Best console era.

What is the best console era released until now ? For me it the era of the previous consoles because you don't have the stupid DLC or the complex systems just pure gaming.

Between the 4th and 5th gen for me.

5th & 6th, here you have the games all can remember fondly

The N64 era had the best quality games before online gaming started.

Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Mario Kart 64, NBA Hangtime, 1080 Snowboarding, Killer Instinct Gold, Cruisin' World, and hundreds more.

What is the best console era released until now ? For me it the era of the previous consoles because you don't have the stupid DLC or the complex systems just pure gaming.

Savoritias

The 90s! Not only were classic games being released in hordes, with the advent of systems like the PS1, PS2, SNES, Gamecube, and N64 (bleh, ok fine, also Microsoft... I guess), but we also had the era of the failed systems, like Jaguar, Neo-Geo, Turbo-Grafix 16, etc. It was an era where games were at their absolute peak before things started getting very complex with DLC, online interaction, online shops, activation codes, Wi-fi connections, system updates, etc. We got to see the bad as well as the good as well as the very great.

Gaming innovations were being made with games like Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, Mario Kart, Goldeneye 007, Metal Gear Solid, etc. There were things coming out like we'd never seen before, and it was all so new and amazing! Not only that, but Arcades were the IT place for new games that we wished and prayed would come to our consoles, where as only a few of them ever did; and when they did, they were really crappy versions of them. Hence, we STILL went to the arcades and stuffed those machine with quarters (yes, ACTUAL quarter dollar currency, no dollar bills or tokens or any of that card points crap), because the arcade version was the REAL version of the game.

But one of the best things about gaming in the 90's - no ratings systems!! At least not for the majority of it. There were no rules telling kids that just because a game contained a gun or a fist fight that they weren't allowed to play it. Kids as young as 6 or 7 would play games like Virtua Fighter or Virtua Cop and even things that were more realistic or brutal, like Area 51 (the light gun arcade game, not the PS2 FPS), and you know what? Parents didn't think anything of it. While I understand why lots of games would be very inapprorpriate NOW for young kids, it was cool that back then it was no real thing. No censorship.

I seriously feel bad for people who were actually BORN in the 90's because they sadly never got the experience this great gaming era (unless they were born like 1990 and just got to experience gaming at the tail end of it when they reached like 6 years old).

Right now. The consoles are more sophistacated than ever and they are making a library of great old games available through things like PSN and Nintendo's Virtual Console. It's not the same as playing on the original systems but it's how these games are destinied to live on. There is also a new variety of indy games w/ old-school appeal along w/ some modern features like online multiplayer. Good times.

4th gen. That's the era where most of my favorite games come from, and those are the type of games I still play the most.

The N64 era had the best quality games before online gaming started.

Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Mario Kart 64, NBA Hangtime, 1080 Snowboarding, Killer Instinct Gold, Cruisin' World, and hundreds more.

ColdScorpion

I definitely agree the the N64's era was the best, but that wasn't because of the N64.

Saturn and PS1 make that gen my favorite.

Last gen. PS2, Gamecube, Dreamcast... so many awesome games, it would be too much to list them all.

What makes a gaming era or generation so great isn't so much the technical prowess of the systems and peripherals or graphic feat of the games, but more of the "spirit" of gaming in that era. There was a certain approach to gaming in previous eras that there simply isn't today. Now it's so much about the profit and gamer dollar, and see who can outgraphic who, or who can come up with the slickest looking hardware. Back then it was more about the art of the games themselves. New ideas spilled in more, there was more originality, and the fanatic uproar of games was more pronounced in that era, not to also mention the media which made sure to do all types of interpretations of the games themselves. Think of how many cartoons, toys, tv shows, clothing and all types of memorbilia and media development there was from those old games. Sure we still have a bit of media now, as in anime films from more popular games, but back then even the most mainstream of media latched on and tried to do whatever they could from the sensation that were popular video games. While many old school games now can be downloaded really easily, or compilations of like 50+ games from old can fit on one disc or download, they are played for nostalgic reasons, and it wasn't like shelling out $50 for a copy of just ONE of those games like we used to do back then (as opposed to a $20 download or even a $5 used copy of a compilation that, like I said, fit countless amount of old games on it).

What makes a gaming era or generation so great isn't so much the technical prowess of the systems and peripherals or graphic feat of the games, but more of the "spirit" of gaming in that era. There was a certain approach to gaming in previous eras that there simply isn't today. Now it's so much about the profit and gamer dollar, and see who can outgraphic who, or who can come up with the slickest looking hardware. Back then it was more about the art of the games themselves. New ideas spilled in more, there was more originality, and the fanatic uproar of games was more pronounced in that era, not to also mention the media which made sure to do all types of interpretations of the games themselves. Think of how many cartoons, toys, tv shows, clothing and all types of memorbilia and media development there was from those old games. Sure we still have a bit of media now, as in anime films from more popular games, but back then even the most mainstream of media latched on and tried to do whatever they could from the sensation that were popular video games. While many old school games now can be downloaded really easily, or compilations of like 50+ games from old can fit on one disc or download, they are played for nostalgic reasons, and it wasn't like shelling out $50 for a copy of just ONE of those games like we used to do back then (as opposed to a $20 download or even a $5 used copy of a compilation that, like I said, fit countless amount of old games on it).

metalgrinch

If you are feeling nostalgic for a time when all games were creative and there weren't so many people making games just for money, I urge you go on eBay and buy up some cheap lots of games from the eighties and nineties as I can assure you this will make you realize that such a time never existed in the actual history gaming. The problem w/ hindsight is that good things tend to be more memorable than the bad so the past always seems a lot better than it was. For every Contra there were five cruddy run and gun platformers that were unplayable moneygrabs. It has been this way since the very first Pong rip-off.

What makes a gaming era or generation so great isn't so much the technical prowess of the systems and peripherals or graphic feat of the games, but more of the "spirit" of gaming in that era. There was a certain approach to gaming in previous eras that there simply isn't today. Now it's so much about the profit and gamer dollar, and see who can outgraphic who, or who can come up with the slickest looking hardware.metalgrinch

My favourite would be the SNES to Dreamcast, not sure what eras that included. today I play SNES, Genisis, N64, Dreamcast and some Xbox. The mdoern era is fun, but I grow tired of patches, incomplete games and a major focus on online to the neglect of single player modes. FPS now seem only focused on online and just tack on some mediocre campaign.

The modern day is still enjoyable, and there have been a few amazing games, i.e MGS4. But I do think its less innovative and profit oriented (Call of duty comes to mind, although to be fair what they are just giving consumers what they want).

The previous one was brilliant. A lot of great games I won't forget.

N64

5th & 6th gen for me.

I'm gonna vote PS1 and PS2 era, but if I had to chose one I'd would vote PS2.

I mainly grew up with those xD

The 90's. Nuff said!

For me, it's a tie between the previous two generations. Lots of awesome games in all genres coming from those consoles, and I think the current gen isn't quite up to par with either. The current gen has a lot of my all time favorite games, but I'm much more into old-school FPS games than anything else at the moment.

I'm also a big fan of the 8-bit and 16-bit generations, but mainly for the awesome RPG's - for some reason or another, I've never been the biggest platforming fan. I love games like Castlevania and Super Mario World, but a lot of classic platformers haven't quite grabbed me like a good RPG or FPS does. I think it's because I'm absolutely HORRIBLE at platformers, though!

So, in short, my favorite is probably the PS2/GC/Xbox gen, but the N64/PSX/Saturn comes close.

In terms of the quality of both the games and consoles, I'm going with the PS2/GC/XBOX/Dreamcast era. Nothing comes close to touching it IMO.

It's either the 4th or 5th generation for me. I can't decide which was better. I love both eras.

The 4th generation had the SNES, the Genesis, some fantastic arcade games, great PC games, and Game Boy was going strong. Plus for those that could actually afford it (not me), there was the Neo-Geo AES. Platformers and fighting-games were the most popular genres, and shmups weren't doing bad either. Nintendo and Sega were lobbing bombs at each, practically, in their sales war with Mario and Sonic representing each company, respectively. The CD-Rom format was introduced, improving the tools programmers had available to them.

Some Popular Games From the 4th Generation: Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Street Fighter II games, Mortal Kombat series, The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Wolfenstein 3-D, Star Fox, Final Fantasy series, Phantasy Star series, Mega Man X series, Castlevania series, Chrono Trigger

The 5th generation had the Sega Saturn, PS1, and N64; as well as the less popular 3DO and Jaguar. 3D gaming (as in 3D polygons) exploded in popularity. The first-person shooter genre did the same. Game Boy was getting stale, but we did get the Game Boy Color upgrade which breathed a little life back into the Game Boy. Neo Geo Pocket Color came out (and should have had many more games released for it, such solid handheld hardware). And then there was the "tweener" system Dreamcast which could fit into this generation or the next depending on how you look at it. And who doesn't love their Dreamcast? Light-gun games and motion-control games (like the bike periphial racing games or snowboard periphial games and DDR) were becoming popular in arcades.

Some Popular Games From the 5th Generation: Virtua Fighter 1 & 2, Teken series, Panzer Dragoon, Diablo, Doom, Goldeneye, Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil series, Final Fantasy series, Twisted Metal series, Tomb Raider series, Gran Turismo series, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Metal Gear Solid, Capcom's "Vs." fighting games

My favorite era was the Genesis/Snes/T16 one. I think it's more nostalgic then anything else. I think it's really a close one between that era and the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era. PS2 had so many great games, then the Xbox entered with some killer titles, and the Gamecube held it's own. I had all three and each were awesome . Xbox introduced me to online gaming(never gamed on a PC). PS2 _ GTA was one of the best sandbox games, and may be one of the first true sandbox titles on consoles, I could be wrong though. The Cube - so many good first party titles as always. Great gen.

What is the best console era released until now ? For me it the era of the previous consoles because you don't have the stupid DLC or the complex systems just pure gaming.

Savoritias

4th and 6th

I say this because I am constantly going back and playing games from these 2 gens.

If you are feeling nostalgic for a time when all games were creative and there weren't so many people making games just for money, I urge you go on eBay and buy up some cheap lots of games from the eighties and nineties as I can assure you this will make you realize that such a time never existed in the actual history gaming. The problem w/ hindsight is that good things tend to be more memorable than the bad so the past always seems a lot better than it was. For every Contra there were five cruddy run and gun platformers that were unplayable moneygrabs. It has been this way since the very first Pong rip-off.

logicalfrank

Tiss true...the Gaming industry was all about the money all along. Think of Atari's idea of chuckie cheese. That was even before the NES days.

But with the limited hardware in the Nes/Snes era if you wanted to make some money you had to stand out. Which made for a lot of fun interesting games and some terrible ripoffs.

I would say my favorite is the PS2/Dreamcast/GC gen. Too many good games to count in that Gen.

I'm going to have to go with the GCN/PS2/Xbox era. I feel it was the pinnacle of gaming before it started to become overlly corrupted by nickel and diming as well as over simplification/cinematicness over quality gameplay

My favourite would be the SNES to Dreamcast, not sure what eras that included. today I play SNES, Genisis, N64, Dreamcast and some Xbox. The mdoern era is fun, but I grow tired of patches, incomplete games and a major focus on online to the neglect of single player modes. FPS now seem only focused on online and just tack on some mediocre campaign.

The modern day is still enjoyable, and there have been a few amazing games, i.e MGS4. But I do think its less innovative and profit oriented (Call of duty comes to mind, although to be fair what they are just giving consumers what they want).

RahXephon101

^This for me as well.I still dust off my Saturn and Jaguar every now and then.My Snes gets played quite a bit as does my Dreamcast.

Heck I busted out the 3do the other day to play Way Of The Warrior.Crazy to think that Naughty Dog started with that crazy digi fighter.

It's either the 4th or 5th generation for me. I can't decide which was better. I love both eras.

The 4th generation had the SNES, the Genesis, some fantastic arcade games, great PC games, and Game Boy was going strong. Plus for those that could actually afford it (not me), there was the Neo-Geo AES. Platformers and fighting-games were the most popular genres, and shmups weren't doing bad either. Nintendo and Sega were lobbing bombs at each, practically, in their sales war with Mario and Sonic representing each company, respectively. The CD-Rom format was introduced, improving the tools programmers had available to them.

Some Popular Games From the 4th Generation: Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Street Fighter II games, Mortal Kombat series, The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Wolfenstein 3-D, Star Fox, Final Fantasy series, Phantasy Star series, Mega Man X series, Castlevania series, Chrono Trigger

The 5th generation had the Sega Saturn, PS1, and N64; as well as the less popular 3DO and Jaguar. 3D gaming (as in 3D polygons) exploded in popularity. The first-person shooter genre did the same. Game Boy was getting stale, but we did get the Game Boy Color upgrade which breathed a little life back into the Game Boy. Neo Geo Pocket Color came out (and should have had many more games released for it, such solid handheld hardware). And then there was the "tweener" system Dreamcast which could fit into this generation or the next depending on how you look at it. And who doesn't love their Dreamcast? Light-gun games and motion-control games (like the bike periphial racing games or snowboard periphial games and DDR) were becoming popular in arcades.

Some Popular Games From the 5th Generation: Virtua Fighter 1 & 2, Teken series, Panzer Dragoon, Diablo, Doom, Goldeneye, Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil series, Final Fantasy series, Twisted Metal series, Tomb Raider series, Gran Turismo series, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Metal Gear Solid, Capcom's "Vs." fighting games

Emerald_Warrior

The best Console era for me is a tie between. The 4th and 6th generations of videogame consoles. The 4th The Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx 16 The 16-bit era. The 6th generation with Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube. Just Tons of great games for the consoles of each era.

The 7th Generation just doesn't measure up. Despite Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

[QUOTE="Emerald_Warrior"]

It's either the 4th or 5th generation for me. I can't decide which was better. I love both eras.

The 4th generation had the SNES, the Genesis, some fantastic arcade games, great PC games, and Game Boy was going strong. Plus for those that could actually afford it (not me), there was the Neo-Geo AES. Platformers and fighting-games were the most popular genres, and shmups weren't doing bad either. Nintendo and Sega were lobbing bombs at each, practically, in their sales war with Mario and Sonic representing each company, respectively. The CD-Rom format was introduced, improving the tools programmers had available to them.

Some Popular Games From the 4th Generation: Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Street Fighter II games, Mortal Kombat series, The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Wolfenstein 3-D, Star Fox, Final Fantasy series, Phantasy Star series, Mega Man X series, Castlevania series, Chrono Trigger

The 5th generation had the Sega Saturn, PS1, and N64; as well as the less popular 3DO and Jaguar. 3D gaming (as in 3D polygons) exploded in popularity. The first-person shooter genre did the same. Game Boy was getting stale, but we did get the Game Boy Color upgrade which breathed a little life back into the Game Boy. Neo Geo Pocket Color came out (and should have had many more games released for it, such solid handheld hardware). And then there was the "tweener" system Dreamcast which could fit into this generation or the next depending on how you look at it. And who doesn't love their Dreamcast? Light-gun games and motion-control games (like the bike periphial racing games or snowboard periphial games and DDR) were becoming popular in arcades.

Some Popular Games From the 5th Generation: Virtua Fighter 1 & 2, Teken series, Panzer Dragoon, Diablo, Doom, Goldeneye, Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil series, Final Fantasy series, Twisted Metal series, Tomb Raider series, Gran Turismo series, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Metal Gear Solid, Capcom's "Vs." fighting games

Containmomentum

1. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, and SNK Fighters popularity was at a fever-pitch, and there were a ton of copycat games in addition to those. How were fighting games not popular then? You couldn't get away from them if you were gamer then.

2. Final Fantasy II & III (in the U.S.) were very popular SNES games, many friends of mine and kids in school growing up played it and discussed it.

3. I said DC was a tweener "depending on how you look at it". Of course, hardware-wise, it's 6th generation. But many games released on it were also released on N64 and PS1 and it's direct competition were those systems.

4. Are you kidding about Game Boy?! Game Boy is the most successful handheld OF ALL-TIME.

The best Console era for me is a tie between. The 4th and 6th generations of videogame consoles. The 4th The Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx 16 The 16-bit era. The 6th generation with Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube. Just Tons of great games for the consoles of each era.

The 7th Generation just doesn't measure up. Despite Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Megavideogamer

4th - Now really have me.

The fifth generation, or 32/64-bit era. The PS1 and N64 had many of the best video games of all time, while the Saturn also had many quality games of its own.

The fifth generation, or 32/64-bit era. The PS1 and N64 had many of the best video games of all time, while the Saturn also had many quality games of its own.

Jag85

N64 & ps2 era's both are the highlights of gaming to me.