What Defines an Era?

[Zombie_King]

Every era of gaming has one lone soldier, one rogue assasin, one yellow Pac-Man who dares to stand alone. One who dares to be unique. Unfortunately, this sensation doesn't last long. Master Chief was the lone Spartan. He was a shining star in a dull gaming world. But the game industry is based on copying. Soon everyone had their own Master Chief. But for a while, he was high on his horse. He was UNIQUE! Pac-Man was invincible! No one could or can dent what Pac-Man did. He made gaming what it is. He put the gaming media in mainstream. Every knew who Pac-Man was. He was undefeatable, and still is. He is, dare I say, one of the most recognizable, if not the most, of his or any era. And he still is! Sure, every knows who Marcus Fenix is, but even more people know who Pac-Man is. Adults who have no connections to the gaming scene whatsoever, still know what you're talking about when you say Pac-Man. So I ask, who defines our era of gaming? Is it the armor-clad Spartan, Master Chief? Is it the gun-toting locust annhialator, Marcus Fenix? Is it the Italian plumber, Mario? Post your opinions.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

And he still is! Sure, every knows who Marcus Fenix is, but even more people know who Pac-Man is.

More people than every one knows who Pac-Man is? Or is the missing word 'gamer'?

Anyway, the answer to your questions is 'Grand Theft Auto'.

 

[Zombie_King]

Exactly, everyone on the Earth, plus some Martians, knows who Pac-Man is. Don't contradict my infallible logic.

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

Thankfully gaming eras have always been defined by their hardware and not their mascots. As gamings base gets older "mascot branding" is much harder for companies to pull off. In the 90s Sega tried to sell systems by advertising their mascot as hip and more urban. That sort of advertising just doesn't work as well on adults.

If anything, today's heroes are much more subtle, often sacrificing their morals/girlfriends/voicebox for a greater cause. Intricate stories have made the sort of overly simplistic sports-type mascot obsolete. Someone, please send Nintendo a telegram to inform them.

I digress, I don't think there are really any characters from this era of "hd consoles" that will be remembered like the mascots of yore. Heck, I don't think people will even remember those 8 bit mascots in 15 or 20 years. Right now they have a free ride of the "memorabilia train" but once my generation is old (us early/late 30s crowd) they will be relegated to those stories old people tell you about. "I remember when we didn't have these fancy controllers, and everyone used a two button joystick, sonny."

 

[Drbog]

I don't even own a PS3 but I say Snake,probly going to be the best of '08 luckily I have a friend with a PS3 who might let me borrow his PS3 at some point.Oh and gorden freeman did'nt have a bad game either.

 

[unangbangkay]

I would say the problem is in your definition of the word 'era'.

Quite. "Eras" have been determined by several factors, almost none of them being fully related to a mascot, mainly because games are their own mascots.

First, hardware. Once a console generation ends, the era ends. And even for PCs, which continuously update their hardware, you can consider gaming by hardware capacities. Text-based games, the emergence of mouselook, 3D accelerators, internet-based gaming, digital distribution, the birth and death of the joystick as primary input, even individual technologies such as DirectX (vs. 3Dfx, OpenGL, et al) or video card series can define a given PC era.

Second, gameplay trends. As capacities expand, so do possibilities. With the third dimension and joysticks came starfighter sims, with mice and 3d came FPS games, with THX and the approach of photorealism came heavily scripted FPS titles like Half-Life and nearly every WWII FPS. Fantasy RPGs, jRPG ports, cooperative gaming, multiplayer-only, empire builders, starfighters, every trend can serve to define its own era.

 

[Kehan Wann]

halo series and the release of the most recent gen consoles

 

[Gemini3333]

Really i consider there to be five eras to gaming

The beginning: asteroids

The rise: pac-man

The online revolution revolution: I'll go with Wow(this "era" happened in the late 90s and gave way to the first online mmos but wether this is an era is still subject to personnel opinion)

The Hight of gaming: i can't say what defines this era but will go with the modern classic: Halo(the series)

The Future: in my mind: i think spore as it will likely revolutionize the RTS brand of gaming

 

[tobyornottoby]

I'd say Pong -> Pacman -> Mario -> Tomb Raider -> GTA -> WoW -> ?

(that's if I also think about mainstream recognition)

Next to that, I'd say icons are getting less powerful in these internet days. Take music for example. Now I wasn't around at their times, but somehow it seems people like Elvis, the Beatles and Jackson are way greater than anything now. Maybe the era of idols has ended?

O and who is that marcus guy?

 

[Moon-Goose]

What defines an era? Three words, Medal Of Honour, lmao.

 

[hamster mk 4]

I think era's are divided by technology.
Draw Primitives: Pong
Sprites: Pacman - Street Fighter
Polygons: StarFox - Xwing
Textured Polygons: Quake - Mario 64
Bump Mapped/ Pixel Shaded/ particle effects: Halo and everything else.

 

[BoilingLeadBath]

In due time, omitting the fall of civilization, only the obscure will continue to make these trivial distinctions... in an artistic and practical sense, asteroids plays like packman.
You can't beat either and neither has a plot.

Instead, from an advanced point, it will probably be "formative years" and "modern" gaming. In this view, the formative years give people the tools needed to build the games of the modern era.

Hard to say, but right now I'd consider the end of the formative years to be somewhere around 1992-1994.
Though, as I admit in my bio, my view is a bit myopic.

Maybe I am wrong. Has there been a major development in [story telling] capabilities since System Shock 1?

(I put an emphasis on Story Telling... because a game without a story is an arcade game, and arcade games never really change, they just get prettier and change their mechanics slightly.)

 

[ChristianxKrupps]

i must say that there is a lot of similarities by every two years of gaming. first it was halo and stuff in 01-03. then there was the prince or persia copies. then it was halo and tom clancy games. now there is more variety.

ps1's mascot was bandicoot
ps2 didnt quite have one
x-box has never had a definate mascot but master chief would be a nominee
and nintendo is of course mario

so there is no one way to decide

 

[FURY_007]

aeh ps2 i guess could claim GTA III, which really made what GTA basically is today

but i digress, i think that no one factor can be used to determine what will be the pacman of our gaming generation

i mean, opinions aside, i think the halo series will defintely be something that will stand out

GTA III for inventing the sandbox style of gameplay

unfortunetly the younger generations are forgetting where FPS's got their roots form, like quake and doom, so those got bumped down.

I think Starcraft will be a staple becasue of its groundbreaking storytelling and gameplay, plus all those crazy koreans

 

[ChristianxKrupps]

like quake and doom,

DUKE NUKEM! *once again* FTW!

I think Starcraft will be a staple becasue of its groundbreaking storytelling and gameplay, plus all those crazy koreans

amen. (starcraft ftw)

 

[tobyornottoby]

Marcus Fenix?

Seriously, never heard of him.

Do you own a Wii or a PS3?
I thought he was a pretty well known character, but perhaps you are a retro gamer(?).

aww why didn't you tell who he was now I had to go to wikipedia to search him up >.>

he fails. of course I know the game, of course I know their posture/build/outline. But their faces or names or... personalities. Not a strong icon ^^;

 

[laikenf]

Master Chief defining an era? Hardly; that era was defined by the sandbox genre thanks to a game called GTA 3, some people (me included) didn't even know who the hell Master Chief was until the other day.

 

[Gemini3333]

well honestly this era in gaming doesn't really have a mascot or era defining game/charecter

 

[Heroic One]

Who the hell is "Marcus Fenix"?

 

[Dcarty745]

Marcus Fenix?

Seriously, never heard of him.

Marcus Fenix is the main character in Gears of War...