LogFAQs > #898987233

Not really. The graphics and some mechanics improve, but the added costs have been detrimental to the industry. The graphics race is pretty much a race to the bottom, considering we hit the point of diminishing returns right around the time of the ps2. And the obsession over tech, etc, has kinda sidelined design both because developers are more afraid to take risks and because they don't need to get as creative.

There are also overall trends where, despite everybody trying to mimic everybody else, you still wind up with lousy games. You'd think by the time of the ps3 we'd never see another bad game because people had a far greater understanding of design, insights into what gamers like, better testing practices, etc. However, even a lot of unambitious titles (ie, low-risk) played terribly, with some titles being worse than bad games found on much older consoles. Plus it's worth noting that there's a larger amount of shovelware produced today than any time in gaming history thanks to Steam and mobile.

At any rate, the majority of things that make games great aren't intrinsically tied to hardware (thus advances aren't necessarily going to bring improvements). In theory, we should be seeing better games today because there's a more solid understanding of design -- but we're not, partly because design has taken a backseat to graphics and devs care more about being fancy than creative (which also results from console titles tending to be more expensive to develop)

That said, some genres benefit from advancements. Racing games can render detail a lot better. Open world games like Skyrim look a lot nicer (even if the map is smaller).
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