Are modern gamers spoiled?

Lately, I've been hearing more and more reports/complaints by avid gamers that video games have just become too easy. This is the major complaint I have heard with the Wii (however, on a more personal note, I still find myself struggling to beat some of the more difficult levels of Super Mario Galaxy, and I'll be damned if my body can contort into some of those yoga positions that Wii Fit believes is humanly possible... however, I digress...)
I mean, yeah, Wii Sports and Wii Play are light an fluffy games that anyone can just pick up and play, and anything from the WarioWare series is an ADD-sufferers best friend... but I guess the best way to look at the present is by examining the past.
Here are a few games from my childhood:
Super Mario Bros., the original: Who doesn't have a friend that can run through this game within a matter of minutes without losing a life? (Here's looking at you, Kayla.) But by no means is this game easy, by any standard. Who didn't get lost in 8-4, having a timer of 400 fast-running seconds counting down against you, not knowing how to get to the friggin' final Bowser? Grr. Still makes me mad thinking about it.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Three letters can summarize this game: O. M. G. I can honestly say that I never EVER beat this game. It still boils my blood thinking about it. I mean, the four turtles, although you can play as any of them, and interchange them at any point, show no significant difference other than the length of their weapons. There may be some subtle differences that I am unaware of, but they weren't major enough for the naked eye to see. So, that means if you lost Donatello (with his bo staff) or Leonardo (with his twin katanas,) you were screwed, blued, and tattooed, so to speak. Raphael with his sais and Michaleangelo with his nunchucku didn't stand a chance. Whoever made it past the Technodrome, my hat goes off to you.
Bubble Bobble: Wow, yeah. On the oustside, it looks like a cute and cuddly game where little cartoonish dragons seal enemies away in bubbles and burst them to destroy them. However, what lies behind the true premise of this game is a torturous level-after-level pit of doom. Ugghhh. If it weren't for the password feature on this game I would've given up on it mere days after I first picked it up. And how many of you made it to the end, playing solo, just to find out that upon beating the final boss that the true and "good" ending could only be attained by playing through the game with a second player, and have you both survive both the game and the final boss? What about those of us who didn't have friends, or didn't have friends that would sit through hours of sheer torture just to save your pixelated in-game girlfriends? Sigh. The hours and days I wasted trying to beat this game.
Anything from the MegaMan Series: Something I always enjoyed, but I never owned a single title, and there was a very specific reason as to why I didn't: The game(s) was (were) so hard that I probably would've ended up destroying it by running the lawnmower over it, or something. Yeah, they were fun, and on occasion I could manage to beat a boss, but I really didn't have the finger dexterity to pilot the little blue dude through eight mini-bosses on his way to Dr. Wily. I was hopeless, and I realized this early on. I am the type that can recognize my faults and shortcomings, therefore I'm just gonna leave this alone. Just too hard for me. :(
So, there are four games (or series) from my past that we can use to compare.
And I have come up with an overwhelming conclusion:
Hell yes, games are easier now.
Just compare the hardtype Final Fantasy IV (or the original Final Fantasy, really... which was much harder) to the 21st century Final Fantasy X. There is no comparison. Yes, it's flashy, and it's beautiful, and the story is great... but is there any challenge? If you want challenge, play the original Final Fantasy with only four white mages. That's masochism at its best.
Well, I feel like I have been typing forever, so I guess I will cut this short. What do you think?