Neal Anderson: What makes a good game? Part 1

Felt like ranting, especially because I feel as though the Video Game industry is totally suffering in almost every department, and most companies don't have the sense to even notice it.

So, what makes a good game? Really, it all comes down to gameplay. It has to be fun, simple to figure out, yet challenging, and hopefully something unique. The uniqueness is of course, the hard part, and unfortunately, this is where the industry is completely lacking.

I don't know about you, but I'm sick to death of the FPS genre. I solidly state that I wouldn't give a single flying crap if another one ever came out ever again. In order to captivate me with a FPS, you really have to blow me away story-wise, challenge-wise and fun-wise, as FPS games are the easiest formula in the entire medium. This is why they totally oversaturate the market.

Even though I hate FPS games now, I still like a few, but it's because they excel in other departments. Going way back, my first favorite would have to be Bungie's 1994 Mac Classic, Marathon, but more particularly, its sequel, Durandal. The gameplay is pretty average in the first, and is improved drastically in the sequel. But it won me over in Level Design, character design and weapon variety.

What other game can brag dual wielding Shotguns?

But, high above all other aspects, is the incredible storyline, revealed to you, optionally, through computer terminals. This 'aint no run of the mill Halo story, or Doom plot, as much as I liked Halo 1-3 and Doom 3. This story deals with artificial intelligence, the concept of rampancy, ancient civilizations, and alternate realities and timelines. Heavy Stuff. I'll take this over Call of Duty any day.
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Secondly, is it just me, or have games stopped being fun? Sure, online gamers find it fun to kill each other over the the internet, but there's a point where it seems to become an obsession. Game have stopped being fun in both gameplay, and graphics. Briefly, I ask you: What looks like moe fun, the colorful, artistic, games of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, or the gray and brown palette of just about every other FPS and action game? Which ones below look outright fun, and which look dull?