Where have all the games gone?

There was once a time when a geeky young kid could wander down to the local video rental place and gawk at all the wondrous new video games available for rent.  Trying to choose from the dozens of boxes on display was a chore.  To make an informed decision it was usually necessary to combine the pictures from the boxes with countless magazine reviews and opinions from friends.  Once a decision was made, the game would be played for hours on end sacrificing meals, pushing back sleep, and bearing eye strain for a weekend of pixelated bliss. 

Fifteen/twenty years later and it seems the goal of visiting the video game cases at the local department store is to figure out which game sucks the least.  Now, I'm a die hard Nintendo fan and I know their strategy as of late (with the mysterious DS, sparse game release schedule, and lack of challenging games) is far from what it used to be when we were "playing with power".  Despite this, if you browse the PC, PS2, and XBox shelves, you'll notice there aren't any "must have" games there either.  The Tickle-Me-Elmo of the video game world has been absent for a long, long time.  This isn't to say there aren't good games but there aren't many cool games.  Walk into a rental place and you'll find yourself thinking, "that's just Grand Theft Auto with chickens" or "this looks like Diablo rip-off number 37."

I don't know exactly how to finish this one.  I wish the video game industry, read "Nintendo", would make more games, damn it!

I miss the days of picking up a new video game and being excited at every new twist and turn the gameplay and/or plot would take.  Engrossed in the character's virtual life for hours on end.  Cursing out my failures and enjoying my ultimate success.  Now it seems like every game is either too easy, so horribly built it's a chore to just play it, or just another generic FPS or lame fighting game. 

Gaming has entered a new era.  People who started their digital addiction on Atari's Pac-Man, Nintendo's Kid Icarus, or Joust in the arcade are reaching their 30s.  We've played it all and we always go back to the classics.  Some companies have started to realize...this.  These instances aren't enough, in my opinion.  Why not updated versions of Kid Icarus, Double Dragon, a normal 2D Sonic game, or a 3D version of Gradius?  We love these games and classic styles of play. 

I know no one will read this...especially anyone who gives two squirts.  I thought I'd bitch nonetheless.