Right, by far, most of the tricks learned that improved game quality later in the life of a given console weren't based on new comp sci, but better understandin

Right, by far, most of the tricks learned that improved game quality later in the life of a given console weren't based on new comp sci, but better understanding of the systems limitations (e.g. get more colors on screen by rewriting the color palettes between horizontal scan lines on the CRT) and improvements in tooling. I would say a rare exception to this is once video encoding/compression techniques came into play, in the late 90s/00s era where full motion video in games was cutting edge.