The Golden Age of Gaming

DodgeBlan

Remember PC gaming in the late 90s? Blizzard rose to power with a string of excellent games. FPS came of age with the Quake series and Half Life. Total Annihilation did things with the RTS genre that had NEVER been done before. Counterstrike conquered the world and then did it again for fun. System Shock 2 and Deus Ex rounded out this awesome era at the close.

Basically we saw 2 genres develop to where they have pretty much remained till today (FPS and RTS). So much happened, there were so many good games. To me, this was the golden age of gaming.

So the question is: When was (is or will be) the golden age of gaming in your mind? Or have I pretty much nailed it?

DarkPrimus

If PC gaming would get back to where it was ten years ago in popularity, combined with the great consoles out right now, that'd be a golden age to me.

Urian

I doubt there will be another golden age like that again until a new way to revolutionize gaming comes out: With Quake and other games of that time, 3-D games first started coming out. The only time when that kind of excitement and amazement might be seen again is probably when (and if) virtual reality simulators are released. The Wii is a step in the right direction, more interaction with the user is the main goal, graphics are irrellivant until we can get the user strapped into the game to a more complete level.

cj iwakura

Mine was the Sega Saturn/PS1 era. So many amazing games at one time. The PS2's had some great games, but the masterpieces aren't quite as numerous as what Saturn and PS1 had going for it.

Dragon Force and FFT pretty much made me a strategy fanatic for life.

powerss

Playing Quake 2, and then Quake 3 on my old Macs was just amazing. A huge community that has since dissolved (GameRanger) jump-started my love of technology.

Funny, it's the people you game with, not so much the games, that you remember.

Leitner

Now. Not only do I feel games are better know a days but you can also play the 'classics' if you so wish.

cfgauss

When most companies start actually caring about the games they make, and putting original work into things, then things will be good again. Also, when adventure games become popular again.

Until then, enjoy your Madden, Final Fantasy MCMXXVII, Battlefield 19xx, and all the other generic cookie-cutter games.

bruin

I think what we've got going right now is pretty damn amazing. Nintendo completing turning game control on its head with DS and Wii and capturing new demographics with games like Wii Sports and Brain Age, and games on the more powerful platforms (PC, 360, PS3) are actually taking 3D gameplay to the next level. Also this year is the best every for game releases.

Inzigna

While I agree with the above post, I don't think Final Fantasy belongs up there. Sure, many aspects of the game are the same, such as stories that are largely the same, but there are also enough original ideas, artwork, music for each title to be different.

Raslin

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=18028

Sums up my feelings in a nutshell.

(I do regret saying I would eat my cock if starcraft 2 was announced, though :P)

bruin

Except for the very best examples of great 2D gameplay, I really think that video games these days are actually just better than they ever have been. It's a young medium, but it's very rapidly evolving.

DodgeBlan

I certainly don't feel like this is a golden age now.

Bullio

Beginning of GBA to the current DS state (and beyond!) is my golden age. I was too young and ignorant to get much out the 16bit era (omg look at that X-Men game on Genesis! MOM I NEED A GENESIS WITH X-MEN FOR MY BIRTHDAY!). Now I've ventured far past playing games with only characters I know. The GBA was like the second coming of the SNES for me (literally and figuratively). And the DS...well, DS just kicks ass. It may have had a slow launch, but it's out with it's money printer going full-on drown mode now.

Thello

1998 was the best year for gaming. Hell, any age like the 90s is unimaginable to me in this decade. It was a different time.

Grim Fandango
Myth II
Thief
Starcraft
Unreal
Half-Life
Baldur's Gate
Rainbow Six
Sanitarium
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Fallout 2
Starsiege: Tribes
Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy Tactics

SilentCoconut

The N64 era was the best for me. I was young and naive, and I found almost every game I played infinitely entertaining. I was too poor to actually buy anything, so I'd go to the rental store and grab things off the shelf without any prior knowledge of them. This is the way I discovered gems like Spacestation Silicon Valley, Blast Corp, F-Zero X, Turok 2, Jet Force Gemini, Bomberman 64 and so many other games. All of my friends had N64's as well, so we'd rock out to Mario Party, Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, Super Smash Bros. and lesser known but still great games like Hydro Thunder, Rush 2049, and Iggy's Recking Balls. And of course, it had the classic single player games like Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, Ocarina of Time, Rogue Squadron and Harvest Moon 64.

I could never just go to a game store and pick up a game. Nowadays, I always read reviews and do research before committing my time to it. I'm sure I've missed some amazing games that I would have really enjoyed because I don't play games on impulse anymore. Ah well.

djFindus

I guess around 96 or 97.. the PSX with FF7, N64 and Zelda: OoT, and especially the PC with Half-Life, Starcraft, Fallout and the Black Isle rpg's, Lucas Arts adventure games like Full THrottle and The Dig, Grim Fandango.. So many genuinly awesome games and all the time in the world to enjoy them (I was 13). I agree that this was the golden age of gaming.

JohnnyFirebird

I know that I was deeply obsessed with games right around 1992-1993. Star Control 2, Dune II, and who can forget the awesomeness of the DAGGER OF AMON RA? Yes, you too can solve mysteries in the guise of a twenties flapper!

Not to forget Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Plus Space Quest IV was still fresh. And, you know, for the consoles, there was Sim City, Actraiser, Final Fantasy II, Super Mario World, Sonic, Shining Force...

gneGne

I don't know of such a thing as a golden age. If I would buy one awesome game, I would play just that game for over a golden age.

Tw4win

The thing that bothers me today is that we seem to rely too heavily on sequels. You know that every year there's going to be a new Madden game and every couple of years there will be a new Final Fantasy, GTA, Devil May Cry, etc... Also, games tend to fall into the same categories - sports, RTS, FPS, RPG, etc... Developers don't seem as interested in creating new IP or experimenting with new types of games (at least outside of Japan).

LewieP

1994 ignorant pigfuckers.


Nah, I love you all really, but it's clearly 1994.

Leitner

Tw4win wrote: »

The thing that bothers me today is that we seem to rely too heavily on sequels. You know that every year there's going to be a new Madden game and every couple of years there will be a new Final Fantasy, GTA, Devil May Cry, etc... Also, games tend to fall into the same categories - sports, RTS, FPS, RPG, etc... Developers don't seem as interested in creating new IP or experimenting with new types of games (at least outside of Japan).

I can think of lots of new IPs that come out. Just because people like sequels for perfectly valid reasons doesn't mean that's all we get. We may get more sequels then we used to but we probably get less near clone games. Also innovation isn't near dead and the west is just as innovative as Japan, you just don't see the million stereotypical JRPG.

Zephyr

LewieP wrote: »

1994 ignorant pigfuckers.


Nah, I love you all really, but it's clearly 1994.

i was only 1 year old

RainbowDespair

I'd say 2005 to the present is a golden age. Start out with a bang with Resident Evil 4, continue with other awesome games like Osu Tatakae Ouendan, Shadow of the Colossus, We Love Katamari, and then finish off with the glory of the 360/PS3/Wii generation. In innovation, we've seen 3D motion sensing controls, HD visuals in console games, and the widespread acceptance of digital distribution of games through systems like XBox Live Arcade, the Virtua Console, Steam, and Gametap. And say what you will, but I think this Christmas season looks like it's filled with more A+ titles than quite possibly any Christmas season in the past: the big 3 from Nintendo would be good enough, but then you throw on Halo 3, GTA4, Mass Effect, Bioshock, the Mistwalker RPGs, and so on and so on.

Algertman

Until EA goes goes out of business there will be no "golden" age of gaming

The closest we have had to it is the NES era.

dopplex

Tw4win wrote: »

The thing that bothers me today is that we seem to rely too heavily on sequels. You know that every year there's going to be a new Madden game and every couple of years there will be a new Final Fantasy, GTA, Devil May Cry, etc... Also, games tend to fall into the same categories - sports, RTS, FPS, RPG, etc... Developers don't seem as interested in creating new IP or experimenting with new types of games (at least outside of Japan).

There are reasons to both agree and disagree with this statement.

True, for AAA games, real innovation has stagnated significantly. It's all about the costs there - with $10-$20m development budgets for AAA titles, publishers don't want to take risks with extreme changes in gameplay mechanics or games that fall totally out of established genres. While this sucks for the gamers, it's hard to blame them - that's a LOT of money they're risking, and they are in it to make money after all. In line with this, of the major platforms you're going to see much more radical innovation on the Wii than the other systems, because the dev costs are lower.

On the other hand, the prevalence of downloadable content this generation has the potential to turn this on its head. Downloadable games are within budgetary reach of all sorts of indy developers, and provided the distribution system isn't overly closed off (WiiWare has been promised to be easy for indies to release on, and we can hope that PSN and XBLA will become easier for non-established developers to release on in the future) we could see a lot of innovation from that space.

This age has potential - largely due to the advent of downloadable content. We have to see where it goes, though, and see if the downloadable space really does result in some greatly innovative gameplay.

capable heart

deleted

The Count Of Midget Fisto

Thello wrote: »

1998 was the best year for gaming.

Grim Fandango
Myth II
Thief
Starcraft
Unreal
Half-Life
Baldur's Gate
Rainbow Six
Sanitarium
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Fallout 2
Starsiege: Tribes
Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy Tactics

Limed for truthiness

Edit: You want to talk about old, I remember seeing ROTJ when it was in theaters. The first time.

Serule

I used to think that the golden was era of the SNES. Now I feel that the GBA ushered in a new, better, more portable, golden age. Just look at the awesome games it had:

Advance Wars I + II
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon + Harmony of Dissonance + Aria of Sorrow
Final Fantasy I + II + IV + V +VI
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Fire Emblem
Mega Man: Zero series, Battle Network series
Metroid: Fusion + Zero Mission
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire + Fire Red/Leaf Green
Super Mario Brothers: 2 , 3, World + Yoshi's Island
Wario Ware!!! (+Twisted!)
Zelda: Link to the Past + The Minish Cap

I've never been so pleased with a console; I like my DS but I love my GBA Micro.

Tw4win

MonteCristo345 wrote: »

Thello wrote: »

1998 was the best year for gaming.

Grim Fandango
Myth II
Thief
Starcraft
Unreal
Half-Life
Baldur's Gate
Rainbow Six
Sanitarium
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Fallout 2
Starsiege: Tribes
Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy Tactics

Limed for truthiness

Edit: You want to talk about old, I remember seeing ROTJ when it was in theaters. The first time.

Same.

I turn 30 this Sunday.

Endomatic

Thello wrote: »

1998 was the best year for gaming. Hell, any age like the 90s is unimaginable to me in this decade. It was a different time.

Grim Fandango
Myth II
Thief
Starcraft
Unreal
Half-Life
Baldur's Gate
Rainbow Six
Sanitarium
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Fallout 2
Starsiege: Tribes
Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy Tactics

You put Dungeon Keeper 2 in there or go to hell!

Target Practice

The Golden Age was what came out when you were a kid. Everything before that was outdated crap, and everything since is newfangled tripe.

Janson

Target Practice wrote: »

The Golden Age was what came out when you were a kid. Everything before that was outdated crap, and everything since is newfangled tripe.

There's a lot of truth to this statement, but I also think that with the DS and the Wii and with general public acceptance and more publicity that there are more and more people getting into gaming as a late teen/adult/even senior aged person.

Nerdtendo

In general, it was probably about 1996-98. Right when online PC gaming really exploded.

I feel like it really depends on the genre we're talking about though. Obviously it would be around 92/93 for RPG's. The SNES RPG's are still the best to this day.

Tales of Symphonia came close though.

bhealey

.

Haikira

Am i the only one who thinks the "golden age" was mostly thanks to games having more character to them than say todays "shooter guy" kind of games.

Janson

Haikira wrote: »

Am i the only one who thinks the "golden age" was mostly thanks to games having more character to them than say todays "shooter guy" kind of games.

No, I think it's mostly to do with nostalgia and how younger people tend to feel more excited by almost anything.

Games today still have plenty of character, and they're still new and innovative and there's plenty of great games being released.

LewieP

Damn I need to play Alpha Centauri again

"Golden Age begun" =

Crossfire

Haikira wrote: »

Am i the only one who thinks the "golden age" was mostly thanks to games having more character to them than say todays "shooter guy" kind of games.

The Main guy in DOOM had more character than the guy in DOOM 3 because you could always see his face squirm as he got hit. He was pretty real.

goatgoat

i feel like the older games had more feeling put into the music and the graphics and the story. todays games use so many "canned" sound effects, music, locations, textures, imagery, story... thats its easier for one game to blur to the next, than stick out like they used to!

Tw4win

Janson wrote: »

Haikira wrote: »

Am i the only one who thinks the "golden age" was mostly thanks to games having more character to them than say todays "shooter guy" kind of games.

No, I think it's mostly to do with nostalgia and how younger people tend to feel more excited by almost anything.

Games today still have plenty of character, and they're still new and innovative and there's plenty of great games being released.

I think that as gaming as a hobby has become more mainstream there's more excitement over graphics & sound and less over gameplay. That's not to say that people don't get excited over gameplay these days, it's just that the average Joe who has a PS3 or 360 is going to be as interested, if not more interested in how a game looks vs. how it plays.

Of course, the Wii is challenging this notion...

Janson

Again, though, that's a bit of a misnomer. Your average gamer has always been most interested in graphics. If anything more people are willing these days to settle for old-style or retro graphics than before.

And the recent games I've played have had excellent, wonderful music...I'm considering buying a couple of albums. I guess it depends upon what genre you're playing and who the game is by.