Tony Hawk's. 2 to 4 are among the greatest games ever made but the series has been in decline ever since.

 I don't doubt that it is. The problem is that there really isn't any consistency with the franchise. It seems like every review I read for a Mega Man game is talking about some new-fangled game I've never played before(as opposed to a Mega Man game). I also can't get motivated to buy one since I know there is going to be a new one(or two or three) released soon after.

I have no doubt that Sim Cities Society destroyed everything that Simulation is supposed to be.

The next game to be destroyed....Fallout. I already cry thinking about how badly Bethesda is going to make that game.

Project Gotham Racing and Need for Speed. Burnout will follow if EA keeps going on like they are. *sigh* well, at least Forza, GT, and Mortorstorm are still there.... Also, Medal of Honor.

That's the real problem.  The original Megaman games had a formula that was a lot of fun (if simple).  Megaman X was a huge step up adding lots of interesting new features like wall climbing, dashing...etc.  I don't know the exact point in time, but it suddenly started going down hill.  Then we got the Megaman Legends games with lego people and then the Battle Network games which were little more than a way to cashin on the Megaman franchise name.

I loved the original Megaman/Megaman X games, but I haven't played a truly great one in a long time (still haven't played ZX). 

Breath of Fire for sure
what happened? why did they make 5 like that...

Suikoden is also on the verge of collapsing..

Street Fighter

but I expect a lot of SF IV..

I'm gonna agree with ItsAMii... Chrono Cross was a horrible mess of a game and had nothing of the incredible charm of Chrono Trigger!

No combo attacks, about 30 generic characters that you don't give a shit about, forgettable story : it has two parallel worlds and they mention the original game five minutes before the end that's all I remember... Chrono Cross is an insult to Chrono Trigger!

Breath of Fire hasn't been an RPG contender since the SNES days and Suikoden has never been a big seller.  Neither are really dying.  They're pretty much where they've always been.

you are talking about sales Words of Wisdom

i'm talking about how good the games were and now are