There are many minor reasons why games today aren't being produced at the level of their predecessors, but there is one huge reason that I hope can enlighten the industry, and expand it's territory. That is, basically, games in the past were coming out in entire different GENRES. Now they are just mock ups of what's been thought of already. Mario Bros.- one of the first side scrollers; Mortal Kombat - the first fighter; Mario Bros. 64 - the first open world; gran turismo - the first simulated racer; doom - the first first-person shooter; sims - the first relationship simulator; sim-city - the first governance simulator (which may be a good idea to revamp this simulation to include decision making for infrastructure construction practices such as bridges or underwater tunnels...idk); Punch Out! - the first boxer; Pilotwings - one of the first flight games; command and conquerer - one of the first strategy games. I think u get my point now. Basically, if designers could just think of a new way to present the world around a protagonist, and/or steer that protagonist in the world...instead of trying to come up with different stories. Now that would be revolutionary. Idk, kinda harder to do than say. But, one idea I come up with is kinda weird, but could have some potential. A timeline rpg. About a man who is intertwined with his ancestors and descendants dating all the way back to ape-man to an evolved superhuman. U could have the ape-man as a third-person action adventure having to escape a clan, and join another, or survive on his own...the man as a first person shooter in a war...evolved superhuman as a puzzle/strategy game. All these different genres being statiscally affecting the timeline, thereby, diminishing or enhancing the abilities/relationships of the character in that time period. Could get kinda complicated! But anyway, it's just a thought on the whim.