@Leatra
I think it's incredibly arrogant to construe a certain way of enjoying gaming as inferior or undesirable, which is what I'm inferring from your post. Some people like to play games for their aesthetic appeal, some play games for intellectual stimulation, and some play games as a form of escapism. I fail to see why any one style is preferable to another.
I dislike the sentiment that the gaming industry is in decline simply because there exist games catering more to aesthetes than to others. There are still games that appeal to other audiences -- quite a few, I'd say. I'd only say the industry was in decline if there was a complete failure to appeal to anyone.
You didn't give any examples, which makes it hard to tell exactly what you're talking about, but I really don't think "dumbing down" (in the sense of simplifying game mechanics, which I'm guessing is more-or-less how you intended it to be understood) is necessarily a bad thing, though admittedly a great deal of it is personal opinion and even then it depends on which case is being examined (I'd have preferred it if you'd given examples of exactly what you think is "dumbing down" so that I'd know exactly what you're talking about). I think it boils down to whether the removed/simplified mechanics were necessary for the player's enjoyment of the game.
Finally, I flat-out do not understand your assertion that all FPS's are the same.