Gaming hasn't really changed fundamentally. People complain about modern gaming, how so many games are half-assed and monetization are crap and yada yada. But there were plenty of garbage games back then and arcade games were specifically maneuvered so that people would keep playing them, spending money. Gaming itself has only improved in quality. However, the reason why some people feel like gaming has been on a downward trend is due to the change in environment. Whether it's the nostalgia, trend changes, society, your surroundings. For example, gaming has improved significantly, but so has others entertainment. Movies, sports, concerts, internet, etc. What this means is that obviously our expectations increased drastically. Amazing 20 years ago is garbage now. Go ahead and play old games you haven't played. I bet you most people would not finish them, there are probs only a few exceptions where the game aged well or you have a personal feeling towards it. Right now, the trend is complain, act like a victim, say excuses, and you win. Just go on Twitter, you'll see tons of negativity. I think this negativity is affecting all of us which also affects gaming indirectly. The internet is what made gaming experience worse.

That being said, I think free games and subscription services is what ultimately made this worse. There are so many games you can play, I bet most of you guys only look at the list of games you have, not finished. The list of games "you have to play" is appalling to say the least, I think it's the overwhelming learning curve that's affecting us to eventually going back to the usual games we play. After all we humans aren't looking for new experience, humans are most comfortable at doing the same thing. We are only looking for an excuse to play the same games.

I would disagree. The best era was back when new IPs and genres were being created out of thin air. Back when the Pac-Mans and the Marios and the Zeldas and the Metroids and the Resident Evils and the Final Fantasys and the Metal Gears and Halos were dropping out of nowhere. THAT was pure magic on an inventive scale the likes we had never seen before--and haven't seen since. And let's not even get into the consoles back then. Each one topped the last and turned the industry upside down. Trails were blazed and minds were blown every few years. It was amazing.

Personally I would like more console wars/drama. While technically bad for the industry, the amount of drama we had during 7th gen was more entertaining than most TV shows.

The future will bring a Guardians of the Galaxy reboot - in 50 years or so. And that will turn into a trilogy.

I read it but I strongly disagree

And this is why I strongly disagree

I'll add that the market back then was not in the hands of just a handful of big players (Try listing more than 5 third party publishers for instance; back then it was quite easy to list two dozen of them) who only care about the shareholders, not about the gamers or the visions of their creators.

Also, many genres are dead outside of indies, and some are are even hard to find among those. Try finding turn-based wargames, for instance. Outside of Panzer Corps, which is basically just an updated Panzer General II, there just ain't much, and especially not much of any quality.

Yeah, but that's kinda the point. Back in the day there were not much indies if at all. There is much more variety in the gaming industry - once we stop looking only at the big ones.

And this is where you're wrong. They just gained much more prominence, but back then, there were also tons of indie developers. The reason the indies gained so much more prominence over the last 15 years is because they continued making games with genres/themes that the publishers didn't want to touch anymore as they got more and more risk-averse. But that doesn't mean they just emerged back then, what changed is their visibility.

Even if you're right, this shows how much better market is now. Before, indies needed physical distribution, the odds of them succeeding were close to noexistent. Getting global release? Forget it 

How many 90s indie games turned to be classics? I can't think any

I agree to some extent. There are more games than ever, even if there is a lot of shovelware. But there is still so much to do and see.

Ultimately, I think I would agree, but not for any of the reasons stated. I guess it might sort of go in with number 1. Right now, we have access to all current games. But we also have unprecedented access to all the great old games as well. For the most part, it has never been easier or cheaper to get a hold of whatever classic game you are looking for. So even if modern trends kind of suck, at least we can get old stuff much easier now.