The leaps and jumps were amazing - compare SimCity to SimCity 2000 and Simcity 3000 - all a few short years apart.
Sometime around the Wii (being just a souped-up gamecube) or thereafter it stoped being generational leaps and started being refinement.
The best example I’ve come up with for progress in this era is to look at the release schedules of Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and X, and compare their graphics.
Completely insane.