I don't thing commercial games have gotten too deep in the graphics race. My experience has been that publishers want a game done quickly and to target the largest demographic.
This means make it simple, easy to pick up and play fore anyone 8 years old and up, cut costs where possibe, make as much money as possible, and make sure it looks cool to catch peoples attention and want to play it.
The reason we have mostly crap, generic games that lack any depth, are linear and require little thought to play, is because the publisher wants games to be instantly playable for anyone at the expense of fun for the hardcore gamer. There really aren't that many 'hardcore' gamers in the scheme of things and they tend to have fairly narrow tastes and favour particular types of games.
This means make it simple, easy to pick up and play fore anyone 8 years old and up, cut costs where possibe, make as much money as possible, and make sure it looks cool to catch peoples attention and want to play it.
The reason we have mostly crap, generic games that lack any depth, are linear and require little thought to play, is because the publisher wants games to be instantly playable for anyone at the expense of fun for the hardcore gamer. There really aren't that many 'hardcore' gamers in the scheme of things and they tend to have fairly narrow tastes and favour particular types of games.