics such as the motion controls to be sucessful, we will be just gamers again.

Do you agree and can you feel that in the air? If there's a console that can bring that back, I think that console is a Sony console (it's just what I think based on my experience as a hardcore gamer).

i agree that were going to see a lot of surprises and less mass market oriented games. Many of these once big japanese developers have failed and arent in good situation so i except the likes of square enix, capcom etc coming back to heir roots from their desperation and win hearts mind of gamers again as their prime objective which i think they already starting to do. Also the yen is very low so they have to invest domestically instead outsourcing their franchises which is a good thing if you never liked this practice.
The PS4 is definitely helping this trend with sony funding smaller studios and bloodborne, but also the wiiu brought already so many games by nintendo themselves. I think we are going to see many games selling over 1 million and less over 5 million seller games.

It seems that the movement to give good access to the indies has really opened the door. Publishers can now see that unique games have a place in the market.

I would say that the unique games do a lot better when there are fewer games available( the first 2 years of a console cycle). So, we will see if this changes in year 3 and beyond.

It's the easiest to program for, so it'll get lots of attention. I'd expect a lot of misc. games to appear on it.

i think all three companies are trying to some extent to allow devs of all levels to prosper better in this generation in comparison to last gen. Theres also better deals on game engines that can help smaller studios a lot. I believe you can lease the unreal monthly now and unity is a real bargain and it outputs to just about everything.
Though I will say there were plenty of middle level games and indie games last gen.

Playstation always helped third party companies. During NES days Nintendo was very strict about how many copies can third party companies make (they had valid reasons). But later Nintendo became too bossy. This is why all companies helped Sega. Then came Playstation which was savior of the market. PS4 is like PS1. Making path for big companies and indie developers (Playstation 1 gave birth indie developers) for their usul and innovative titles.

Im not sure about that. Theres been small studios before the ps1.

Not a game, the Net Yaroze was a development suite designed around the original PlayStation game console for indie game designers to create and play their own games. The limitations of the system kept the unit from becoming much more than a hobbyist's machine (users could not run or burn discs, and had to fit the game code inside the machine's RAM), but the unit's power and access to the PlayStation chipset as well as the helpful instructions and development community built around Yaroze allowed game designers to make impressive demos on the machine. Designers would make their games on a PC, then transfer them to PS1 and play them on the Net Yaroze. Competitions and conferences were held for the Yaroze community, and several of the games made on the system led to bigger things for the developers -- the creator of Ape Escape got his job through his work with Yaroze, the game Devil Dice (aka XI) was originally a Yaroze experiment, and some of the games made with Yaroze were distributed on CD-ROM as bonuses on special issues of the US and UK PlayStation Underground demo disc series.

Included in the Net Yaroze package was a special PlayStation game system (built to network with a PC for game code, in a custom black casing), a set of matching black controllers, standard AV and power cables, a PlayStation boot disc, a PC development kit software package CD-ROM, a PS1 key to unlock the machine (plugged into the Memory Card slot), a serial cable to connect the PS1 and PC, and various instruction sets.

The Net Yaroze was available through mail-order in Japan, and was also available through universities in Europe and the US.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Yaroze

Source: http://www.ign.com/games/net-yaroze/ps-896838

This are pretty much my feelings towards the new gen, it has been just 1 year since it launched and I already like it way more than 7th gen. It seems like this gen we'll be seeing far more interesting tittles and unique games, the fact that FFXV, KH3, and games like Sunset Overdrive, Scalebound and the "possible" new Banjo game are happening already make that a reality. Gone are the days that gaming tried to be overly generic just to appeal to the masses!

You're seeing what you want to see OP. If anything we are feeling the effects of last gen. Big studios working on big games, while indies do their thing, and mid-tier now pretty much dead.

Costs for development haven't gone down, they've gone up, and it's riskier to launch games.

The PS4 is continuing where the Xbox 360 left off, with of course better Japanese support. Although, with Japanese console devs hedging their bets on the struggling PS4 in Japan, I'm not too sure that'll work out well. When FF and MGS hits or maybe DQ, we'll see if it can recover.

The era of PS!/PS2 variety in console games is long gone. There are a few indie devs bringing some stuff back, but its them mostly mining nostalgia even worse than Nintendo does.