42 and sort of...
I appreciate the advancements in graphics and sound and the level designs in some of these 3D games is unreal. Very clever and I guess we just take it for granted how difficult it must be to create these lavish worlds where we can go almost anywhere yet end up where we need to be.
In saying that, I really despise the fact (and it is a fact) that Microsoft, losing the war against Sony, decided to go the Netflix route and make subscriptions in gaming the cool thing to do. It further goes to show that you will not own anything you pay for and you will happy doing it.
I also believe that, no matter how simple some people think games were in the "old" days, gaming on the SNES/Mega Drive will never be bettered. Gaming then was all about gameplay. Not every game was a classic but they didn't need to be. When you had games like Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Sonic, Mega Man, Castlevania etc, gaming was a great hobby to have. It was fun to brag about a SNES version of a game you owned being better than the Mega Drive version, and vice-versa. Seeing Sonic The Hedgehog for the 1st time made me jealous of all Mega Drive owners as my NES couldn't do that! Then I got my SNES and I could brag again! Games were made for fun. Weren't overly complicated and no one was shoving messages down your throat at every opportunity, or calling you out for being a gamer.
The war between Sega and Nintendo was legendary and very real. Today they all pretend to be best friends. It had spice and it was fantastic to see!
At the end of the day, I'll never have another moment seeing Sonic for the 1st time or seeing Street Fighter 2 on my mates SNES for the 1st time. Legendary moments that gaming just can't deliver today. Nothing today stands out. Even though it almost all looks glorious it doesn't WOW me anymore like gaming used to. That says nothing about gameplay either, which was also far better in the 8/16 bit era.
I was also a fan of the 32/64/128 bit eras and even the early years 360/PS3. Gaming was still pure and fun. No need for patches in games pre 360/PS3. Buy a game, play it and enjoy it for what it was. Nothing complicated at all. No greed in DLC and hardly ever releasing special editions of games to suck pockets dry.
At the end of the day, I far preferred gaming then vs now. Looking ahead, gaming losing physical media is bad news (and for all those saying it's still around, lets see for how long thanks to these sub services) and even talk of losing consoles is really sad. My backlog is big enough that I could game for decades without needing anything new but console gaming was once a great pass time, and it's now losing that for me. My opinion anyway!!!