[Anselm]

The games may be graphically more complicated, but a lot of how things are done haven't changed. Where once a line of code told the system to display, say, a red square, it can now tell it to display a pre-determined item that is far more complex. Like an object that has adjustments done to it based on lighting, distance, and orientation to the viewer.

I think it's more a matter of moving parts and laziness.

The moving parts wear out. Now that technology is pushing so much through a circuit, you have to cool those components. Fans wear out and heat breaks down the epoxy and plastic that everything is built on. Let's not forget about the spinning disks. My Atari had ZERO moving parts. 34 years later I can still play Yar's Revenge. The same holds true for my Nintendo, Genesis...all the way to the Nintendo 64.

The Playstation is where things started to go south with the introduction of spinning parts. It just got worse when they added the cooling fans. It has reached it's peak with the online capabilities.

Back when cartridges were sold, a company knew that whatever mistakes they missed would be eternal. They also saw how this could make or break there ability to sell the next product (E.T. anyone?). Now that they can patch a game by forcing you to log on, they don't care about quality control so much. They know that a game like God of War III can be fixed on the next system/ software patch. I think this is what has led to some shoddy programming, missed code that can cause a system crash, and general mayhem.

Call me nostalgic, but I miss the day I could fall asleep with my Nintendo on, not notice the red light for several days, then turn on the TV and start playing again.

~Anselm~