Things are kinda going off in two directions here.
There's the realism preference and the entertainment preference. Realism is all fine in some games, but absurd impossibilities can work for another.
Goldeneye, Dual AR33 was the most powerhouse set you could get. Far zoom, accurate fire, decent clip size, and not much gun masking on your visibility. Wouldn't work in Crysis, but for what Goldeneye was, it was as kick-ass as you could get. Perfect Dark, dual wield was limited to pistols mainly for a more "real" feel (and yet the guns went from stock to NERF brand)... Dual Maulers were unbeatable, but required skill to use to ensure not running out on both guns at the same time. I wouldn't have wanted these games any other way, let us have our fun even if it comes at the expense of believability. Especially in a game so unrealistic ANYWAYS. Laptops that fold into SMGs? Yep, realism is already out the window and falling towards the pavement.
Now Crysis, Farcry, FEAR... If you're going to give us pistols, I want them to be realistically powered or dual wield. Either work, but single wield with pussified power DOESN'T. Pistols are powerhouse weapons in their own way, a single 9mm round can take down an unarmored man even if it doesn't hit a critical spot. A .45 or .357 magnum round can blow holes through people if they aren't wearing a vest, and often even if they are. I shouldn't have to pump eight or ten bullets into someone to take him down, but if you're going to make pistols that powerless, I demand two of them. It's no longer about realism, you'd fucked that up with the weak hits, so I want to maximize how many rounds I get.
On the note of realistic gun damage, I am sick of games where shotgun blasts aren't one-shot-kills, assault rifles that can't armor-penetrate on BPVs or light sheetmetal, and high-power sniper rifles that have all the damage-potential of the weak-assed pistol you carry just from longer range. A .50cal sniper shot to the chest, neck, or head will take out a target guaranteed. Hits to an arm or leg are going to render that limb useless, and usually be such a severe wound as to again take the victim out of service. I'm sick to death of in-game sniper rifles being treated as "Headshot or Bust", and torso/extremity shots being shrugged off like the fucker WASN'T hit by a piece of metal traveling at 2800 feet per SECOND.
