Consoles have always been simple, old games were always simple (and broken). How many different types of PC configuration are there out there ?. Different kettle of fish completely.
Stuff is better now.
We're not talking about technical glitches or crashes though, which are harder to address due to config variations. C64s, Amigas/Atari STs were largely the same just as consoles. Only with MS-DOS PCs becoming more popular with gaming, hardware configs became more of a problem.
And I already recognised that games back then weren't as complex but my point was that devs had to get things right first time; if they released a broken game then
that was it (other than a full on recall which I can't remember ever happening, unless it was related to faulty cartridges etc.).
But anyways, this is about gameplay/functionality bugs, the OP doesn't have the problem because of his RAM went bad etc., and I firmly believe the 'release now patch later' culture has resulted in overall more buggy games in general (dare I mention Bethesda, both on PC and consoles), a double edged sword for sure as there are obviously benefits to the option to patch, but I think it can lead to corner cutting.
And to say
everything was broken in the past is just plain wrong, as everything clearly wasn't (some games were, one just didn't buy them or got them 'free', but just as many weren't and are still extremely playable and enjoyable to this day). Unless you just made poor purchasing decisions in the past, which is what your conclusion is based on.