There are a couple of things I can think of..

One a lot of old games had very imprecise controls. When you are constantly battling against the control scheme as well as the enemies it makes for a hard game. Most modern games have smooth controls and razor sharp precise movement.. You don't have to worry about the control scheme anymore and just make sure what is in front of you doesn't kill you.

Old games also had limited health/lives.. You could only get hit three times in many of them before dying. Dying also sent you back to the start of the level so you had to do it all again.. On the harder levels often it was a feat just getting to where you died. Modern games have regenerating health and checkpoints in place for when you do die.. Most games when you die you only have to replay the last 2 minutes, this makes modern games much easier.

No, straight up no. They're more forgiving, and less frustrating. There is a difference.

Just do this, play Halo or CoD or Mass Effect or whatever. Don't even bother doing like 3 hits you're dead unless you wanna be all hardcore. Just 3 deaths, you start the game over. Let's see how far you make it.

The one thing that is getting a little easier are puzzles, and the exploration. Which is still there for people who want it, there's just more often a hand to guide those who can't be bothered or are genuinely lost.

Basically to sum up, easier to beat yes, easier to play not at all.