There is definitely a lot of corporate bullshit in regards to triple-A gaming... but there's also a significantly larger indie community as well.
Depending on what you choose to look at you can decide any one time frame is better or worse. Accessibility is leagues better now than it was then... but there's definitely problems with monetization you see now that wasn't as prevalent back then.
It's not black and white, you're not going to have an objective "best" or "worst" time.