Alright, I'll step up to the plate and counter you BIW!
The LotR games are too short and feel as though they're lacking content. Definitely rentals. Later, they came out with a (active-turn?) turn based RPG LotR which seemed inspired by Final Fantasy or other MMORPG's where you played a generic person in the LotR world.
Also, there's not a lot of turn based games that have come out lately as far as RPG's, unless you're referring to the FF Chronicles or other re-releases of pre FF7 games. And even then, they were active-turn (AT) based games. Even Final Fantasy X/X-2 are using a turn system not far off from what was in Final Fantasy 4 (FF4 RULES, they should do a high quality remake), where units have different speeds at which they take another turn, but the enemies will still attack you if you don't press any buttons and idle.
Magic:TG is a great card game, has had dubious video game renditions. Unfortunately, as much as I love that card game, I have to dismiss it: You need skill, but you need cards first, and success favors the person who has money to stay with it. It loses its charm.
Pokemon put out so many games, but they weren't all that different from one another. With Pokemon Red and Blue, and all the other colors/materials they were named under, it's yet another profiteering/marketing ploy. Still, their gameplay for the portables is solid, but not as cool as the Dragon Warrior Monsters games, IMO.
Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the most impressive and tight turn based games ever made, so I have to argue against your point. I don't see turn based as something bad. The appeal to strictly turn based games like FFT is in your ability to anticipate and balance your team inbetween battles. Strategy and customization are fun. Even then, the turn's aren't static. Units take turns based on their speed rating also. Yelling for speed!!!!
I'm not a big sports game fan either, but the Madden football stuff is usually fun. My secret love is racing games. I like Gran Turismo and Burnout: each of them do things differently, but they're both great. Gran Turismo isn't 'ruined' because it's not violently crashing and exploding the vehicles. And Burnout isn't 'ruined' because it doesn't try to create an overly simulated/realistic driving experience. And for that matter, there's some other game that's rated better than Gran Turismo in terms of realism, since GT is more about giving you the experience that you think feels right, rather than a more realistic feel. I'd be happy if they brought back the Destruction Derby franchise... Twisted Metal is kind of bleh. Road Rash on the Sega Genesis was fun!
Final Fantasy 7 was fun. It had so much content and the materia system was a nice surprise.
Final Fantasy 8... two words: Triple Triad. I didn't care much for this one. The characters weren't outright repulsive yet.
Then they kept alternating chibi and normal sized characters... and the outfits were more and more gaudy. Square made me hate the main FF series.
My brother still plays them.. he sort of picked up where I left off...
