What happened to them?

Like many companies the people that made it great have all but left.

the 24 frame curse

Agreed. The Last of Us is Oscar bait in game form.

What did he mean by this?

The last of us is a fun game with a good story, no need to be contrarian around here

California.

At least Uncharted actually feels like a game.

Their headquarters have always been in California, moron.

it's related to the time peter jackson caught the 48 frame curse

made their legacy by making a good game then selling the ip over and over and over
now they just make movie games with just enough gameplay to not be put into the same categories as david lynch movies