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Unpopular opinion (?):
Video games were of of a better standard when they couldn't receive updates. Then studios / indie devs spent time and effort making sure it was as good as they could the first release.
Of course, "better" is hard to measure when games and the tech used to make them has changed so much.
But I'd be interested to see what the latest Elden Ring or Final Fantasy would look like if the studio knew they could never send out game updates and patches.
@matt
I don't think it's an unpopular opinion at all.
Things were way stricter because when submitting gold, factories would start to press discs/cartridges and distribute manually. This was expensive.
This is a way more delicate issue if you used a buggy build. Sometimes, it had catastrophic consequences (I remember Myth II's discs breaking PCs when being uninstalled).
So, having better standards was actually a necessity, an obligation, compared to now.
@matt I guess the closest you can get from a similar experience to what you say is to get games without day-one patches. That is, install from the disc without applying patches, or somehow get a digital 1.0 copy of a game (or first release at the very least).
You will see there probably the most interesting quirks. You might also see, potentially, some downright broken games...
Would not be the same, but closer I guess.
@glitchypixel For sure 
but taking a digital 1.0 copy of a game and then pulling the plug on the internet will give you a snapshot of the actual first release... but maybe not what they would have released if they knew that was the case.
There'd be more care and attention to the final product. Kinda like a Pixar movie - once it's out there at cinemas, I guess the only time for edits is when you next publish the release (on streaming services, or on BluRay).
@matt yup it's definitely not a perfect analogy, hence the "close" addendum.
I don't know if the process for videogames will be ever like that unless we lose the internet and reset everything anew. I think this still happens on specialized devices with built-in software (not games though). This probably also happens on physical games, like boardgames.
I'll mention that game quality in terms of it's design is a different matter. Many games from that era pass the technicals, but are terrible.
@glitchypixel Thanks for the input - I have barely scratched the surface of game development and don't know too much about it - so nice to hear someone more qualified than me from gamedev.place get involved in the conversation 
@matt No problem :). I'm not an expert at all though.
I want to add that if you want to submit to consoles, there are still a list of requirements that a game "must" pass before submission. They are called XRs, TRCs, etc
These are technical though, nothing about game quality. It's ensuring the game does not crash, all achievements, elements and technologies required by the company are used and work, multiplayer, etc
Mobile, steam and others rarely do have anything that demanding in comparison