I think it might be the sheer amount of blanket media we can enjoy at a whim on videogames. Thinking back, (and the one thing that has been on my mind since starting this thread) was mortal Kombat 2, really looking forward to it, i owned a sega power with a preview feature on it. Just reading and rereading that feature used to give me goosebumps. Having to wait upped the anticipation to unbearable levels and when i finally got it a good product satasified me.
I think Today the problem may actually lie more in the internet mainly, where games are disassembled (as is music and cinema) before we, as a pal region, even get our hands on the games.
I also think that Demo's may be at fault. although back with mortal kombat 2 i probably would have given my right arm for a demo, had i got it, i probably would have tired quicker and the anticipation died out.
Lastly, I think we have to look at what age we are, im assuming a lot of you were at the very least living at home 2 generations ago, probably children, a lot were living at home with the launch of the ps1 and saturn and may only be moving out with the ps2. This freedom is another reason why the "magic' may be gone. When you can buy whatever game you want you start to become ultra choosy.
Perhaps if you were to ask a 10 / 12 year old about games today they'd be a lot more buzzed about wahts going on. For example my 12 year old cousin going nuts over the release of the new "007" and "Socom 2" where i'm kinda going "mehhh".