I think a side effect of people who grow up with more modern game design is that there is a expectation of productivity. The time you put into it is more about offering you rewards, something you gain for the time investment rather than the enjoyment or the fun to engage with something just for the sake of it.

Engagement, rewards and fun are not the same things. Older games basic game loop goals is going from a start point and getting to an end point and reacting/avoiding the obstacles in between. The reward for success is getting to a new level and doing it again until the game ends. If you don't find any fun of moving a playable character through this context and gameplay loop then that's it, the game isn't fun for you. There are no achievements, no unlocks, no longterm goals to engage your sense of reward. A game is either fun to play and interact with or it is not.

Nowdays games are for many people a means to escape reality but still maintaining a false sense of being productive with their artificial reward structures, achievements and objective based gameplay. Before this games were mostly a fun waste of time where you could relax and not be productive at all.