the entropic downslope started right around the end of the N64 i think.
but the xbox... the xbox is when things turned shite. i was actually somewhat exited for online multiplayer; i dont generally care for multiplayer, but i was still exited; and for a while, it was good. i had some fun times on halo 2 and GoW; but then, the darkness....spoiled little brats discovered gaming; and then they completely pillaged, scorched, humiliated, and disgraced it.
more and more, games are made to appeal to these little...*insert favorite expletive x300* and not US...actual GAMERS. more and more flash, less and less substance; its becoming the movie industry, but exponentially faster.
but ive one, very faint hope left...comics had a similarly trying time with appealing to little expletives, and im hoping to god- *ahem*, science... that somewhere in the gaming industry is a stan lee just waiting to say "screw your bland crap, publisher, im making my idea and just watch as it sells like crack-covered hotcakes".
edit: also, dlc and patches; i kinda liked it when games had to be released in working damn order...and finished; with the only new content coming in the form of a rare and robust expansion pack, not being nickel and dimed for a recoloured weapon or some crap.