It is the best time to be a gamer because all gamers live in the present moment. The present game generation will always be the best until the next generation arrives. Then the next generation will be the best.

Are we basing games from the past to be better or is it more about nostalgia?

I find that alot of the games that I used to dig, I can't really play anymore. I bought a few retro compilations that have games I just can't get into. I used to love Pitfall with a passion, but now it's so repetitive I've actually zonked out with the handheld on my chest. There are a few exceptions to this, but most games seem to get stuck into a specific genre and it's simply not fun because of all the similarities. Half-Life 2 and Bioshock are great FPSes because the story draws me in, But UTIII will just bore me. I think a game needs some age to it before we can remember it so fondly. But sometimes coming face to face with the memory will have you thinking, "WHAT INTESTINAL TRACT OF HELL DID THIS GARBAGE SPEW FROM?"

So for me it's a story that makes or breaks a game because of all the categorized genres that give everything that 'samey' quality. But then again, the babes are more realistic looking with today's hardware. So give me a good story and hot skanks and I'll be happy.

I think this year was def. one of the best years to be a gamer. There are so many games that I can think of that could be nominated for GOTY...games that would win any other year but just so happened to come out at the same time as a lot of other crazy titles:

Metal Gear Solid 4

Gears of War 2

Grand Theft Auto IV

Spore

SOCOM

Little Big Planet

Resistance 2

Rock Band 2

GHWT

The Last Remnant

just to name a few.

You can argue whether or not it is a good thing or not, but one thing you can definitely say about this era is that the industry has way more money than it ever has before.

I mean, some games are even reaching into $100,000,000 dollar budgets. Certainly you can make a good game without such a massive budget, but you have to admit those kinds of monies allow for experiences in games that have never been possible before--particularly in terms of scope and detail.

Before commercialism, advertising, sequels, ridiculous budgets and developer take overs became the norm.
Before the stock value of games companies became a bigger issue than the games themselves.
Before companies that loved entertaining and making games were the only companies actually making games.
Before hardware (and software) manufacturers thought making movies and games were the same thing as manufacturing televisions. They are not

I would say, yes i was a teenager hence the biase, but the 90's were awesome. 16 bit was the shit and the SNES and Genesis were the best video game systems of their day, arguably of all time. Mario games were huge, Sonic games were fast as hell and the Gameboy, without doubt, was still the coolest toy you could ever own. And it was black and white. Who says graphics / colour matters.

I got to say though Sony have done well in 10 yrs, but i wouldn't trust any corporation that didn't make games with a passion. Alas i was not a Sega boy but i know that they knew what they were doing. Making games, pretty simple eh. Nothin but net

 When was this?

gaming was definitely best when i had more time to play them. being married to a non-gamer has it's ups and downs.

ps1 and n64 era good stuff.

The Eighties man. All about the eighties. Early Ninties were exciting too. I'd say '85 - '93. Best years.