I suppose it is unfair to hold the PS2 as a golden standard. Last generation only exceeded in excellence in that there was basically a single console solution for everything. That alone alowed us to look past much of the mediocrity and dreg that was 99% of the games last gen.

This generation has tapped into the Xbox mindset of marketing allowing many otherwise mediocre games with big budgets sell incredibly well, but for the most part its just continuing the trend of last generation. The things ruining gaming today have been present ever since last gen started, just now with all this disruption and no clear single console solution, the flaws become more apparent.

It also doesn't help the fact that developers left and right are suffering.

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Square-Enix continues their questionable downward trend in sales and (what many fans see as) quality in thier games. Rather than the epic instalments we used to know, they've come to default on sequals and spin-offs, remakes and cellphone games. The ever decreasing standard of excellence seems to correlate heavily to talent that has continuously fled Square over the years, the latest and most notable being the director of FF12 who left in disgust after seeing his game derailed ultimately becoming a shallow FFX clone forced to recycle all the R&D that had been put into FFXI's engine. People may be looking forward to FFXIII but if major sequels this generation have taught us anything, we can expect spectacular graphics and a hollywood worthy presentation that will help coax our initial opinions of the games beyond all the nagging flaws that ultimately hint at the much larger problem of it being an uninspired sequal that brings nothing new to the table and does little more than tread water creatively.

Capcom is another fallen icon. While still going strong, the loss of Mikami and Clover have been major set backs. Starting with Onimusha 4: Dawn of Dreams their sequels have not been the same. DMC4 was a passable game that did well to hide its recycled second half and painfully linear level designs. Megaman 9 was a cheap cash-in that transparently recycled sprites from previous Megaman games. I mean, if you hadn't played an NES Megaman game in 13 years I guess it could have been an enjoyable game. RE5 was all bark and no bite, a pretty game that does so much almost right than its hard for any gamer to hate it, but at the same time there's no denying it fell far short of what it should have been and no mistaking the lack of creativity and inspiration that could have been easily recognized in its predicessor. With many inside voices denouncing Capcom's poor decisions its not hard to see why talent like Mikami and most of Clover jumped ship.

Konami... What has Konami put out in the last four years other than Metal Gear Solid 4 that we can even kid ourselves was worth mentioning. Handheld games? They've progressively ruined Silent Hill to the point of making it a non-viable franchise. Castlevania is on handheld life support. Oh they make that soccer game Winning11 or whatever it is, I suppose that's something to be excited about... Soccer... Right now the only thing that's keeping them afloat is suckling Kojima's creative teet in hopes he puts out a new game.

Techmo... Well they had Ninja Gaiden... until the ruined that as a viable mainstream franchise... I mean after all they're only on the verge of being bought up by other developers.

All in all Konami, Square and Capcom were the three major developers that alligned themselves so closely with Sony's rise in the industry yet one by one they seem unable to manage that success and bit by bit collapse in on themselves.

360 is what makes current gen fun.

You know, I was hoping that the person that bumped this thread was another person who disagreed with you. Instead, it was just you giving out the same boring rhetoric. We don't care. People are having a lot of fun this generation, and where old franchises fall, new franchises arise. Maybe Silent Hill isn't as great as it used to be, but Rock Band is an incredibly enjoyable new series. It's the way of the industry. Besides, Konami isn't collapsing in on themselves when they're seeing great profits.

I've had a lot of fun.

HUH? I'm having more fun this generation than any generation.

Do you know why? Cause I still have a PS2/GC/XBox and I buy used games I missed. I buy download able games online. I play my older systems with their awesome games. I use Emulators to play games I can't find or games I want to try out (These games are all PS1/N64 era and below).

So far this is the best generation cause I can play every game in this generation and all past generations. You can't be that. :D

I couldn't agree more with you Onimusha

Gaming is..not what it used to be...

I'm getting bored with every ps3 game once i finished it.. i couldn't care less for silly and generic multiplayer. The SNES/N64 really was the golden age of gaming.

For me, this is the best generation especially since most of my friends and family not into gaming are now into gaming. For them, the 360/Wii are their first consoles.

Well aren't we ants at a picnic.

Silent Hill isn't what it used to be? Understatement of the generation my friend. And Konami making great profits? Compared to what? Do we even know the kind of profits they were seeing in their prime? Of course their profits are going to look nice when the rewards of a massive game like MGS4 are reaped in just a few quarters when its total cost had been spread out over four years. Let's hope MGS5 is right around the corner or else this strategy of Konami's may not hold up, unless of course you're perfectly content with Handheld life support, which is fine too. After all it seems to be the only thing keeping Square afloat. Yes, that's right. Listen to Montana everyone! Pay no mind to the bursting bubble my friends, just enjoy your low investment handheld, cellphone and virtualware games, lol.

Montana this is not an article to convince everyone I'm right but to offer a chance for people to express their own opinions on the matter, a forum if you will for discussion. Every person has a different perspective on the generation and whether its good or bad. If you dissagree that's fine, but I don't see the need for such belittling attacks. Notice how I'm not attacking people who dissagree, in fact I've only responded to you and that's because you singled me out. Tsk, Tsk.

I do have to wonder though, if people like yourself are really enjoying gaming this generation then why are some so upset anytime its questioned such as in threads like these? Is it that hard to just ignore a thread of subject matter you don't care for? I can't help but get the feeling people are desperately trying to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room. But maybe that's just me, such a pesimist I know.

Understatement of the century? I could have said that it flat out sucks, but I haven't played a Silent Hill game lately and I was just going by your impressions. Konami is making great profits considering that the companies you mentioned (Capcom and Square-Enix) aren't doing so well. Capcom is losing money, while Square-Enix's financials couldn't possibly be from games if they're in the black. You claimed that Konami was part of a trio of Japanese companies that has fallen from grace and will soon face doom, and all I pointed out was that Konami is making money. Metal Gear Solid 4 was a successful game, but the profits of one game won't sustain a major company like Konami by itself. Just look at how Take 2 faired even after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, or Electronics Arts after the flurry of holiday hits like Madden and Fifa. And I'm not trying to convince anyone otherwise. You're convinced that gaming is doomed and that various third parties will collapse and that gaming is no longer fun, and it's all so negative. Just play some games, enjoy them, and discuss them with others. Lots of people are having fun this generation, and a lot of great games are coming out. It varies between people of course, but since the majority of people who have responded disagreed with you, I have to wonder.

I could even understand all the negativity, but the main problem I have with your post is all of the insults. The way you insult Xbox fans, not to mention calling out other posters. And you're saying that I'm the one making belittling attacks? Let me pull out of a few quotes for you:

"It's primarily gamers who wouldn't be gaming today had the Xbox not lured them back with promises of Spike-TV style violence and hyper masculenity. Guns, guts and glory are the standard of the day and if a game doesn't feature a thick necked male archetype for them to project themselves upon or a sexy scantily clad woman for them to drule over then the game is almost certainly doomed to failure."

Sounds like an attack to me. If you were looking to stereotype an entire console's userbase (the userbase of the original Xbox being about 24 million), than you certainly succeeded in that regard.

"Also, in before Okey Dokey's hit and run trolling (lol), Stof's "Oh god, there goes Onimusha12 again, sigh..." or Ari Gold's trademark: "Nothing on the Wii interests me." ;)"

Well...that one is just shameless. And you actually say you're not attacking people who disagree? You just attacked me in your post because I disagreed with you. As for "people like me," which I assume refers to the many millions capable of having fun this generation, we are mad since you basically insulted anyone who has different tastes. Although I hate to speak for everyone, it seems you just lump us damn content gamers into one group. Painting the Xbox fanbase as a bunch of mindless frat boys is not the way to get people to listen to your argument. And if you're wondering why I don't just ignore this thread, well...why not just ignore everything? I'd love to live in ignorance and just ignore everything I don't like and everything I disagree with, but it's just not my style. Maybe you should ignore everything you're saying right now. Is that so hard? As for the 800 pound gorilla, I understand the expression, but your use of it is questionable.

hmm, everyone seems to disagree but there is a good extent to which I agree with the OP.

I don't know if it's because maybe i'm generally getting fedup of gaming or what.
Of course I might be getting fedup BECAUSE of the games, but I just don't seem to get the enjoyment anymore.

I mean, the last game that I can say I really enjoyed, like up to this day, is RE4.
Even the galaxies, primes, FPSs out there, I will enjoy it, play it twice most, and say yea, I'm good there.

I've played and beaten RE4 about 20 times. That is the kind of devotion I just can't seem to get anymore.