QFT...
I especially agree with you on the point that hobby developers nowadays simply can't create games that look as amazing as the "professional" games do. Part of the problem is, that the engines that are used, are to general (which they have to be, to offer a wide range of possibilities to all users) to be capable of running games in a quality like, let's say chrysis. Additional to that, the regular gamer nowadays looks at the back of a case, taking an automatic look at the 4 screenshots that are on there and either says: "wow, cool graphics, nice shaders here, let's buy!" or sees "well doesn't look too good really" and throws it back into the box. whilst a couple years ago, people were also having a good look at gameplay, storyline and things like that, people today don't really care if these things are crappy, if the graphics are alright, the game can't be too bad. don't get me wrong, a game with good graphics is a lot of fun, definitly, but a game with medium graphics (and i know what i am talking about here, my 6 year old machine urges me to play only these) can - with the right storytelling - be a hell of a lot more fun. in that, i kinda see a backward-development to the starting days of game design, where shooters without no real story at all (DOOM, Quake...) could facinate people, simply because - well - the graphics were amazing at that time. but i am certain, that in a couple years people will come back to where we were in the past, realizing that gaming isn't just about nice 3D Clouds, Bloom Shaders, but as a movie with great special effects might be nice to look at and thus entertaining, only a game with a good story and background can truly satisfy a real gamer