Which decade do you feel was the best for gaming, and why?

90s where the best of times.

Cartoons:
Ninja turtles, biker mice from mars, the simpsons, rugrats, Doug, Hey Arnold, X-men, Pinky & the brain, Rocko's modern life, Dexters laboratory, animaniacs, Aaahhh real monsters,Ren & stimpy, list goes on and on.

Music was like: 
Nirvana, spice girls, no doubt, green day, backstreet, britney spears, oasis, Aqua,.... okay.. so it wasnt fantastic looking back, however back then it was fine.

Disney was still doing proper animation films. Nickelodeon was pretty neat too.

The Super Nintendo, and the Nintendo 64 were awesome.... gameboy colour?

Saved by the Bell, fresh prince of bel-air, Seinfeld, Friends?  slap bracelets, ring pops, the macarena dance, lip smackers, disc-mans, Orbits Sodas, Home-Alone,...slimes, creepy crawlers,.... too many things, it was a fun time.

Yeah but what about, you know, gaming? :P

I totally missed the (For gaming) part of the thread title.. . was that always there? or put there because of my post? lol.

Hmm... well Super Nintendo was awesome.
My brother and I got one like a week before christmas as a early present, and it was like the best thing ever.

We were glued to the TV, and couldnt get enough of Super Mario World (the first snes game we got, and which we both loved).

It was in the OP, I've added it to the thread title just now.

90s. Best games. Most classics. Most franchises today owe their existence to either starting their or being inspired by games from this era. Mario 64 and OoT set the blueprint for 3D design.

Best consoles. Genesis. SNES. PCE/TG16. Plus the Turbo CD and SCD. PS1. SEGA Saturn. N64. Dreamcast. PC gaming was amazing then. Arcades still in peak form.

Expansions were actual expansions.  Shareware was a thing. No MTX. No awful DLC practices and yes games did have DLC. The fact SEGA was still in arcades and consoles. Developers were far less risk-averse. Capcom, Konami were in their best shape. New IPs by the dozens of each generation. Remakes were not the rule but the exception. Same with yearly games.Best consoles. Best games. Peak creativity with new and old series.

I'm gonna have to go with the 90s as well, but it's a close fight with the 2000s.

The 90s got Ocarina of Time, Mario 64/World, Donkey Country trilogy, Crash Bandicoot trilogy, Spyro trilogy, Yoshi's Island, F-Zero X, Starfox SNES and 64, Banjo Kazooie, Doom... it was just such an exciting time, of gaming constantly moving forward in spectacular leaps and bounds, of something new and revolutionary around every corner, of constant discovery.

The 2000s though are no slouch, with the likes of RE4, Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Halo, F-Zero GX, Uncharted 1 & 2, Bioshock... 

I was born in early '89 so I missed the 80s, and while the 2010s had plenty of awesome games I don't think it quite rivals in the 90s or 2000s.

This will mainly depend on the individual growing up and normally in your youth years will be the best decade for that person.

For me it was in the 90s and early 20s. Game investment was high, had friends come around on thier push bikes or after school and will sit around the N64 etc and play so many games.

Unfortanunly as time went on, this doesn't happen any more due to people growing up, the internet, priorities over gaming like kids etc.

The days when you were young, and work wasnt a thing or a priority and internet and smartphones were none existence meant we would have to go out and find entertainment. The good old days.

The 2000s for me, Final Fantasy X, CoD 4/WaW/MW2, GTA Vice City, AC2, Halo 2, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, etc..... 2010s wouldn't be too far off from the 2000s though.

While that's certainly a factor, I don't think it's the main one. I grew up in the 90s yet some of my favourite games released in the 2010s, if the decade had simply had more of them I might've voted for it.