I must say, I'm kind of shocked at how many people agree with me (about the fourth and fifth gen). I thought I'd be in a tiny minority. But, in fairness, I think it's a highly subjective thing. It entirely depends on how you personally define "golden age".
As a number of people have said, I'm sure a lot of it comes down to what you played growing up. No doubt, some of the "magic" fades as games become more commonplace in your life. But then, that would mean that it should really be your earliest memories of gaming that stand out as the most special. And yet, despite having very fond memories of all the hours I put away on the Atari 2600, for my money, I still say that console games peaked in the fourth gen.
I guess it's possible that it's pure nostalgia speaking. I don't discount the possibility. But regardless of what it is, it's damned powerful. When you consider that I still have my Mega Drive and still play some of those old games, it really puts it into perspective. It's hard to imagine many modern games still maintaining my interest 20+ years from now. On the other hand, I can well imagine that 20 years down the track, someone who is growing up with those games right now, may remember them with the same fondness that I remember those I grew up with. In that sense, I think it's largely a matter of perspective.
ColdFire - The man with no name.
