I'd say that some games age a lot better than others. To use burgerstein's movie analogy, I saw Independence Day on TV not too long ago, and my jaw was almost literally dropping at how cheesy a lot of it was. I know I was younger when it first came out, but I wasn't THAT young. Scenes heavy on special effects are terribly dated, and the scene with the dog in the tunnel would be unforgivable today IMO even by popcorn-munching-summer-blockbuster standards. For a contrary example, Ghostbusters is still great. Star Wars and Planet of the Apes have also aged well.

Basically, the cream of the crop is going to stay good. The lesser games ... will get a lot "lesser".

Now, cinema is a relatively mature technology compared to video games. So obviously SMB3 is going to suffer some in comparison with today's games. But on the other hand, it is still better than many modern games any day of the week because great games are always going to be great games.

But on the OTHER hand again, the original question seems to be whether today's games are simply better, and the simple truth is that all else being equal, yes. If all the talent and effort that went into Ocarina of Time were to go into a game in 2009, and get equivalent results, the 2009 game would be better.

I agree with his point in general.

However, I'm replaying Twilight Princess right now, and I still feel that the Ocarina of Time surpasses it in a number of ways (areas in which Majora's Mask excels even further). Twilight Princess feels like a much larger version of the Ocarina of Time, except its many more areas are each crafted with less individual care than those in Ocarina. Ocarina has a more colorful cast of characters, and in general more secrets to be found than in Twilight Princess (excluding Midna, of course).

Take for example Lon Lon Ranch. In Lon Lon Ranch, they have that tower on the outset of the ranch. Within the tower, you find a pair of cows, as well as a few boxes and a secret tunnel, at the end of which is another room containing a heart piece.

In Twilight Princess, you very rarely find stuff like this outside of the dungeons. Every house and room is pretty drab and bare.

Try watching ID4 on Blu-Ray.  When the Empire State Building blows up?  The model they used doesn't even have WINDOWS.

Funny enough, I've never played Mega Man til a few years ago...and somehow my favorite games are Mega Man 2 and 9.

I don't think I'm blinded by Nostalgia. I can say that Mario 64 and Galaxy are about equal and Brawl is better than 64 and Melee.

As for Sonic...Sonic 1 for the Master System is better than the Genesis version. And I've never played the Master System version til recently. (Also let's note that Sonic 1 for the Genesis was my very first game and I was 2 or 3 at the time I got it)