I remember the "shovelware" (but I didnt know that loveable term for it) but the devs back then didnt try to sell it to us as the next "big thing" with the same kind of effort and hype as they try it now. People KNEW it was shovelware and consumed (and dismissed it) as such. They didnt praise it like the idiots today do it with every mediocre game. If I remember correctly, the magazines also had the balls to call mediocre games mediocre. Today you get one guy that does that, yahtzee, and he does it a humorous and cynical way, so nobody takes him really serious, which is a shame.
Oh, and regarding goldeneye: there WAS choice when it came to console FPS. But yes, it was THE choice, because it was made with love for detail. It just was a good game. You know, sometimes a game is good, and you cannot put the finger on. It just has a certain something, I think that comes from the devs loving what they do. Goldeneye was one of the games. Also the level design! it felt like the locations in the movie (which was the last great bond, btw, which also has somehting to do with it, I guess)
But yes, "the ground has been broken so many times", it's really hard to bring us something new. But it's ALWAYS hard to provide TRUE creativity, and still, people manage to pull it off. Remember "Black and White 1" ?
You had to think of populous, you navigated like in photoshop, and you had a giant tamagotchi dicking around your map. But it was innovative.
It's still doable, and the next time it'll happen, it'll blow our minds. Too bad they passed up that chance with spore.
edit: and something else about the "shovelware" (boy i love that word, its great)...
I think that is exactly my gripe. Halo is one of the games that should fall under that category. Same with ... for instance... Need for Speed (every part that came after 3) or Burnout series. I call em "quick and dirty games". A game you can pop in for a quick 5 minutes because you dont have the patience to wait for soemthing. Like your teawater boiling. Or the missus picking a pair of shoes before you leave. You want to play something fast, something colourful, something completely meaningless.
those games are great for that. but I HATE giving those games more than a honorary notice or whatever the correct english term is. its like sex with a complete stranger who only looks good after 3 beers. it was fun while it lasted, but better not talk about it or even worse, marry her.