Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 1:53:37 GMT -5
I'd have to go with the NES era. It just seemed like a time when all things were possibly, both at home and in arcades. You can play an emulated version of Paperboy all day, but it will never compare to the visceral sensation of actually holding those handlebars on a physical arcade machine.
Likewise, there was a sense of innocence about games like Mario 2 and the original Castlevania that just seems to be missing in everything that came afterwards. Creators were literally just throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what stuck, without all of focus groups and marketing interference that's so entrenched in every project now.
Also, seeing Hitler's freaking brain call you a "damn fool" in Bionic Commando? Not much could compare to that. It was akin to having a titty in a Zelda game.
|
|
|
Post by The Great Klaid on Aug 24, 2015 2:13:04 GMT -5
I have a hard time picking between Mid SNES or late PS1. So I'mma cut the difference and call end of PS2 era. All are great eras for JRPGs. But I think like 2006 just had hit after hit after hit.
|
|
|
Post by steven on Aug 24, 2015 2:54:36 GMT -5
Can I just cheat a little and say 87-95? That's really two gens, but damn was that 8 year window awesome. You had:
1. NES 2. Genesis 3. SNES 4. Arcades 5. Fighting game golden era 6. Doom and hundreds of Doom clones 7. Even a taste of very early 32-bit
It was just the best 8 year span of the industry I feel, and, quite frankly, of my life even. I was 4-12 in those years, and it was like I "grew up with gaming itself." Hard to top that era IMHO.
|
|
|
Post by GamerL on Aug 24, 2015 3:41:11 GMT -5
I can go broader though and say my favorite era is a period of twenty years, from 1986 to 2006, every generation from that 20 year period I feel is awesome, from the NES to the SNES to the PS1 to the PS2 and everything else (Genesis, Dreamcast, Gamecube etc)
Anything older then NES is just a bit too archaic for me and video games since the 7th gen, while there's plenty I love, I feel are a bit of mixed bag (and I think any gamer born before the year 2000 or so would probably agree)
Or I could shorten it to a decade from 1996 to 2006, since while I love NES and SNES games and the like they were before my time and the PS1 and PS2 was more my generation's time.
|
|
|
Post by TheChosen on Aug 24, 2015 6:14:49 GMT -5
Somewhere around the Clinton Years is probably my favorite era. Its the time when we all had Nintendo 64's. Overall though my tastes for games are all over the Place.
|
|
|
Post by Pixel_Crusher on Aug 31, 2015 6:15:12 GMT -5
6th Gen (DC, PS2, GBA, GC, XBOX) for me. By all accounts, this generation marked the end of the "Old-School Era" of gaming and it was also the one where I feel that games had really reached their peak in terms of creativity, design and quality. jRPGs had tapped their best potential at the risk of starting to become a bit bloated by the end of that era.
The beginning of the the 7th Gen (DS, PSP, 360, Wii, PS3) (and consequently, the birth of the "Modern Era") began to show a lot of promise as it was essentially the last gen but with prettier graphics and bigger scope. Yet, as time passed, it became progressively worse as we all have come to know (FPS craze, AAA industry, DLC practices, bloated and uninspired jRPGs, the slow death of j-Devs, too long of a lifespan [10 years and counting]).
|
|
|
Post by surnshurn on Aug 31, 2015 6:35:10 GMT -5
I'd say from about 1988 to 1995: The end of the 8-bit era to the end of the 16-bit era. There was a lot of new things being tried with companies that were shifting away from a coin-operated design strategy. Focus groups weren't really in vogue, yet, and big financial interests hadn't really caught on with video games just yet.
The 8-bit era had more akward titles, direct arcade ports and gameplay designs that never caught on (usually for good reason). The 16-bit era is when companies started to embrace the design sensibilities of the console market, and the hardware reached a point where really impressive 2-d graphics started to become common. A lot of my favorite games are from this era, the big Nintendo franchises, and the JRPG's of the early to mid nineties. Magazines were the big advertising media; the internet wasn't a thing, so there was a lot of mystique in the market during that time.
|
|
|
Post by Colonel Kurtz on Aug 31, 2015 7:16:31 GMT -5
Honestly? All of them. I loved all of them except the Atari 2600 era. Each and every new generation brought new games, innovations, new experiences. I love all of that.
|
|
|
Post by spanky on Sept 1, 2015 15:19:44 GMT -5
Throw in another one for the 16-bit era...specifically around 1994.
|
|
|
Post by mrnash on Sept 1, 2015 16:44:54 GMT -5
For consoles: Late 80s to mid 90s - Loved the Genesis and SNES as well as the golden age of Capcom, Sega, Namco, and Konami arcade games. 2000 - 2010 - Mostly for the PS2 and DS. Those were great platforms for JRPG fans.
For PC: DOS games - Loved Wizardry, Might and Magic, Lands of Lore, Master of Orion, X-Wing, Wing Commander...really I could be here for ages listing all the games from this period / platform that I love. There's something about DOS game that oozes charm for me.
|
|
|
Post by Resident Tsundere on Sept 4, 2015 3:41:14 GMT -5
I think my favorite eras would have to be the fourth and fifth gens. Things back in the early to mid '90s were so cray-cray with so many consoles trying to compete. Then came the rowdy Playstation. In the fourth gen, I discovered JRPGs - Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, and even Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. I think that was the first FF that I ever played. But anyway, JRPGs are a large part of what kept me in gaming. The sixth gen also deserves a special mention, at the very least because it gives me an excuse to mention Silent Hill 2 again. XD
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2015 4:18:15 GMT -5
Super Mario World. Zelda: Link to the Past. Chrono Trigger. Legend of the Mystical Ninja. Pocky and Rocky. Contra III: The Alien Wars. Super Metroid. Star Fox. Sparkster. Robotrek. Secret of Mana. Kirby Super Star. Kirby's Dream Land 3.
SNES
4
LYFE.
|
|
|
Post by HeavyMetalGamer on Sept 4, 2015 16:30:03 GMT -5
To me I think all of them have some good, but my favorites are probably the 8 and 16 bit era. So many great games from shoot em ups, side scrolling platformers, beat em ups, shooters, etc.
|
|
|
Post by Pwnix on Sept 5, 2015 22:01:28 GMT -5
I've never really thought about it before because all of the generations have their good points and bad points. I'd echo some of the others in this thread and basically say from the NES era up until the end of the PS2 era was my favorite stretch of gaming history. Which feels silly to say because that's the majority of video gaming history. But there are a number of things I like about this period. It was before the advent of ubiquitous internet connectivity. Which makes it the height of physicality. You bought a game, it was an immutable physical object, it carried the memory of your adventure in said game. No patches, no updates, it was what it was. Most importantly it had a physical presence on your shelf and you could resell it if you wanted to. That physicality just really appeals to me. As a collector I just want to caress my games like a total creep, feel them in my hands and whatnot. Perhaps even more important to that this was the period where the Japanese had the most influence and output in the game industry. One of the few things I'm more passionate about than games is Japan in general. So of course the era where most games had a kernel of Japaneseness that shines through would appeal to me most. As opposed to now when most of the Japanese giants have either folded or moved on to mobile and or pachinko type games. Hudson got bought up and nobody is doing anything with their IPs. Konami is making pachinko machines and stuff. Irem's around but not doing much. Etc, etc. Now a huge portion of games are coming from American and European developers. Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with. I just personally would prefer games with that Japanese flair. There's also more and more trend towards a Gaming Hollywood merger where games are looking more and more like movies and at least for me becoming less compelling as a result. That said there's still a number of good games coming out and the indie game scene is exploding and there's tons of fascinating stuff coming out of that. TL;DR I like most eras of gaming in one way or another but ultimately the stretch from NES to PS2 is my favorite. Possibly with a particular highlight for me in the PS1, Saturn, N64 era. Lots of my favorite games came out in this period including some of the best games by Givro which may very well be my favorite game company.
|
|
|
Post by Arale on Sept 6, 2015 0:36:09 GMT -5
1995 - 2005 is my favorite period for media in general, especially in Japan, as its basically the decade of Evangelion's influence, which means that psychological and religious themes were (relatively) popular. (I haven't actually watched Evangelion myself, though. But I figure I have to, since I'm grateful for the works that came about as a result of it...)
And besides that trend, there were a lot of just plain good and interesting games in general, from Half-Life to Shadow of the Colossus.
|
|