I reckon The only real comparison of ‘then and now’ is playability – the original doom was groundbreaking and had me hooked for hours – mw3/2 has also had me hooked for hours(120for mw3 so far ). So compare the two (esp multiplayer) and I know which I would be/am playing now.
Skyrim also has me hooked – compare that to the hours playing original colossal cave and I know which one I’d be playing! You are in a maze of twisty passages all alike – bollocks to that!
What the OP is saying (as i read it) is that it didn’t work for him – I’ve bought games that didn’t work for me – trade it and move on but don’t try to make out that today’s games aren’t as good as those of yesteryear, otherwise we would all have N64’s playing rockfall.
Seriously,, if. You think old games are the best, get a copy of MAME and see how long you play each one!