What games are you playing because there is no way Oblivion, Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. and games like that are going to work on your computer. My brother’s computer is probably from around 2001 too and he can only play these games with low FPS and the lowest graphic settings possible. Plus he had to upgrade his RAM, which cost a lot since his RAM type is ancient. I think the push towards technology and upgrades has increased rather than plateaued. My computer became obsolete just a few months after I got it. And soon there will be Windows Vista and DirectX 10 which will force more upgrades.
I’m frustrated with how fan-remakes don’t aim a little higher than the standards of 1993. It’s ironic that fans are making remakes of a game that would need another remake. I’d like to see some innovation and at the very least hi-res 32-bit graphics. Why don’t fans create high resolution games? Is it really that hard to produce such graphics as opposed to 320×240? I always thought the lower resolution graphics of the older Sierra games was due to limitations. After all, the backgrounds were hand-painted. Some amazing things can be done with 2d graphics to make them seem fresh and new. I wish I had the technical expertise to go for it myself.