2000 - 2010 , but there is no option for the poll on that.
Easily the best era of gaming, before it got enshitified. Lots of innovation in the 3D and the multiplayer space.
In general 1995 - 2000 was probably where the most innovation happened and when gaming really went crazy with ideas, but it wasnt the most fun era.
But then I’ve been playing since the beginning of the 80s, nostalgia wise the Amiga was the best.
Lots of innovations to cover, that’s why I decided to split it by 5 years to make it a bit more specific.
some passionate made project what other gimmick on modern hardware to original hardware ( Amiga 500) best run on 1200 with Aga.
I really like the ps2 era of games. I played some ps1 games with my cousins but the ps2 was the first console I owned. I still have it hooked up to the TV and sometimes I pop on an old title usually because I need a mental break from whatever new ps5 game I’m in the middle of. I am, of course, extremely biased in favor of early 2000s games as a result.
From a more objective standpoint however, I think saying “games used to be better” is way to simplistic. Old games had their strengths and weaknesses. It was fun the way every game felt completely unique to play because there was way less standardization in the industry. However that also meant that you could get some serious jank (think the horrendous swinging in the spider-man 1 game). In my opinion one of the greatest strengths of modern games is the accessibility of game development now. With dedication a single developer can make a game that would have taken a whole team (and probably a lot of money) in the ps2 era.
I have a ton of opinions about which other aspects of modern games are better now and which have gotten worse. For example I think video game UIs have gotten boring in recent years. However this post is already long so I think I will stop here. 
That is the novelty wearing off, and perhaps boredom from the fact that the same type of information has been repeated many times. The world is not in need of great game developers.
When you first played games you probably had not done 30 years of D&D or pinball - and computer games were fresh and unexplored territory …
“Was games better before?” … As an individual trying to make a game that makes an impression, probably yes, but the effect was partially an illusion formed in false hope and blind ambition (dramatic), and partly the real potential to make something like the foundations of a big game company seemed better …
might be a bit late on Saturday night here …
GitHub - id-Software/DOOM: DOOM Open Source Release · GitHub I played in maybe a couple minutes in early days, and today finally had time, hardware and enjoyment from this game.
When reflecting back, it’s amazing project because you buy map, model, sounds ( basically .wad) and engine you can compile yourself, so even Mac users are kept happy or some other minor platforms without dev must spend for licence.
Best surprise is how minimalistic the environment is but with movement feel it keep you want play, shoot.
It would be interesting to make custom map to see how it’s working.
Games are better when you are a kid. So, it depends on what time of your life you experienced them.
I personally think earlier games were better because there’s a lot of bad practices out there now. Monetization and reliance on the publishers servers for instance. These days being able run your own server or a LAN are rare options in games. Btw when I say your server I mean yours and not rented. I have at least 2 games that I can no longer play because there’s no servers anymore. Some games have gone ahead and fixed this. The Tomorrow Children released a second version where you no longer had to rely on their servers. The makers of Wurm Online created Wurm Unlimited where you could make your own severs or play on a LAN. The community affects this also. Some other games you get people playing them the wrong way and ruining it. This is especially noticeable in team objective based shooters where you can easily lose because the rest of your team treats it as a death match and you never score the objective. Then there’s modders. Is a game modded because they want to or because it’s bad? People often think console games are crap because they can’t be modded. I’m a console player and I’m satisfied with my games so I don’t need to mod them.
I can say from experience as Mac and Xbox.
The Valve made significant mark with their titles, and I manage to buy The Orange Box - Xbox 360. Thanks to backward compatibility it’s working on Series X.
But trying to play Team Fortress 2 is not easy task as you can no longer digitally buy a game for Xbox, and it’s not cross platform.
And on top of that you have to have Xbox Live ( Game pass essential) to be able to play online.
It’s a bit of a shame such a good looking game is not played more.