This is mostly a nostalgic circle jerk.
Well, yes and no.
It's no secret that too many folks use these types of discussions to indirectly "brag" about how 'old school' they are, how long they've been playing games, how they used to walk up hill in snow both ways to play their Colecovision, etc. But some of the gripes and observations
are true.
Because gaming is not one 'monolithic' entity. I mean, you can sort of average everything out and say, 'in totality, the trend seems to be X", but I don't think anyone who cares about games lumps them all together like that.
Broken down by game genres, for instance, it's very obvious to see certain highs and lows in the industry. It's hard to argue that the heyday for survival horror games, for instance, wasn't around the turn of the century (PS1 into PS2 era). The quality, originality, and quantity of great, ground-breaking survival horror games at that time simply haven't been touched, before or since. As someone who
adores a good survival horror experience, and count it as one of my favorite genres, yes, that will effect my view of the current gaming climate and how much enjoyment I'm getting from games.
For those who liked flight sims, or deep 4x strategy games (although both have seen a very recent resurgence), it would be hard to argue that up until very recently (2012 and onward), both of those genres had seen a dramatic dip, and were at their peak in the mid-to-late '90s and early 2000s.
Other, more popular genres like the classic JRPG of Chrono Trigger, FFIV/VI, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma, Super Mario RPG, et al hasn't really been rivaled, save for the PS1 era abundance of great JRPGs. But nothing really comes close to those eras for fans of those styles of games.
Of course, certain (many) genres and styles of games have gotten stronger and better. Multiplayer FPS, and western RPGs for instance, are at an all-time high. Not to mention the indie scene. So if you have a nice, diverse palette, you'll appreciate the pros along with the cons.
But there definitely are, I believe, legitimate claims to be made for certain genres and styles of games for having specific "happy times" that I think fairly effect someone's opinion of what a "golden age" truly is.