Best year for gaming?

[Anticitizen_Two]

Title says it all: what do you think was the best year for the gaming industry as a whole?

My choice is 1998: Ocarina of Time, Half-Life, Baldur's Gate, Starcraft, Metal Gear Solid, Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, Banjo-Kazooie, Fallout 2, Grim Fandango, Xenogears, Thief, Tribes, and the first Spyro game, among many other great releases.

 

[pyrosaw]

the orange box was released in 2007 right?Thats my year.COD4 also came out.

 

[WrongSprite]

2002, for reasons which should be clear to anyone who knows my fanboyism.

All of them, up until the last day before the first "new gen" console was launched.

After that, gaming suddenly became cool, and every idiot could suddenly afford it and call himself a gamer and do it without any sort of technical skill or gaming experience.

That's a very irritating post you have there. Personally I don't care if other people play games, as long as I can.

 

[Sassafrass]

Whatever year gave me the awesomeness that is Banjo Kazooie.
And pretty much every year after that, too.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

All of them, up until the last day before the first "new gen" console was launched.

After that, gaming suddenly became cool, and every idiot could suddenly afford it and call himself a gamer and do it without any sort of technical skill or gaming experience.

I'm just going to start calling out Gamer Elitists when I see them.

I dunno, the first 7th gen console is listed as the NDS. It's one of the better handhelds out available. Of course, the DSi comes off more as a joke to me.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Toss up between the formentioned 1998 - a few of my all time favorite games there - and 2008 where Assassins Creed and Mass Effect finally made their way to the PC and of course we saw the launches of games including: Dead Space, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Far Cry 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, Mirrors Edge, Grand Theft Auto IV, Saints Row 2, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Unreal Tournament 3, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

That may sound like just a list of games released in 2008, but go over that list and pick a game that wasn't technically good, sure Nuts and Bolts raped my childhood, but if they'd made that a full new IP it would have been great.
I have to say 2008 looks like it probably was the best year...

 

[Gindil]

1998

Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Earthbound

Earthbound

Yeah. That was a great 2 months of playing.

 

[DueAccident]

1999 isn't bad, with; Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Quake III Arena, Planetscape Torment, System Shock 2(!!) and Silent Hill, but 1998 really was a good year with all those games.

But I think I am going to have to say... 2000, as 2000 had ; Sacrifice (a great, underrated game), No One Lives For Ever, Escape From Monkey Island, Deus Ex (!!!!!!!!), American Mcgee's Alice (another under rated game), Red Alert 2, Jet Set Radio, Diable II, and Thief 2. A ridiculously good year.

EDIT - Also, Shogun: Total War, which while not my thing, I know is a popular game, as is Tony Hawks 2, in the same year.

 

[Wayneguard]

1998 for sure. Stealth was virtually invented in 1998 (Thief, MGS, Tenchu). The unreal series began. So many great games. I think resident evil 2 came out in 1998 as well. What a year...

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

1998 was indeed a great year. But...

1994? The PlayStation One brought huge success to gaming in my eyes. It was accessable, Almost all my friends had one so there was always a converstaion: be it their "high score on tekken" or "how do I beat Boss x in FF7?" and it had most of the best games on it of the time including some of my alltime favorites like Metal Gear Solid and Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey.

1999 was also very good, it is basicly what I see as the start of "modern" gaming.

 

[PayNSprayBandit]

All of them, up until the last day before the first "new gen" console was launched.

After that, gaming suddenly became cool, and every idiot could suddenly afford it and call himself a gamer and do it without any sort of technical skill or gaming experience.

I'm just going to start calling out Gamer Bigots when I see them.

I dunno, the first 7th gen console is listed as the NDS. It's one of the better handhelds out available. Of course, the DSi comes off more as a joke to me.

Woah, he's a gamer elitist, not bigot. It's an important distinction. And the pool of other people who play games colors the online community.

On Topic: 1998 was awesome, but I have to go with 1999 for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask​, Super Smash Bros., Star Wars: Episode I Racer, Jet Force Gemini, and Donkey Kong 64, among others. Ah, the glory days of Rare.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Woah, he's a gamer elitist, not bigot. It's an important distinction. And the pool of other people who play games colors the online community.

Hmm. A bigot is defined as someone intolerant of others for whatever reason. Given the often sneering and derisive remarks made against the media labeled groups, I always thought it fit the description.

But it's one thing I don't really understand. Why would you claim to be better than someone for possessing a nonessential skill? Is their ego that frail that we need to recognize them for some frivolous account? Or perhaps it's buried in the Entitlement Belief that destroyed the basic raising of the Millennial generation.

This blog post is pretty insightful on the situation.

 

[TPiddy]

I'm going with 2008... it kept me playing games well into 2009.... here's a sample:

Wii: Mario Kart Wii, No More Heroes, Boom Blox, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Okami....

PS3: Metal Gear Solid 4, Valkyria Chronicles, White Knight Chronicles, Haze, Ratchet & Clank Future, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2

360: Gears of War 2, Tales of Vesperia, Fable II, Ninja Gaiden II, Left 4 Dead

Multi: Grand Theft Auto IV, Saints Row 2, Fallout 3, Rock Band 2, Burnout Paradise, Devil May Cry 4, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Soul Caliber IV, Dead Space, Call of Duty: WaW

Not to mention major PC releases like Sins of a Solar Empire, Wrath of the Lich King, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky and many more.

I didn't play a 2009 release game until Halo 3:ODST and that was in October! This year just might beat it though. So many good titles coming.

 

[PayNSprayBandit]

Woah, he's a gamer elitist, not bigot. It's an important distinction. And the pool of other people who play games colors the online community.

Hmm. A bigot is defined as someone intolerant of others for whatever reason. Given the often sneering and derisive remarks made against the media labeled groups, I always thought it fit the description.

But it's one thing I don't really understand. Why would you claim to be better than someone for possessing a nonessential skill? Is their ego that frail that we need to recognize them for some frivolous account? Or perhaps it's buried in the Entitlement Belief that destroyed the basic raising of the Millennial generation.

Well, let me say this. Personally, my problem is with griefers and other juvenile activities that drag down my experience online. However, I can also see the argument that with so much of the audience being inexperienced, developers are now dumbing down games.

As for tolerance, I think the difference lies in whether one is affected by the other person. And whether that other person could do anything about it. Hating people for who they are versus being annoyed by their behavior.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Well, let me say this. Personally, my problem is with griefers and other juvenile activities that drag down my experience online. However, I can also see the argument that with so much of the audience being inexperienced, developers are now dumbing down games.

Eh, newcomers to the games aren't typically doing it on purpose. Besides, I feel that being a true greifer requires a little more than just bad play. Properly, you need an understanding of the games mechanics, plus where and how to exploit them.

Of course, the art of Trolling isn't something a lot of people properly grasp, itself being a socially rooted game. Sure it's one thing to just annoy people, but another altogether to induce rage.

 

[gjendemsjo]

For me it's 2007.

Mass effect
Bioshock
Call of Duty 4
Super mario galaxy
The orange box
Assasins creed
God of war 2
Metroid prime 3
Rockband
Halo 3(decent enough)

Awesomeness.

 

[Ckeesy]

Toss up between the formentioned 1998 - a few of my all time favorite games there - and 2008 where Assassins Creed and Mass Effect finally made their way to the PC and of course we saw the launches of games including: Dead Space, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Far Cry 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, Mirrors Edge, Grand Theft Auto IV, Saints Row 2, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Unreal Tournament 3, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

That may sound like just a list of games released in 2008, but go over that list and pick a game that wasn't technically good, sure Nuts and Bolts raped my childhood, but if they'd made that a full new IP it would have been great.
I have to say 2008 looks like it probably was the best year...

My thought exactly. 2008 was the only year I can think of that had so many big name titles, most of which were high quality in almost every sense of the word.

 

[Chunko]

I think the last 12 months have been the best time for gaming, right now it sucks though.

 

[TPiddy]

I think the last 12 months have been the best time for gaming, right now it sucks though.

It kind of sucks every summer.... why release games when the majority of your audience is should be outside in the sunshine?

 

[Grey_Focks]

For me it's 2007.

Mass effect
Bioshock
Call of Duty 4
Super mario galaxy
The orange box
Assasins creed
God of war 2
Metroid prime 3
Rockband
Halo 3(decent enough)

Awesomeness.

Agreed. 2007 was just awesome. Though I must say, based on what has come out so far, and what is coming out later, THIS year has been pretty damned good, too.

Mass Effect 2
Bioshock 2
Red Dead Redemption
Alpha Protocol (screw you, I liked it)
Starcraft 2
Portal 2
Halo: Reach
Final Fantasy 13 (not my thing, but others seem to like it)
Bayonetta
MAG
God of War 3
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Dead Rising 2
Crackdown 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Lost Planet 2
Super Street Fighter 4
Alan Wake
Heavy Rain
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Just Cause 2
Fable 3
Blur
Split Second
Mario Galaxy 2

There. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Now I know some of those games haven't come out yet, and could end up sucking, but Jesus Tap-dancing christ, look at that list

Can anyone REALLY say there is nothing on that list that they aren't looking forward/ haven't already bought and enjoyed?
Didn't think so.