Well, you are old, but I don't think that's the case. Throughout 90s / early 2000s, advancements in computer power and graphics made it possible for game develo

Well, you are old, but I don't think that's the case. Throughout 90s / early 2000s, advancements in computer power and graphics made it possible for game developers to explore beyond simple(r) mechanics of 80's. That's why you see a lot of variety, from back then, in both how games look, behave / mechanics, and even genres than today. Over the years, certain processes were aligned with what people found to be done well, and of course market dynamics dictated some of the genres to be phased out. That's why, today, you see more or less a bunch of 'the same stuff', yet you also get the best of 'the same stuff'. Kind of like with computers from 80's through 90's. There was a large variety of equals. Various processors, whole computers, operating systems, everything... and now it's more or less 'the same stuff' (on desktop).