Sometimes I hear that certain eras were better simply because those eras were popular. I've heard people say Alternative rock now a days is nowhere near as good as it was in the 90s. I've heard people say that Heavy Metal is nowhere near as good as it was in the 80s. Or that jazz players from the 50s are far and away better than any jazz player now. And it seems that almost always the "good stuff" happens during an era when it was popular.
But then I look at Donkey Kong, and by far the most popular players are Steve Wiebe, and Billy Mitchell. Every single person that has gotten 1.2 million or higher is nowhere near as popular as these two players.
But the truth of the matter is all of them are way better players than Wiebe or Mitchell. To be honest, I really like alternative rock/Indie music today. There are some amazing musicians who are doing their thing, but among the public at large there is this idea that they must not be that great since they aren't famous.
So to wrap this up. Fame does not equal talent.