Well, I'm not sure how many times you heard them. But I've been gaming since the late 1980's, and only joined Neogaf this week, so you most definitely wouldn't have heard them from me.
Last generation, and the generation before, massive leaps were to be expected from anybody who had even an elementary understanding of architecture and software tools. This generation is vastly different to either of the previous two.
This is a gross oversimplification but it gives the general idea: weak, general purpose x86 CPU, mid-level GPU, concrete familiarity with tools and engines
There's only so much that can be done, anybody expecting the leaps in technological innovation shown in the two previous generations is sorely misleading themselves.
By the end of this generation, Infamous: Second Son will still be more than respectable in comparison to other AAA, and especially 3rd party, software. The Order: 1886 and Uncharted 4 - from all that I can tell - are really introducing us to what the upper limit looks like.
And this isn't a bad thing - it means we have a longer period of time where we get titles of the highest order of quality attainable (from a technical standpoint, that is). Perhaps the only bad thing about it is that it removes some of the suspense and surprise.
Always keep in mind that videogames are targeting "CGI movie rendering" which targets it-selves Real Life, so no, I don't think we have finished with th power race.The gap is still wide when you compare CGI vs Real Time. Again, do not forget the target and how far we actually are from it !
Now I would like to adress another problem I noticed. During generational transition, we are used to always study the gap case under the angle of how far the new gen is from the last gen. I believe that today, we need to observe the issue under the angle of how close we get from real life (the main target).
For instance, when you compare Drake's model on PS3 vs Drake's model on PS4, people will always have difficulties to be aware of the wideness of the gap.
But from the moment you present the case as following : Drake's model on PS3 vs Drake's model on PS4
vs Reality, you suddenly realize how far PS3 model is away from reality when PS4 model is very close :
(I'm aware that human model is not the one who inspired ND
(Thank to Loofy and NumberThree)
I think we should meditate about it. It could help in reconsidering the great job of developpers, and the real power of our consoles.