the day Red Dead Redemption released

6th gen for me. How can anyone argue with the Playstation 2. That thing was absolutely swimming in AAA titles. It was almost never ending! Plus, even though the 5th gen brought about 3D graphics, it was the 6th gen that really put them to good use and see developers start to get a hold of doing it properly with working cameras that didnt get stuck all the time in the environment and the inclusion of better controls meant player controlled cameras which were a godsend.  Also texture work went from ugly flat shaded poly to  believeable texture work. Plus the Gamecube, as much as it was a poor seller for me had the best exclusives of a Nintendo console since the SNES (and still does for me). Then the Xbox was the newcomer, had power far beyond the other two in terms of graphics, and showed us all a glimpse of what would be round the corner in the 7th generation.  Hell, even the Dreamcast had numerous massive titles that even today people either want to see remakes of, sequals to or are still being ported to other devices like Crazy Taxi etc.

But yeah, the PS2 to me seemed to have big title after big title almost every week. I was skint for literally a 3 year period when it was at its peak!

The entire era between SNES and PS1 inclusive when JRPGs ruled and sweaty Madden/CoD/Halo/GoW bro gamers didn't exist, and when games had 2+ year development cycles run by games and not "investors" copy pasting crap on 3-6 month cycles.

The internet and trying to make consoles more like PCs starting with the XBox ruined it. DLC, DRM, FPS, vs only online games, incomplete releases intentionally because you could patch it and paid DLC nickel and diming, single player masterpieces with half ass online modes forced upon them, and "multiplayer" support coming to mean ONLY online death match and no coop in story mode, that's what the internet brought to console gaming and it's disgusting.

It`s hard for me to pick a specific time for the `golden age` cuz there were great games I enjoyed in all gens, but if I had to pick, maybe the SNES/N64 era? SNES days were so great with so many excellent games, and the jump from 2D to 3D with Mario 64 was mind blowning as a kid. Those were especially great times... : )

The widest range is 1991-2004.

I don't know if it was coincidence that those were the years Squaresoft was at the top of third party developers, but it sure seems like that was why it was the golden age. Yeah Nintendo was at their peak too, but Squaresoft provided the 'other half' for gamers to enjoy the more emotionally poignant side of games. Both companies complimented each other by filling all the spectrums to enjoy games during their (The companies) peak years; and both of their art styles were anime-like or at least colorful while their characters were full of life. Thus, many Square primary fans loved Nintendo games and vice versa.

To narrow it down a little to a more accurate range: 1994/1995(The period where 3D gaming started) - 2002 . The latest year you could argue might be 2004, but then that's it. That's when Japanese developers started to lose ground to Western and European developers.

This was also the beginning I believe of when Japanese developers started to try and imitate Western developers instead of sticking with their own style of games. The homogenized look of gaming began around 2005 when RE4 completely changed the series' design. It was a huge hit and for many their favorite RE and some their favorite game of all time.

Many games were influenced by RE4 and continue to be. In 2004 of course HL2 and San Andreas were huge hits as well. God of War came out along side RE4 blurring the lines of what once were Japanese specific kind of games; God of War and it's combo system if I'm correct was influenced by DMC.

Edit: Oh yeah, can't forget about Halo 2's influence.  The most revolutionary console multiplayer game of all time released in 2004 as well.  Another huge hit for Western developers.

NES+PS1 days!

About sums it up for me. Things declinced quickly after Gen 6.

Whichever gen that I like the most at any given time.

for me its 96-2005

1991-2003 Golden Age
2004-2011 Silver Age

Of course it's also possible that the true golden age of video games has yet to come. We'll call that one the Platinum Age though. ...There will be a lot of Rules of Nature in that age.