Is this the best generation of gaming?

Fourth generation

For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.KG86

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try to be something they just aren´t.No frame-rate issues,camera problems or ugly textures...man,I miss the old times...

Hah. As far as genuine thrills are concerned, no, I still prefer the 8bit home computer days. Every new gen is more impressive and more mature than the last, though.

[QUOTE="KG86"]For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.Ash2X

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try to be something they just aren´t.No frame-rate issues,camera problems or ugly textures...man,I miss the old times...

Well, you can keep your rose tinted specs on if you like, but I distinctly remember widespread arguments about which console had the better gfx. SNES was doing cool stuff like Mode 7, while Genesis didn't suffer from slowdown. The mentality was the same, it's just the arguments that have changed.

[QUOTE="KG86"]For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.Ash2X

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try to be something they just aren´t.No frame-rate issues,camera problems or ugly textures...man,I miss the old times...

I have to agree snes days where the best in my opinion. I had more fun with snes games than I have with any system I have had. I actually went back and started playing secret of mana, f zero, and sim city on the snes. To me graphics don't mean anything to me game play matters more. If developers went back to that style I would be more happy.

[QUOTE="KG86"]For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.Ash2X

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try to be something they just aren´t.No frame-rate issues,camera problems or ugly textures...man,I miss the old times...

Have we forgotten about shoddy collision detection, flickering when there were too many sprites on a horizontal line, and image burn in?? While I agree that the SNES/Genesis era was I great one, there have been +/- 's with each. I've looked back and have played many a classic game saying to myself, "Man this was the best time for gamers ever!", only to play something current gen and say "Man this IS the best time for gamers ever!" It's something that's totally subjective and relative to your own personal tastes.

For me the best generation of gaming has been the one that has provided me with the best in gameplay and to a lesser extent, the best in graphics that were possible at the time. And in that context, for me All generations of gaming have been the best ever.

[QUOTE="KG86"]For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.Ash2X

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try to be something they just aren´t.No frame-rate issues,camera problems or ugly textures...man,I miss the old times...

Just goes to show how shallow and superficial everyone is today...

As someone who started core gaming not to long ago and playing these old games for the first time ever I'd say the 32/64 bit era. If you want me to get technical about it I'd say 1994 - 2000. Why?

Think about it, think about all the "legends" in gaming. Nearly all of them came out during that time period. Fallout Series, Planescape Torment, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Super Metroid, Skies of Arcadia, TLoZ: Ocarina of Time, Banjo Kazooie, King of Fighters '98, Grim Fandango, DOOM series, Valkyrie Profile, Chrono Trigger, Star Ocean, StarCraft, Half-Life, Deus Ex, Radiant Silvergun, Donkey Kong Country series, CounterStrike, Metal Slug series (X was the best IMO), Yoshi's Island, etc.

Not to mention many sleepers that have gotten overlooked: Snatcher, Sin & Punishment, WeaponLord, and others.

There was also a strong reason for this quality spike too.

However this is just my opinion. There have been people who have been gaming for years and say that the quality has never been higher, then again there are those who are similar and say the exact opposite that I've talked to. It's all about opinion.

Personally I'm not feeling this generation at all (there is so much wasted potential so far), then again anything is better then the sheer crapfest that was last generation (IMO it was).

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try tobe something they just aren´t.

Ash2X

Odd. From looking through old ads all they use to talk about were graphics and power. Hell I remember many carts saying "256 colors on screen!" or "24 megs of memory!" or something similar. Not to mention the SEGA CD and the SEGA 32X and what not.

For me the best generation of gaming has been the one that has provided me with the best in gameplay and to a lesser extent, the best in graphics that were possible at the time. And in that context, for me All generations of gaming have been the best ever.

buckybuckster

I completely agree. Every generation has it's plus's and minus's. Even the time period I talked about had some negatives to it.

This is the way I see it.

16-Bit

+ = Games highly replayable and easy to get into

- = Piss Poor Translations, Few "epic" games, Expensive, Games were short, Lack of "real" 3D

32/64-Bit

+ = Contained the most innovative games, the most variety, contained the arguably "best" games, Games were the longest

- = 3D games were in their infancy and contained major issues, Online gaming in it's infancy

Last Generation

+ = Made Open-World gaming an unsaid standard, Modernized 3D Games

- = Death of the arcades, 2D practically non-existant, Many Genres started to disappear, Other 2 consoles were practically useless compared to the premier platform which was inferior to the other 2.

This Generation

+ = Portable gaming at it's prime, Indie Development taking big steps, Gaming is the most evolved overall, Introduction of "Innovative Gaming"

- = Hardly any variety when it comes to AAA and AA production games, much wasted potential, Quality Third Party Japanese Games are nearly non-existant, Consoles are expensive and complicated

*Of course it is way to early to judge since this generation is at the tip of its iceberg*

Anyway this is how I see things.

early ps2 was the best.. around 2002-2k3
mgs2.. ico.. gta3

For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.KG86

Agreed.

ryte NOWcoolkid5554444

I guess it is, but I don't have a PS3/360/wii so I can't really judge. WoW took a big place in my life more than a year ago so I would say playing wow was the beginning of a new era for me.

All generations had good games so it's pretty hard to compare, but most companies really improve their games. On the other hand, the number of "instant classics" is decreasing (to me, since I don't like new stuff like spore, Wii, guitar hero etc...), but nevertheless, the future looks great.

[QUOTE="KG86"]For me the SNES days were the best, but the others are great also.Ash2X

Yeah...back then nobody cared THAT much about graphics,it was all about gameplay and you could have much fun with many games that didn´t try to be something they just aren´t.No frame-rate issues,camera problems or ugly textures...man,I miss the old times...

I agree thats what it was all about the fun and not the competition plus Super mario kart and super mario all-stars and skyblazer rocked not to mention the sonic classics, streets of rage, ecco the dolphin. Geez i could go on for ages.

I think 2009 will blow everyones mind in gaming though.

Well I whouldn´t say the SNES days were flawless,but I think it was pretty basic and gameplay oriented.The Graphics weren´t by far not that important,like they are today.We just didn´t care that much.Now it´s all about anti-aliasing and Framerate issues...yeah there had been slowdowns too,but it´s wasn´t like it totally destroyed everything.I think if the SNES had Online Play...

Well I whouldn´t say the SNES days were flawless,but I think it was pretty basic and gameplay oriented.The Graphics weren´t by far not that important,like they are today.We just didn´t care that much.Now it´s all about anti-aliasing and Framerate issues...yeah there had been slowdowns too,but it´s wasn´t like it totally destroyed everything.I think if the SNES had Online Play...

Ash2X

Snes online play with Super Mario Kart and Starwing hehe.

Tough one. Every new generation is an evolution. I've seen plenty of 'leaps' in my time! I remember thinking, "Wow!" the first time I played on a Commodore 64 after playing on an Atari 2600! Then came another, "Wow!" ith my first look at a master system. Then came the first Megadrive I bought, with the first Sonic the hedgehog. 1991, I think it was. I remember thinking, How will it ever get any better?" The speed of the game just amazed me! A few months later at Christmas, my cousin got a SNES with Street Fighter II.

The Megadrive went straight in as a part exchange, complete with the menacer light gun that my Mum had just bought me! She wasn't impressed! :)

I've had ever 'Generation' since, but nothing has beaten that 'Oh my god! I HAVE to get this NOW!' feeling that I got, the first time I seen Streetfighter II on that SNES of my cousins. And don't get me started on the first time I ever sat down to play A Link to the past....... :)

Tough one. Every new generation is an evolution. I've seen plenty of 'leaps' in my time! I remember thinking, "Wow!" the first time I played on a Commodore 64 after playing on an Atari 2600! Then came another, "Wow!" ith my first look at a master system. Then came the first Megadrive I bought, with the first Sonic the hedgehog. 1991, I think it was. I remember thinking, How will it ever get any better?" The speed of the game just amazed me! A few months later at Christmas, my cousin got a SNES with Street Fighter II.

The Megadrive went straight in as a part exchange, complete with the menacer light gun that my Mum had just bought me! She wasn't impressed! :)

I've had ever 'Generation' since, but nothing has beaten that 'Oh my god! I HAVE to get this NOW!' feeling that I got, the firsttime I seen Streetfighter II on that SNES of my cousins. And don't get me started on the first time I ever sat down to play A Link to the past....... :)

malintenby

[QUOTE="malintenby"]

Tough one. Every new generation is an evolution. I've seen plenty of 'leaps' in my time! I remember thinking, "Wow!" the first time I played on a Commodore 64 after playing on an Atari 2600! Then came another, "Wow!" ith my first look at a master system. Then came the first Megadrive I bought, with the first Sonic the hedgehog. 1991, I think it was. I remember thinking, How will it ever get any better?" The speed of the game just amazed me! A few months later at Christmas, my cousin got a SNES with Street Fighter II.

The Megadrive went straight in as a part exchange, complete with the menacer light gun that my Mum had just bought me! She wasn't impressed! :)

I've had ever 'Generation' since, but nothing has beaten that 'Oh my god! I HAVE to get this NOW!' feeling that I got, the firsttime I seen Streetfighter II on that SNES of my cousins. And don't get me started on the first time I ever sat down to play A Link to the past....... :)

Kage1

So what you guys are saying is that the 16-Bit generation was better for its time then now or better now then now.

Meaning that Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic II, Street Fighter II, and Castlevania IV was more fun when you were a kid then Bioshock, Gears of War, Uncharted, Call of Duty 4, and Mass Effect.

or are you referring to if I had in one hand 16-bit games and in the other hand current generation games that you'd pick the SNES games (or 16-Bit games)?

Or both?

No.

I beter explain that. It is jet to come, first i am wating for GtA4 and FF13 just to see where the PS3 are headed. Then there is the problem with the untaped potncial of games in general. Take a great game ex. Oblivion and look at some of the mod sites, to see what the players them selfs has shosen to add, remove or change. Ok it might still be Oblivion, the story that is. The game feeling and apprence makes it a difrent game. And the same goes for any game. Take your favorite game ever and think for a bit, you will find some thing you whoud like add, remove and/or change.

And the problems in the gaming industy that are here now will be adrest eventualy, or we don't by games and they don't get payed.

The graphics are certantly heading in the right direction this generation

The Dreamcast generation.

I know, I know...a single console can't have its own generation, but it really did fall right in between the 32/64-bit and last generation. The games just amazed me on so many levels and I've never seen such a crazy variety of quality games pushed out in such a short period of time. And yes, if you could wipe my memory of those games (as in all the secrets and stories), I would certainly prefer to play all of those games again rather than current games.

If I was forced to choose a real generation, it would be the 32-bit generation. I only owned a N64, but have played a lot of Saturn games (and a few PSX games) since. There was just a lot of experimentation at that time and it really shines. Yeah, graphically, most of the games are ugly as sin now, but it was the only time an entire generation of systems made me think about what games could become. Last generation was pretty good, but not quite as good.

This generation, I think, will be viewed as one of the worst. Looking at the PS3/360, it's going to be a result of having such on multiplayer. Reviewers have stupidly made developers think that, "12 hours of campaign= 12 hours of gameplay....which is a bit expensive for gamers. But multiplayer= unlimited hours of gameplay, which is of better value!" So we're sitting on tons of games that have gimped their single-player campaigns in order to focus on multiplayer. The problem is, unless it's an extremely hot game (and there can only be a few), the multiplayer never takes off and is forgotten a few months later. So you're stuck with a short and lousy single-player campaign...and sometimes none at all.

For the Wii, it's more difficult to say. It's either unrealized potential or gamers (and perhaps even Nintendo) used their imaginations a bit too much in thinking about what the controller could do. Whatever it is, most Wii games just feel different and not innovative/revolutionary. I keep waiting for a game that's going to break the mold completely and they've all fallen flat with the exception of Wii Sports (Bowling and Golf, to be specific).

To be honest, the only game that I'm really excited for that's been announced this generation is LittleBigPlanet. Whatever Team Ico makes is going to be classic, but I'm still waiting just for the announcement!

^^^I share similar views to yours. Maybe I should put my views on the current generation. Then again the last thing I want to do is hi-jack this thread. :PGunraidan

It's not hijacking- just further explaining why you chose what you did. I'd actually like to hear it from you and other users.

And to be honest, I almost just quoted your post and just wrote that I agreed with maybe a bit more. :P

It's not hijacking- just further explaining why you chose what you did. I'd actually like to hear it from you and other users.

And to be honest, I almost just quoted your post and just wrote that I agreed with maybe a bit more. :P

Vampyronight

Well to start off I'm just going to say that everything here is just my opinion, so that I won't get someone going like "WTF!? aoiewjrfwe8rjwr89ep!".

To start off I'll just do the negatives of what I think of this generation. Most of my frustration goes to the current generation consoles. Now I really really support the Wii and it's philosophy but as it stands right this second no. The Wii was suppose to provide us with a complete unique experience as well as bring games back to the old mindset of just pick up and play from the 16-bit era. As of right now this needs no explanation we know how serious third parties are taking the Wii, we know it's line-up. Yes this is almost guaranteed to change in the future but right now as it stands it's potential is wasted.

I have a far bigger problem with the other consoles (PS3/360) though. Now don't get me wrong I have no problem with better online, shooters, and HD on systems, but to focus on those things as a primary? LOL what? I'm sorry but that doesn't make any sense. Why would I want developers to focus mostly on those things and concentrate on them when PC Gaming just flatout embarrasses it? Not only do I not get mods and other open source features, but I can't switch services, get a worse community, worse servers, less customazation. And most of all I have to pay for them? Paying for online? WTF? I mean I am aware that the PSN gives you the opition to pay for a more optioned feature but still it's miles away from PC online which is 100% free.

The next thing are the games. It seems like every game that becomes AAA hyped falls into this category: Realistic, Violent, Involves Guns. It isn't the fact that there are tons of shooters on these consoles that's the problem with me, it's the fact that there are tons of shooters on these consoles and hardly any of them I find to be great or even anything special. I don't think it's necessary for me to explain Halo 3 as I've posted many times why I dislike the series and think why it's very over-rated, Bioshock to me was nothing but a shallow shadow of an once amazine sub-genre, Lost Planet was just flatout average and probably only got attention because it was a "Japanese" game and shooter on the Xbox 360. And Gears of War really wasn't anything special. I could name more games I've played but basically there aren't any console premire shooters that have caught my eye. This is pretty strange, when the RPG's were in a takeover there were plenty of gems to be found, when the fighting games took over it was the same. Possibly it's because like I said before they are on the consoles which again have worse controls, online, and userbase. Pretty much explains why most of the shooters on the consoles (IMO) are nothing but lesser forms of PC shooters avaliable years ago.

Being the last paragraph to explains the (IMO) cons of this generation I'll just give a rundown. The first is variety. Not only was there more variety to be found th previous two generations but there was more variety found in the genres so to speak. If a developer is making a JRPG it's going to be in 3rd Person and going to be in 3D. If a developer is making a shooter on the consoles it's going to almost always be in first person and going to be a corridor shooter. This wasn't really the case previous generations. In the late 90's and early 2000's developers made their games many different ways. JRPG's could be overhead 2D, 3rd Person 3D, First Person, and Side-Scrolling perspectives. Not to mention there was much more experimentation going on in the genre (Vagrant Story, Valkyrie Profile, Persona 2, Paper Mario, and Skies of Arcadia were all release within one year of each other). I'm not going by what I remember by this but by what's on paper. Looking at development history of many premiere developers during that era they worked on many different franchises, play stylles, and even genres. Now it's rare to see a developer even step out of their main game series let alone a new IP in a different genre. Not to mention the fact that core gaming back then was focused in Japan on consoles and we didn't get all of their games, today if a game comes out in a console it's almost guaranteed to come to North America and the fact that it's still lacking in this area just has me in awe. I could go on about the fact that support of smaller developers (smaller not indie) on these systems aren't there as well as third party Japanese developers practically being non-existant but I want to keep this post as short as possible.

Now on to the Pros. To start off I am pretty damned satisfied with how the other platforms are going. Handheld gaming is going through a Golden Age (IMO). Never has so much quality or high production valued games been produced in portable gaming. The DS really does provide what it's suppose to and then some, the PSP has games that can compete with it's PS2 counterpart (since many of them are ports of it). There's also the rising indie development scene, I'm really interested to see how far they will come in years. Possibly make true homage to the PSX JRPG's and PC Adventure Games? We'll see. On that note I am also very fond with the rebirth of the Fighting Game genre and the Adventure genre taking place this year. :)

But yeah that pretty much sums it up.

5th my fav, ps1,n64, and the rise of online pc gaming.

The 16-bit gen is still my favorite.

This generation seems the least innovative and inspired in my opinion. The Wii is pretty close to something new, but they're just rehashing the same stuff over and over again.