I can't really relate since I never had a game console aside from a Chinese NES knockoff that was a some kind of keyboard with a slot in the front where you could insert a cartridge with each having 50 games or so (we had two or 3 of those cartridges). It even came with two guns to play duck hunt with.

But i can definitely understand how it could be the golden era of gaming. The enshitification started when Microsoft(who else?) made playing online a paid feature and sony seeing gullible people paying for it did it to. Then came micro-transactions and shit hit the fan from there on. Now you have to buy half-assed games that are riddled with bugs and got a big chunk of them cut of to sell as a dlc, while also having ads being thrown at your face and the best equipment blocked behind a paywall instead of gaining it in game.